University of California at Davis, 12-14 November 2008
The Institute of Jewish Studies organizes in 2008 and 2009 in cooperation with a number of partners two conferences around the figure and work of the German-Jewish thinker Walter Benjamin. The conference "Benjamin's Frontiers" will be the first part of this initiative. The second conference, entitled “True to Benjamin”, will take place at the University of Antwerp in September 2009.
Although Benjamin is considered to be a Eurocentric author, he has become a global figure with an international following. The conference “Benjamin’s Frontiers” intends to investigate Benjamin’s influence outside of Europe. We especially intend to explore and document the response to the author’s works in North and South America as well as in the Asian-Pacific area. The conference will equally pay attention to the ways in which Benjamin’s legacy has provided significant impulses for the development of media theory and to the significance of his theoretical approach for the visual arts. The frontiers of intellectual thought and contradictory paradigms in the reception of Benjamin (Benjamin the Marxist, Benjamin the Jewish mystic, Benjamin the philosopher of language, etc.) confirming his influence on global cultural models at the outset of the 21st century, will form a third topic of investigation during the conference.
Organizers:
University of California at Davis
International Walter Benjamin Association
Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe
Goethe-Institut Los Angeles
Institute of Jewish Stuydies (University of Antwerp)
Detailed Conference Program, Contact & Registration:
Click here for Conference Website
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