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Practical
Pleinlaan 2
1050 Elsene
Venue: Building I, room I.203
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel invites you to an exceptional lecture by philosopher Prof. Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah.
Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah explores identities as a complex mix of nationality, class, culture, race, religion, gender and sexuality. Interweaving philosophical argument with historical narratives, he reveals the tangled contradictions within the stories that appear to define us. Appiah dismantles the modern origin of deep-seated ideas about race, points out the flaws inherent in the notion of the ‘sovereign nation’, and exposes the very concept of ‘Western culture’ as a chimera.
The lecture by Professor Appiah is realized in cooperation with the following international partners: stimmen afrikas e.V., Global South Studies Center Cologne, University of Cologne (English Department), Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies.
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About prof. dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah
Kwame Anthony Appiah is Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University. He has held positions at Yale, Cornell, Duke, Harvard and Princeton. He was elected president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2022 and holds honorary doctorates from universities across the globe. His books have been translated into numerous languages. As NYT columnist, Appiah responds to ethical questions arising from numerous everyday situations.
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New VUB lecture series: Ties that Bind Us
This lecture will open a new series of VUB-sponsored guest lectures:
Ties that Bind Us: Transcultural Perspectives on Social Forms
The series aims to address the urgent need for advocating the value of an open society equipped to accommodate diversity in a changing world. It seeks to create a platform for a wide range of perspectives, life experiences and cultures of knowledge about forms of kinship, solidarity and conviviality in order to counter an increasingly widespread, yet dangerously reductive binary thinking.
Ties that Bind Us will hence involve speakers and formats that engage with, or reflect, the complexity and diversity of life experiences (past and present) in their works or art, literature and criticism.
The world needs you
This initiative is part of VUB's public programme: a programme for everyone who believes that scientific knowledge sharing, critical thinking and dialogue are an important first step to create impact in the world.
As an Urban Engaged University, VUB aims to be a driver of change in the world. With our academic edcuational programmes and innovative research, we contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and to making a difference locally and globally.
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