International Conference

It will also be broadcast live on Zoom. To watch online, please register here:
– Thursday, June 25
– Friday, June 26
– Saturday, June 27

Conception: Susan Neiman, Potsdam
with: Avrum Burg, Jerusalem; Michel Chaouli, Bloomington; Lorraine Daston, Berlin; Irina Dumitrescu, Bonn; J Henry Fair, New York; Konstanty Gebert, Warsaw; Daniel Kehlmann, Berlin/New York; Claire Messud, Cambridge, Mass.; Glenn Most, Chicago/Pisa; Fintan O’Toole, Dublin; Jed Perl, New York; Albie Sachs, Cape Town; Volker Schlöndorff, Berlin; Julia Sonnevend, New York; Mingming Wang, Beijing; Sean Wilentz, Princeton; James Wood, Cambridge, Mass.; Molly Worthen, Chapel Hill

Charisma, like pornography, is easier to recognize than define. Social scientists have not improved on Max Weber’s attempt, which is so vague as to border on tautology. Charisma is not a matter of intelligence (though intelligence helps) or competence (which often doesn’t). It’s essentially erotic, but it need not involve sex. Its mystery led the early Greeks, who first named it, to view it as a gift of the gods: something that cannot be cultivated but might be conferred by grace. Attempts to describe it often rely on metaphors of light: charismatic people are dazzling, or sparkling, or fiery. In an attempt to get beyond social science or metaphor, leading international thinkers will discuss historical, political, religious, literary, and artistic dimensions of this crucial but elusive concept.

 
Program

Thursday, June 25

6:15 pm
Susan Neiman (Potsdam)
Albert Einstein’s Charisma: Attempting a Love Letter

7:30 pm
Albie Sachs (Cape Town)
The Making, Unmaking, and Re-Making
of Nelson Mandela

 
Friday, June 26

10:00 am
Molly Worthen (Chapel Hill)
The Rise of Charisma, the Fall of Experts,
and the Future of Politics

11:00 am
Julia Sonnevend (New York)
Beyond Charisma: The Politics of Charm

12:00 pm
Coffee break

12:30 pm
Glenn Most (Chicago/Pisa)
Charisma, Charis, Chairō, Charizō
Remarks on a Greek Etymology

1:30 pm
Lunch break

3:00 pm
Konstanty Gebert (Warsaw)
Revolutionary Charisma

4:00 pm
Mingming Wang (Beijing)
Translating Charisma

5:00 pm
Coffee break

5:30 pm
Irina Dumitrescu (Bonn)
Charisma and Confession

6:30 pm
Lorraine Daston (Berlin)
Charisma in the Classroom

 
Saturday, June 27

10:00 am
Avram Burg (Jerusalem)
Israel Learned from the Germans, the Church Learned from Judaism: Two Charismas of Collectives

11:00 am
Coffee break

11:30 am
Michel Chaouli (Bloomington)
Poetic Charisma

12:30 pm
Jed Perl (New York)
Cultural Charisma: True and False

1:30 pm
Lunch break

3:00 pm
Claire Messud (Cambridge, Mass.),
Fintan O’Toole (Dublin),
and James Wood (Cambridge, Mass.)
Literary Charisma: A Conversation

4:00 pm
Volker Schlöndorff (Berlin) in conversation with Daniel Kehlmann (Berlin/New York)
Charisma in Film: Found or Created?

5:00 pm
Coffee break

5:30 pm
J Henry Fair (New York)
Picturing Freedom: Harriet Tubman
and the Combahee River Raid

6:30 pm
Sean Wilentz (Princeton)
Bob Dylan and the Charisma of Refusal