Philosopher and public intellectual Susan Neiman’s international eminence is attested by her large scholarly contributions and public engagement on issues of race, racism, and the memory of the Holocaust in Germany, as well as other works about good and evil. She became director of the Einstein Forum, a think tank in the former East Germany, in 2000 where she became a major public intellectual in the lively civic culture of post-Cold-War Berlin. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Neiman studied philosophy at Harvard University and the Freie Universität-Berlin, Germany. Neiman was a protégé of John Rawls at Harvard. Prior to assuming directorship of the Einstein Forum, she was professor of philosophy at Yale and Tel Aviv University.

Left is not Woke

In the United States as in other countries, many people genuinely concerned to right historical wrongs have woven together an ideology often called “the woke left.”  I will argue that this ideology is not, in fact, genuinely leftist, as it challenges many of the crucial ideas that have traditionally been central to all leftwing movements.   I will argue for a new understanding of ideas of solidarity, justice and progress that have their roots in the much-maligned Enlightenment, and discuss how those ideas might be applicable today.

The William T. Patten Foundation

The William T. Patten Foundation provides funds to bring distinguished scholars or practitioners in the sciences, the humanities and the arts to the Bloomington campus for a week. The foundation has brought over 150 scholars of extraordinary national and international distinction since 1937, making it the oldest lecture series at Indiana University. Lecturers are chosen by a campus-wide faculty committee.

William T. Patten graduated in 1893 with a Bachelor of Arts in history from IU. He then moved to Indianapolis and led a successful career in real estate and politics. He created an endowment for the university in 1931, with the purpose of bringing renowned leaders to the Bloomington campus.