2022 Virtual Seminar

In Dialogue with Martin Buber

A partnership with the Ernst Bloch Centre at the School of Advanced Study University of London

This eight-part seminar series is open to everyone interested in more deeply exploring the issues plaguing our society. We convene on Zoom for a 90-minute talk and up to 30 minutes of discussion and Q&A.

Description: Both inside and outside of the academy we witness the continued attempts of bringing people and disciplines, scholars and themes, “in dialogue” with each other. But how are we to understand dialogue in digital terms, in times of war and after a global pandemic? Is it possible to establish a dialogical relation despite or even through conflict? What can a praxis of dialogue look like that would be able to help us live through the besetting realities of our time? In this seminar we will explore answers to these questions, inspired by Martin Buber’s dialogical philosophy, but welcoming other authors and perspectives to address these issues. Taking a cue from last year’s reflections on Buber’s philosophy of communication, this year we will approach its main tenet – the mutual relation of trust and individual recognition at the core of dialogue – from the angles of a variety of different approaches and in the light of the pressing issues of the contemporary moment.  

Please submit your registration to receive emails with Zoom links to attend the series. You only need to register once to automatically get an email for each upcoming session with a link to join.

Find out more & register by clicking the links below:

  • Lehrhaus Politics

    Buber and Politics Today: Developing a Dialogical Politics

    Wednesday, April 20, 2022

    11 - 1pm NYC, 6-8pm Jer., 4-6pm in Lon.

    Recent events have raised the specter of a renewed cold war that threatens the stability of the international order, while deepening the distrust between peoples and nations. Can Buber’s concept of dialogue forge new bonds of trust on the international stage?

  • Dialogue In and “After” the Covid-19 Pandemic

    Wednesday, May 4, 2022

    11 -1pm NYC, 6pm-8pm Jer.

    The Covid-19 pandemic exposed and exacerbated foundational issues of inequality, access to medical care and loneliness. How can Buberian dialogical perspectives serve our communities during this crisis?

  • A Stroll Through the Woods with Buber: Reflections on Environmental Ethics

    Wednesday, May 18, 2022

    11 -1pm NYC, 6-8pm Jer., 4-6pm in Lon.

    In 2015 the UN Secretary-General told the Vatican Workshop on Climate Change that protecting the environment is “an urgent moral imperative,” a “sacred duty.” How can Buber’s extensive writings, life and legacy help us address this imperative?

  • Lehrhaus Buber

    The Charismatic Leader and the Life of the Community

    Monday, May 23, 2022

    11 -1 NYC, 6pm-8pm Jer.

    How are we to understand the role of charisma within the political sphere? Is it a mere instrument of power or can itself be the basis for the construction of dialogue and to foster the life of the political community? Can Buber’s reflections around theocracy and the politics lead us to problematize the notion of charisma and to cast new light on the nature and limits of political agency?

  • Sessions 5-8

    Date TBA

    11 -1 NYC, 6pm-8pm Jer.

    LOOK OUT FOR MORE DETAILS SOON!