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Description
Back to Research Working Groups
The thematic focus remains the exploration of a nondisciplinary philosophy and of concrete points of transformation. This of necessity has and will continue to produce a dispersed body of work. Yet some distinct themes have been identified: art and aesthetics in the contemporary world; political practices of resistance to globalization and economicization; images in relation to texts and languages; history of philosophy as the formation of concepts and canons of interpretation; ongoing critiques of the disciplinization of philosophy; sensory modalities--sight, sound, smell, etc.--neglected in the academy; sites of transformation--epistemological, academic, social, practical, professional and everyday. All of these immediate contemporary themes will be situated in the context of explorations of first, a nondisciplinary philosophy, emergent ways of questioning and thinking, then second, a nondisciplinary epistemology that articulates the expressive possibilities of such thinking and questioning. The points of demarcation occupy two distinct set of boundaries: first, those between forms of knowledge, especially those amenable to reflection; then second, between academic disciplines and the phenomena that define the contemporary world, especially those called in question as modern, technological, aspects of modernity and modernization.
The central questions, then, are: how can we make the transition from the disciplinary practices that define contemporary academic knowledge to the widespread phenomena and practices that situate knowledge and practice, discourse and expression, in the contemporary world, frequently without academic respectability?
Many members of PIC have little interest in philosophy as a discipline, whether to practice it or resist it. Many others have studied philosophy, and have ongoing questions concerning its practice. This workshop is primarily for them and run by them. The central question is how philosophy and other ways of thinking that address what we can know and express can mediate between the past and future in the moment of the academic present. In another sense, it is the question of how to reflect upon new forms of expression when these appear so chaotic and mobile as to defy traditional classifications.
Faculty:
Stephen David Ross, Ali Mazrui, Pamela Smart, John Tagg
Students:
Vik Chaubey, Meng-Shi Chen, Cora Dho, Neda Hadjikhani, SeoKyung Han, Robin Haug, Nikolay Karkov, Kisoo Kim, Kevin Nauen, Eileen Rizo-Patron, Sasha Shivers, Tahir Fuzile Sitoto, Ovidiu Tichindeleanu, Johanna Vasseur, Betty Wambui
The workshop will continue to meet every two weeks in the Fall with 10-15 participants for each meeting. The past year concluded with considerable enthusiasm for continuation during the 2006-7 academic year. At this time, several outside figures have been contacted to come to campus next year to expand and enrich the discussions: David Abram, Linda Alcoff, Brian Massumi, William Connelly. Plans have begun to organize the workshop so as to culminate in two or more one-day working sessions, discussions, or conferences with outside speakers and participants, to take place in November 2006 and April 2007. These will be coordinated with publication in International Studies in Philosophy.
The workshop has the following components:
1. An ongoing workshop at which Binghamton faculty, graduate students, alumni, and others, from Binghamton and elsewhere, present their current projects, emphasizing original and interdisciplinary contributions.
2. Included in these discussions are workshop presentations that explore the meaning, implications, and possibilities of interdisciplinariness in the academy and in major institutions worldwide, especially in relation to issues and populations that current academic disciplinary structures are not adequate to address.
3. Several group workshop presentations on particular themes, topics, or areas of work, some primarily involving university faculty, others initiated by PIC students including other university graduate students.
4. Two all day sessions in November and April with outside participants building on the workshop sessions throughout the semester or year. Papers presented throughout the year will be coordinated with presentations and discussions by highly visible outside participants, also some PIC alumni.
We believe that such a workshop will continue to create a unique and fertile environment at Binghamton University, will make PIC and the university visible across the United States and elsewhere in concrete, collaborative ways (beyond sheer reputation), and will help to promote unique interdisciplinary projects with significant social and practical implications.
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