Conversation Sessions Schedule - 2021
Founder, The Guestbook Project
March, 7th at 2 pm US Eastern Time
The Guestbook Project
Richard Kearney will talk about the relation of hermeneutics to the Guestbook Project he leads. The project promotes, through the exchange of stories across groups in conflict, "the power of digital storytelling as a means of healing divisions."
Professor of Law
April, 3rd at 2 pm US Eastern Time
What is Sex?
Does Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protect gays, lesbians and transgendered persons from employment discrimination because of "sex"? Can hermeneutical thinking help to resolve legal issues? Can hermeneutical thinkers learn from legal practice?
Here is some material you could read in preparation for this presentation:
Mootz, Francis J., III. 2018. “Judging Well.” Wash. U. Jurisprudence Rev. 11: 1.
"Gadamer and Jurisprudence" - forthcoming in the volume, The Gadamerian Mind (Routledge 2021)
Associate Professor of Philosophy
May, 8th at 2 pm US Eastern Time
Narrative Medicine
On the basis of Ricoeur’s hermeneutics, this presentation argues for considering the interaction between medical professionals and patients as a narrative practice. Even if a physician talks from an external point of view – for instance, in explaining lab results to a patient – she is at the same time in conversation with the patient, addressing the latter as an interlocutor and in this process evoking, co-constituting and receiving first person accounts of the patient’s experience.
Public Philosopher & Philosophical Consultant
June, 6th at 1 pm US Eastern Time
Meaningful Work
Todd Mei will discuss the ways in which hermeneutics can help us to better understand how work can be meaningful. The talk will touch on the roles of storytelling, virtues, and personal development.
Program Evaluation Coordinator, Information Management and Data Branch