A professor of political philosophy, social theory and visual culture in the Department of Government at Cornell University, Buck-Morss will discuss connections between aesthetics, democracy and the global public sphere.

Buck-Morss stimulated many debates among progressives with her latest book, Thinking Past Terror: Islamism and Critical Theory on the Left (Verso 2003). In it she approaches the field of Islamism as a matter of politics instead of religion and calls attention to the ways it has served as both a critique and a legitimization of Western political and cultural hegemony. Her research aims at finding ways to move left-wing discourse beyond critique and toward alternative political solutions to world problems.

Her work on the Frankfurt School of philosophical thought is considered essential reading for students of critical theory. This school of thought, a diverse body of neo-Marxist social theory, was started in The Institut für Sozialforschung (Institute of Social Research) as part of the University of Frankfurt in Germany in 1923.

Buck-Morss' books include The Origin of Negative Dialectics: Theodore W. Adorno, Walter Benjamin and the Frankfurt Institute (Free Press, 1977), The Dialectics of Seeing: Walter Benjamin and the Arcades Project (MIT Press, 1989) and Dreamworld and Catastrophe: The Passing of Mass Utopia in East and West (MIT Press, 2000). She has also written several influential essays, including "Aesthetics and Anaesthetics: Walter Benjamin's Artwork Essay Reconsidered" (October, Fall 1992) and "Hegel and Haiti" (Critical Inquiry, Summer 2000).

About Ioan Davies

Ioan Davies taught at York University from 1972 until his sudden death February 2000. He helped establish the African Studies Program, the Graduate Program in Social and Political Thought, and the Joint Graduate Program in Communications and Culture.

Davies, whose memory is honoured in this annual event, shared with Buck-Morss an appreciation of the work of Walter Benjamin and taught graduate courses on aesthetics and contemporary critical theory in the Department of Social and Political Thought in the Faculty of Arts at York.

The lecture will take place in the Senate Chamber, N940 Ross Bldg on York's Keele campus.

York University is the leading interdisciplinary teaching and research university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city.  The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 180,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 faculties and 21 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries.  This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. 

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For more information or to arrange an interview, the media should contact:

Ken Turriff, York U. Media Relations. 416-736-2100, ext. 22086 / kturriff@yorku.ca

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