Thinking in Dark Times

Program

2:00 pm
TOUR
The Hannah Arendt Collection at Bard College's Stevenson Library, led by Jeff Katz
LOCATION Stevenson Library

3:30 pm
WELCOMING REMARKS
Michèle D. Dominy and conference organizers Roger Berkowitz, Jeff Katz, and Thomas Keenan

4:00 pm
PANEL ONE: What Does It Mean to Think about Politics?
CHAIR Florian Becker
Mark Antaki, Seyla Benhabib, Jennifer Culbert, George Kateb
COMMENTATOR Karen Sullivan

5:30 pm
BREAK

6:00 pm
KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Reflections on Antisemitism 
Christopher Hitchens
CHAIR William Mullen

8:00 pm
DINNER AND OPENING NIGHT PARTY

9:00 am 
CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST 
LOCATION TBA

9:30 am 
PANEL TWO: What Is the Importance of Arendt's Jewish Identity?
CHAIR Benjamin Stevens
Leon Botstein, Ron Feldman, Jerome Kohn, Elisabeth Young-Bruehl 
COMMENTATOR Suzanne Vromen

11:00 am 
BREAK

11:15 am 
PANEL THREE: Is Evil Banal? Is Totalitarianism a Current Threat? 
CHAIR Thomas Keenan
Peter Baehr, Richard Bernstein, Peg Birmingham
COMMENTATOR Nancy Leonard

1:00 pm 
LUNCH 
LOCATION TBA

1:30 pm 
KEYNOTE ADDRESS 
Mark Danner
CHAIR Elizabeth Frank

3:00 pm 
PANEL FOUR: What Is the Activity of Democratic Citizenship?
CHAIR Elaine Thomas
Jay Bernstein, Patchen Markell, Renata Salecl, Verity Smith
COMMENTATOR Ann Lauterbach

4:30 pm 
BREAK

4:45 pm 
PANEL FIVE: How Does One Think in Dark Times?
CHAIR Pierre Ostiguy
Cathy Caruth, Drucilla Cornell, Yaron Ezrahi, Uday Mehta
COMMENTATOR Roger Berkowitz

6:30 pm 
DINNER
LOCATION TBA

8:00 pm 
CONCERT 
Bard Summerscape: "The New German School and Musical Narrative."
The American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein. Music by
Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, and Hector Berlioz. Sosnoff Theatre, Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.

9:00 am 
BREAKFAST 
LOCATION TBA

10:00 am 
TOUR
Visit to gravesites of Hannah Arendt and Heinrich Bluecher, led by Jack Blum ’62, Bard College 
LOCATION Bard Cemetrary

11:00 am 
TOUR 
Opportunity to use the Hannah Arendt Collection at Bard College's Stevenson Library, led by Jeff Katz
LOCATION Stevenson Library

Speakers

• Mark Antaki  McGill University, Faculty of Law
• Peter Baehr  Lingnan University in Hong Kong, Professor and Head, Department of Politics and Sociology
• Florian Becker  Bard College, Assistant Professor of German
• Jack Blum ’62 Of Counsel, Moscow & Napierala
• Seyla Benhabib  Yale University, Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science
• Roger Berkowitz  Bard College, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Studies and Human Rights
• Jay Bernstein  The New School, University Distinguished Professor, Chair, Department of Philosophy
• Richard Bernstein  The New School, Vera List Professor of Philosophy
• Peg Birmingham  DePaul University, Chair, Professor of Philosophy
• Leon Botstein Bard College, President
• Cathy Caruth Emory University, Winship Distinguished Research Professor of Comparative Literature and English
• Drucilla Cornell  Rutgers University, Professor of Political Science, Women’s Studies, and Comparative Literature
• Jennifer Culbert  Johns Hopkins University, Professor of Political Science
• Mark Danner Bard College, Henry R. Luce Professor of Human Rights and Journalism; UC–Berkeley, Professor of Journalism
• Michèle D. Dominy  Bard College, Dean of the College and Professor of Anthropology
• Yaron Ezrahi  Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Gersten Family Professor of Political Science
• Ron Feldman  University of San Francisco, Department of Theology and Religion; editor of The Jew as Pariah
• Elizabeth Frank Bard College, Joseph E. Harry Professor of Modern Languages and Literature
• Christopher Hitchens  columnist for Vanity Fair, Slate, and other publications
• Jeff Katz  Bard College, Dean of Information Services and Director of Libraries
• Thomas Keenan  Bard College, Director of the Human Rights Project and Associate Professor of Comparative Literature
• Jerome Kohn  The New School; Director, Hanna Arendt Center
• George Kateb  Princeton University, Professor Emeritus, Political Science
• Ann Lauterbach  Bard College, David and Ruth Schwab Professor of Languages and Literature
• Nancy Leonard  Bard College, Professor of English
• Patchen Markell  University of Chicago, Professor of Political Science
• Uday Mehta  Amherst College, Clarence Francis Professor in the Social Sciences
• William Mullen Bard College, Professor of Classics
• Pierre Ostiguy  Assistant Professor of Political Studies and Latin American and Iberian Studies
• Renata Salecl Institute of Criminology, senior researcher; Ljubljana, Faculty of Law; London School of Economics, Centennial Professor
• Verity Smith  Harvard University, Department of Social Studies
• Benjamin Stevens  Bard College, Assistant Professor of Classics
• Karen Sullivan  Bard College, Associate Professor of Literature
• Elaine Thomas  Bard College, Assistant Professor of Political Studies
• Suzanne Vromen  Bard College, Professor Emeritus of Sociology
• Elisabeth Young-Bruehl  Columbia University, Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research