The Scholar’s Vocation, 2020/2021
January 8, 2021 @ 5:00PM EST
Merve Emre, Oxford University
Peter Gordon, Harvard University
Project funded by the DAAD/German Academic Exchange Service
Given the labor conditions in the humanities, both in and beyond academia, how much sense does it make to choose the humanities as a career path? What role should humane values have in the university classroom? Do instructors have a responsibility to teach them? These are old questions. In fact, they have a central place in Max Weber’s famous “Science as a Vocation” lecture, which was first published exactly 100 years ago. But the events of 2020 have given them a new urgency and meaning, and as the new year begins, we invite you to reflect on them with us. The starting point for our discussion will be two brief presentations and a short conversation between the speakers, Merve Emre and Peter Gordon, and the co-hosts of the event, Matthew Birkhold and Paul Reitter. Merve Emre and Peter Gordon, who are university professors and public intellectuals, will speak about their dual profile—the motivations that drive it, the intellectual benefits it has brought, and the challenges and surprises it has entailed. We especially welcome the participation of prospective and current graduate students.