Conference Schedule
Thursday, September 26
5:00-5:45 COL Open House and Reception, College of Letters, 41 Wyllys Avenue
6:00-6:15 Welcome and Introduction: Michael Roth (President, Wesleyan University) and Kari Weil (Director, College of Letters). Memorial Chapel
6:15-7:00 Hallie keynote lecture by Susan Neiman (Director of the Einstein Forum, Potsdam): “Philosophy Not History: Reading Eichmann in Jerusalem“
7:00-7:45 Discussion
8:00 Dinner for speakers and invited participants
Friday, September 27
9:15-12:00 Debating Eichmann in Jerusalem. Moderator: Eugene Sheppard (Professor of Modern Jewish History and Thought, Brandeis University). Beckham Hall
9:15-9:30 Welcome: Ethan Kleinberg (Director, Center for the Humanities)
9:30-10:00 Berel Lang (Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, SUNY Albany): “The Depths of Banality”
10:00-10:30 Peter Gordon (Professor of History, Harvard University): “Of Monsters and Moral Judgment: Reflections on Arendt, Eichmann, and the Changing Historiography of the Holocaust”
10:30-11:00 Seyla Benhabib (Professor of Political Science and Philosophy, Yale University): “Jewish Particularisms and False Universalisms: Reading Eichmann in Jerusalem in the 21st Century“
11:00-11:15 Coffee break
11:15-12:00 Discussion
12:00-1:30 Lunch break
1:30-3:30 Understanding Evil. Moderator: Sonali Chakravarti (Professor of Government, Wesleyan University)
1:30-2:15 Richard Bernstein (Professor of Philosophy, The New School of Social Research): “Thought-defying Evil”
2:15-3:00 Dana Villa (Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame): “Eichmann in Jerusalem: Conscience, Normality, and the ‘Rule of Narrative'”
3:00-3:30 Discussion
3:00-4:00 Coffee break
4:00-6:00 Judging Evil. Moderator: Ulrich Plass (Professor of German Studies, Wesleyan University)
4:00-4:45 Leora Bilsky (Professor of Law, Tel Aviv University): “Truth and Judgment in Arendt’s Writings”
4:45-5:30 Shoshana Felman (Professor of Comparative Literature and French, Emory University): “The Enigma of Hannah Arendt”
5:30-6:00 Discussion
8:00-10:00 Hannah Arendt, directed by Margarethe von Trotta. Goldsmith Family Cinema
Film being screened as part of the Wesleyan Film Series. Introduced by Leo Lensing (Professor of German and Film Studies, Wesleyan University), followed by a Q&A with Pam Katz P ’16, the film’s co-screenwriter
Saturday, September 28
9:30-10:00 Coffee and refreshments, Powell Family Cinema lobby
10:00-12:00 Hannah Arendt, directed by Margarethe von Trotta. Powell Family Cinema
12:00-1:00 Representing Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem on the Screen. A Discussion with Arendt Scholars and Moral Philosophers. Moderator: Ethan Kleinberg (Director, Center for the Humanities). Powell Family Cinema
Jerome Kohn (Director of the Hannah Arendt Center, The New School for Social Research)
Roger Berkowitz (Professor of Political Studies and Human Rights, Hannah Arendt Center, Bard College)
Mary-Jane Rubenstein (Professor of Religious Studies, Wesleyan University)
Elise Springer ’90 (Professor of Philosophy, Wesleyan University)
1:00-2:30 Lunch break
2:30-4:00 Commemorating Elisabeth Young-Bruehl and Hannah Arendt at Wesleyan. A Conversation with Former Students, Friends, and Colleagues. Moderator: Kari Weil (Director, College of Letters). Russell House
Paul Schwaber ’57 (Professor of Letters Emeritus, Wesleyan University)
Karen Van Dyck ’83 (Professor of Hellenic Studies, Columbia University)
Jerome Kohn (Director of the Hannah Arendt Center, The New School for Social Research)
Rosemary F. Carroll ’62 (Henry and Margaret Haegg Distinguished Professor Emerita of History, Coe College)
Robert Gallamore ’63 (Principal, The Gallamore Group, LLC)
4:15-6:00 Farewell Reception at Russell House