A number of scholars have recently written about the current pandemic, taking up questions of sovereignty and biopolitics in different ways. We will read and discuss some short pieces by Alain Badiou, Bifo Berardi, Byung-Chul Han, and Bruno Latour. Chris Connery and Max Tomba will start the conversation off with presentations on some of the readings. Please do the readings beforehand. RSVP below by 4pm Tuesday, May 5 to receive Zoom link and password.

Readings:

“On the Epidemic Situation” by Alain Badiou
“Beyond the Breakdown” by Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi
“We cannot surrender reason to the virus” by Byung-Chul Han
“What protective measures can you think of so we don’t go back to the pre-crisis production model?” by Bruno Latour

Important information about this event: These informal sessions will be on Zoom and will start at 12:15pm. For security reasons, you will need to RSVP to register for each session; you will then receive a Zoom link and password for that session. We will have a “waiting room” for the session; the waiting room will open at noon, so please join between noon and 12:15pm (event moderators will let you into the session from the waiting room). Entry to the session will close at 12:30pm, so please don’t be late to join a session.

We will begin these Special Sessions with a two-part series on “Thinking the Pandemic.” The first part will be Wednesday, May 6 and the second on Wednesday, May 12. Stay tuned for more special sessions, including a speculative film called “A World Without Clouds,” for later in May.