In this 2019 article, the focus is on the responsibility of the university in particular, in a democracy, more specifically, the focus of the article from start to finish, is on Smith’s academy in a democracy. In it, I argue that Smith, in addition to his extensive contributions to the study of religion, makes a…
All posts by Bruce Woll
The Contribution of Jonathan Z. Smith’s Study of Religion to Democratic Politics: Religion as Thinking, Thinking as World-making
From the outset Jonathan Z. Smith has regarded his study of religion as a matter of public concern, not something separate and apart. He makes this explicit in a number of ways, but does not offer a fully-developed political theory. To make what I argue is his implicit non-sovereign political theory more fully explicit I…
Essay on a book about Arendt by Peg Cunningham, “Hannah Arendt and Human Rights”
Download and Read
A guide to reading The Human Condition
Download and Read
Fundamental Commitment to Democracy: Virtuous Certainty, Authority, and the Moral Passion of Skepticism
By 2006, the central issues surrounding the idea of “democracy,” were front and center, raised by the Bush administration’s response to 9/11. These issues included the foundational question of government of, by, and for the people, versus authoritarianism or domination, questions of legitimacy, questions of who are “the people,” who belongs to the body politic,…
Navigating a Stone’s Flow
It opens with a poem, a call to “Be faithful to the earth,” a warning call which has become inseparable from the central importance of Bruno Latour in my life as a “guide,” a guide to thinking about democracy on a global scale. Download and Read
Aims of Education Address—Danielle S. Allen
Aims of Education Address 2001—Danielle S. Allen She delivered this address on September 20, 2001, just after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Download and Read
Openness and Critical Thought: On Reading Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth
1993 Openness and Critical Thought: On Reading Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth Download and Read
Ways of Talking about Knowledge in NIU AE Doctoral Dissertations: Epistemology and the Future of Adult Education
1995 “Ways of Talking about Knowledge in NIU AE Doctoral Dissertations: Epistemology and the Future of Adult Education,” The Canmore Proceedings: International Conference on Educating the Adult Educator: Role of the University, 123-131. May 14-17, 1995. Michael Collins, Editor. Canmore, Alberta, Canada. Download and Read
The Texture of Knowing in the Information Age: Interpreting the Personal Computer Story as a Chapter in the History of Adult Education
1994 “The Texture of Knowing in the Information Age: Interpreting the Personal Computer Story as a Chapter in the History of Adult Education.” Download and Read