GTC: History’s Undead: Benjamin, Marx and the Tradition of the Oppressed

Undisciplined // Global Theories of Critique 2021-22

The Global Theories of Critique workshop meetings this year revolves around the practice of un-disciplining knowledge. Each speaker will open up the session with the body of theory and/or practice they strive to un-discipline in their work. Followed by a roundtable discussion of the speakers’ work that the workshop participants will read beforehand.

All meetings will be on Zoom. Register here: https://umich.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUrduirrD4sG9Fl9T6fZEAVerNzOHPH2NAR

Sami Khatib’s work spans the fields of Aesthetic Theory, Critical Theory, Media Theory and Cultural Studies with a special focus on the thought of Walter Benjamin. His area of competence is in 19th and 20th century Continental Philosophy with an emphasis on early Frankfurt School, Kant, German Idealism, Nietzsche, Marx, Freud and post-Structuralism. He holds an M.A. degree in Media Studies and Philosophy (2004) and a Ph.D. degree in Media Studies (2013) from Freie Universität Berlin (Germany). He is author of a book on Walter Benjamin (Marburg: Tectum, 2013); an English translation, titled “'Teleology without End.' Walter Benjamin’s Dislocation of the Messianic,” is forthcoming. After finishing his appointment as an Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Arts and Humanities at the American University of Beirut (2015/16), he joined the Department of Fine Arts and Art History at AUB as a Whittlesey Visiting Assistant Professor. Prior to his appointments at AUB, he taught Cultural and Media Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. In 2012, he was awarded a residency fellowship from the interdisciplinary Jan van Eyck Academie, a post-academic institute for research and production in the fields of fine art, design and theory, based in Maastricht (NL).