Registration ends 07.4.2026 at 23:59 h

If your registration for this course is successful you will registered automatically for the course Walter Benjamin’s Illuminations - S (Maria Teresa Costa).

Hannah Arendt is widely regarded as an exemplary figure demonstrating how critical thought can be exercised against the current in “dark times.”
Persecuted, marginalized, and forced into exile, she developed a philosophy rooted in the concept of birth.
From this perspective, every act of action or speech can be understood as a form of new beginning. Whether engaging with political questions, the nature of philosophy, or literature, language, and poetry, Arendt consistently rejects modes of thought that prove simplistic or superficial. Her intellectual endeavour is guided by a profound “will to understand.”
This seminar will focus on texts in which Arendt explores thinking as a form of resistance.
Through close reading and discussion, participants will collaboratively construct a conceptual glossary aimed at cultivating intellectual resilience in dark times.

The aim of the seminar is to cultivate critical thinking.
The course is structured in an interactive format that provides ample space for discussion, and active participation from students is expected. During the sessions, we will engage in close readings of texts and view selected excerpts from videos and films, which will serve as the basis for collaborative discussion.
Careful preparation and reading of the assigned texts at home will be an essential complement to the in-class work.

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