Class Information
Instructor: Chaganti, Seeta
Time: R 12:10-3:00
Location: REMOTE/120 V.
Description
Boethian Abolition
By exploring the potential alignment between a premodern philosophical structure and modern police and prison abolition, this course offers a new way for medieval archives to support racial justice. When the 6th-century philosopher Boethius—himself a political prisoner—recognizes the limits of human perceptual structures while theorizing as-yet-unseeable horizons, he models a practice crucial to abolition. To develop the formulation of Boethian abolition, we will read abolitionist thought while examining the Newberry’s Boethian manuscripts, which include vernacular translation and other forms of response. We will seek in the archive an unexpected springboard for emancipatory thought, using that force to help propel the abolitionist project.
Please note that this course is offered in partnership with the Newberry Library, which requires that potential students fill out a brief application form by May 1, 2022: https://www.newberry.org/09222022-boethian-abolition
Boethian Abolition | Newberry
This virtual seminar is free and open to all graduate students, but space will be limited. Priority will be given to faculty and graduate students from CRS consortium institutions.Consortium members may be eligible to receive CRS Consortium Grants to cover the travel and accommodation costs to attend this program. Contact your local Consortium Representative for more details.
https://www.newberry.org