Course Dialogue and the Art of Listening

While long neglected in Western epistemology, listening as a way of knowing and relating to the world has recently received scholarly attention in various fields. Listening is also an essential yet under-investigated aspect of dialogue and a prerequisite for peaceful coexistence of different ways of life in multicultural societies. Holding a promise for unearthing new terrains of dialogue, learning and knowing, the following questions related to listening deserve to be investigated more closely:

• - In what sense is listening a valid ’way of knowing’?
• - What is the epistemological, methodological and ethical significance of listening?
• - What is the role of the second-person perspective in the art of knowing through listening?

In this course, we seek to offer an interdisciplinary approach to these questions, inviting a discussion with scholars from philosophy, theology, psychology, musicology, sound art, and educational studies. The modality of the course reflects the themes of ‘listening’ and ‘dialogue’: We seek to engage all speakers and participants in a mutual process of listening and to cultivate both intellectual reflection and arts-based practices of intense listening as known from musicology, sound art, and improvised ‘dialogues’ with and without words.

Aim

The aim of this course is to provide

1. an introduction into influential texts on listening
2. an exploration of the art of listening in the context of dialogical processes
3. a discussion of the possibilities and limits of the art of listening.

Form

- keynote lectures

- reading and discussing classic texts

- short paper sessions in which PhD students can present their work

Target group/participants

All PhD students, postdoctoral research fellows and other colleagues interested in the theme

Language

English

ECTS credits

1,5 ECTS for preparation and participation without paper

2,5 ECTS for attending the course and presenting a paper

Keynote speakers

Aslaug Kristiansen, Agder University Kristiansand

Paul Mendes-Flohr, Hebrew University Jerusalem/University of Chicago

Peter Szendy, Brown University

Salomé Voegelin, University of the Arts London

Claudia Welz, University of Aarhus

Venue:

Aarhus University, Fredrik Nielsens Vej 4, Studenternes Hus, Preben Hornungstuen, 8000 Aarhus C.

Course dates:

• 22 September 2022 09:00 - 15:00
• 23 September 2022 09:00 - 15:00