2016-2017 John E. Sawyer Seminar onsponsored by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Seth Koven (History) and Judith Surkis (History), co-directors
For pre-circulated readings, please contact:
September 6: First meeting (fellows only): introductions and collective discussion of Stefan Ludwig Hoffmann, "Human Rights and History," Past and Present (2016)
September 13: Larry Scanlon (English, Rutgers): "Sin and the Sexual Subject"
September 19: Sarolta A. Takács (History, Rutgers): Public lecture: "Reading Sophocles' Antigone across Time and Place," 4:30-6pm, Pane Room, Alexander Library, Reception to follow
September 20: Sarolta A. Takács (History, Rutgers): Masterclass on Antigone
September 27: Johan Mathew (History, Rutgers): "On Principals and Agency: Reconsidering Trust in Economic History"
October 4: J. M. DeLeon (Mellon RCHA Postdoctoral Fellow, Rutgers): "Archival Self-Indulgence: Eating Honey, Wasting Time"
October 11 David Eng (English, University of Pennsylvania): "Colonial Object Relations"
October 18 Peter Holquist (History, University of Pennsylvania): "'Crimes against Humanity': Genealogy of a Concept and the Role of Imperial Russia, 1868-1945"
October 24: Thomas Laqueur (History, UC Berkeley): Public Lecture: "Dogs, Humanity and Humanitarianism," 4:30-6pm, Brower Commons, Rooms A,B&C, Reception to follow
October 25: Thomas Laqueur (History, UC Berkeley): "The Ethics of the Dead"
November 1 Samuel Fury Childs Daly (RCHA Postdoctoral Fellow, Rutgers): "Sworn on the Gun: Law, Crime, and Warfare in Nigeria, 1967-1976"
November 8: Dorothy Hodgson (Anthropology, Rutgers): Book Symposium and Celebration: Gender, Justice and the Problem of Culture: From Customary Law to Human Rights in Tanzania, with comments from Barbara Cooper (History, Rutgers) and Sally Engle Merry (Anthropology/Law, NYU)
November 15 Maya Mikdashi (Women's and Gender Studies, Rutgers): "Archival Refusal: War, Law, and Memory in Lebanon"
November 29: Satyasikha (Shikha) Chakraborty (Mellon Predoctoral Fellow, History, Rutgers): TBA
December 1-2: Conference: “The Subjects and Objects of Humanitarianism,” Keynote by Peter Redfield (Anthropology, University of North Carolina; Member, Institute for Advanced Study), Pane Room, Alexander Library
December 13: Chantal Thomas (Law, Cornell): "Sovereignty, Migration, Ethics, Politics"
