Conference Program

SimmelConferenceProgram_11-8
Click on the link to download a PDF file containing the preliminary Conference program.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11

8:30 – 9:00           Registration and milling

9:00 – 9:50           Session 1.  LIFE
Form: Introductions
Content: Who Are We and Why Are We Here? Our Lives and Simmel’s Life
Chair, Donald Levine, University of Chicago
SIMMEL AT CHICAGO
Mario Small, Chair, Department of Sociology, University of Chicago.  Words of Welcome
Donald Levine, University of Chicago. “Chicago and the Vexed Story of Simmel’s Reception”
LEBENSANSCHAUUNG AND SIMMEL’S LIFE
Daniel Silver, University of Toronto. “The Theme of ‘Life’ in Simmel’s Life”

9:50 – 11:00        Session 2.  THOUGHT ABOUT LIFE
Form: Colloquy
Content: Reading Simmel
SIMMEL IN OUR HEARTS. The Journal Aphorisms

John Andrews, University of Chicago. “Paradox, Transparadox, and the Individual in the Aphorisms”

Arthur Frank, University of Calgary. “The Soul of Simmel’s Aphorisms”

SIMMEL IN OUR HEADS. On “The Immanence of Transcendence,” by Hans Joas (The Genesis of Values, Ch. 4)
Hans Joas, University of Chicago/Universität Freiburg
Daniel Silver, University of Toronto
Alemayehu F. Weldemariam, Addis Ababa University
Paul Mendes-Flohr, University of Chicago

11:15 – 12:15     Session 3.  SIMMEL’S ORIGINARY THOUGHT
Form: Conference Thematic Lecture
Content: The Scope of Simmel’s Philosophic Achievement
Chair, James Conant, Department of Philosophy, University of Chicago
Ingo Meyer, Universität Bielefeld. “Simmel as a Transitional Figure in German Philosophy”
Elizabeth Goodstein, Emory University. “Simmel as Modernist Philosopher”

12:30                       Lunch

2:00 – 3:00          Session 4.  SELF
Form: Conference Thematic Lecture
Content: The Existential Self and the Cultivated Self
Chair, Volkhard Krech, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Fabio D’Andrea, Università di Perugia. “Bildung as the Simmelian Form of Subjectivity”
Ryan Coyne, University of Chicago. “Death, Immortality, and Self in Simmel and Heidegger”

3:15 – 4:45           Session 5. CULTURE
Form: Conference Panels
Content: Aesthetic Theory and Practice
Chair, Fabio D’Andrea, Universita di Perugia
David Kettler, Bard College. “Mannheim Reads Simmel: Sociology as Kulturform and Cultural Sociology.”
Austin Harrington, Universität Erfurt. “Simmel and Aesthetic Theory”
Thomas Kemple, University of British Columbia. “Simmel’s Moments Musicaux”
Berthold Hoeckner, University of Chicago. “Aesthetic Autonomy and the Rationalization of Music in Film”

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12

9:30 – 11:00        Session 6.  SOCIETY
Form: Conference Panel
Content: Simmelian Social Forms
Chair, David Kettler, Social Studies, Bard College
Elisabeth Clemens, University of Chicago. “The Poor and the Gift: Forms of Social Welfare”
Annette Disselkamp, Université de Lille. “On Secrecy and Interpersonal Knowledge”
Paola Castaño, University of Chicago. “The Victim as Social Type and the Social Form of Reparation”
Terry Clark, University of Chicago. “The Urban Scene as a Social Form”

11:15 – 12:30     Session 7.  CULTURE
Form: Thematic Dialogue
Content: History and Religion
Chair, Paul Mendes-Flohr, Divinity School, University of Chicago
Barry Schwartz, University of Georgia. “On Collective Memory and Simmel’s Historiographic Categories: The Early Jesus Narratives”
John Levi Martin, University of Chicago. “Aesthetics and the Logic of Historical Explanation in Simmel and Rickert”
Volkard Krech, Ruhr-Universität Bochum. “Simmel and the Contemporary Study of Religion”

12:30                       Lunch

2:30 – 3:20          Session 8.  SOCIETY
Form: Thematic Dialogue
Content: Theorizing Forms Beyond Simmel
Chair, Thomas Kemple, Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia
Woody Carter, University of Chicago. “The Cascade: a Form of Sequential Social Forms”
Tom Smith, Rochester University.  “Unconscious Emotional Forces in Social Interaction”

3:30-4:30             Session 9.  LIFE, SELF, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY
Form: Mixed
Content: Simmel and Modernity
Chair, Robert Pippin, Chair, Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago
Alessandro Cavalli, Università di Pavia. “Trust and Money: Does Simmel Help Us Understand the Dilemma of the Euro?”
Donald Levine, University of Chicago. “Simmel as Evolutionary Theorist and Modernist Educator”