The death in 2018 of Stanley Cavell brought to its ends an exceptionally rich life in philosophy, one that continues to inspire readers and colleagues throughout the humanities and the humanistic social sciences. In this two-day event commemorating Cavell’s career, scholars from Europe and America join in a discussion of his contributions to our understanding of the affective dimensions of democratic life, particularly as these play out in film, religion, and what Cavell terms Emersonian Perfectionism.
Conference Program
Thursday, February 14
Annenberg Conference Room
Social Sciences and Media Studies, 4315
8:45 Opening Remarks
John Majewski, UCSB, Michael Douglas Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts
9:00 Session I
Andrew Norris, UCSB
“The Mood of the World”
Respondent: Eric Ritter, Philosophy, Vanderbilt
Espen Hammer, Temple University
“Moods and Experience in Cavell”
Respondent: Luke McCracken, Religious Studies, UCSB
11:00 Session II
William Rothman, University of Miami
“Pursuits of Happiness: Cavell in Transition”
Respondent: Chip Badley, English, UCSB
Russell Goodman, University of New Mexico
“Cavell and the Transcendentalists”
Respondent: Christopher Morales, Religious Studies, UCSB
1:00 Lunch for Participants
2:00 Session III
Kay Young, UCSB
“Listening to Cavell”
Respondent: Alex Lebrun, Philosophy, UCSB
Sandra Laugier, Paris I
“Cavell, Film, and Moral Education”
Respondent: Felicity Stone-Richards, Political Science, UCSB
Joshua Foa Dienstag, UCLA
“What is the Democratic Mood?”
Respondent: Caleb Miller, Political Science, UCSB
Film Screening & Discussion
7 pm The Lady Eve, followed by a Q&A with Sandra Laugier and William Rothman
Pollock Theater, UCSB
Friday, February 15
Center for Humanities and Social Change
Robertson Gym 1000A
9:00 Opening Remarks
David Cavell
9:30 Session IV
Tom Carlson, UCSB
“Religious Receptions and Democratic Futures:
A Learning of the Heart from Emerson to Cavell”
Respondent: Samantha Copping Kang, Religious Studies, UCSB
Tyler Roberts, Grinnell College:
“Walden as ‘Scripture’: Cavell, Religion and the Language of Criticism”
Respondent: Eva Braunstein, Religious Studies, UCSB
11:30 Session V
Pierre Fasula, Paris I
“The Expression of Passions and its Political Implications”
Respondent: Sherri Lynn Conklin, Philosophy, UCSB
Paola Marrati, Johns Hopkins University:
“The Reasons of Emotions”
Respondent: Tim Snediker, Religious Studies, UCSB
Co-sponsored by the Center for Humanities & Social Change, the College of Letters and Science, the Graduate Center for Literary Research, the Department of Philosophy, the Carsey-Wolf Center, the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, the Literature and the Mind Program, the Departments of Religious Studies, Political Science, Film and Media Studies, French and Italian, and the Comparative Literature Program.