MC: Vanessa Andreotti: Being Beyond Representation: Ethics of Internationlization, Global Studies, Global Citizenship (GCSC)

Modern/colonial imaginaries are marked by intellectual, affective, relational and performative economies of representation, where epistemic certainty is what grounds ontological security. In other words, in this context, the security of our being (self- and social-worth) is dependent on the certainty of the knowledge we are perceived to possess. As we reach the limits of these imaginaries, it is important to ask what human capacities and possibilities for existence have been exiled from representability. In this sense, we could ask, for example: How have these imaginaries restricted what we consider to be possible, desirable and intelligible? Who are we beyond our perceived identities, self-images and egological desires? What connects us beyond knowledge, identity and understanding? What would be possible if we could act beyond the compensatory demands of our deepest insecurities? What, beyond convictions, could offer an antidote to indifference? or Why are these questions rarely asked? I will use a social cartography called “The house modernity built” to explore the context where these questions could be formulated and to invite participants to examine their own theories of social and global change, to sit with the complexities and paradoxes of human experience, and to consider the call to “dig deeper and relate wider” through different modes of engagement and scholarship.

 //Prof. Vanessa Andreotti (University of British Columbia, Canada)

There will be a preparational meeting for the masterclass where we will discuss preparational readings for the course. The meeting will take place on November 22, from 16:00 to 18:00 (room B29). For more information please contact eugenia.matz@gcsc.uni-giessen.de. This meeting is organized by the Research Area 8 and not obligatory for the participation in the master class.