Saint Xavier University hosts John Ziegler Memorial Lecture

Saint Xavier University’s (SXU) Department of Philosophy will host Peg Birmingham, professor of Philosophy at DePaul University on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m. in Warde Academic Center’s Fourth Floor Boardroom for the 2016 John Ziegler Memorial Lecture Series.

Professor Birmingham’s lecture is entitled, “On a Universal Right to Politics: Refugees, Political Borders, and a New Conception of Citizenship” is free and open to the public. There will be a reception following the event for all to enjoy.

The following is a brief synopsis of the lecture:

“In June 2015, the United Nations (UN) Refugee Agency put the figure of forcibly displaced persons at more than 50 million globally. The refugee crisis returns us to Hannah Arendt’s claim of a right to have rights, that is, a universal right to politics. In this lecture, Birmingham will address the contradiction at the center of this right, namely that, while there may be a universal right to politics, politics seems to require borders and boundaries. In addressing this contradiction, she will challenge us to consider whether it is possible to resolve this contradiction with a new conception of citizenship and political borders.”

Birmingham teaches and conducts research in the areas of continental philosophy, political theory, and feminist theory. She is the author of “Deception, Violence, and Law: Renewing the Political” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016) and “Hannah Arendt and Human Rights” (Indiana University Press, 2006).

For more information, please contact the SXU Department of Philosophy at (773) 298-3441 or philosophy@sxu.edu. To learn more about the history of the John Ziegler Memorial Lecture Series, please visit SXU’s website.