Nordic Summer University, Circle 4: An/Other\not-I/(m)\Other in Feminist Philosophy

Program of the Summer Session 2024

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Call For Participation / Workshops / Presentations
(now closed)

NSU Summer Session Denmark, 29 July – 5 August 2024

Write with an-other\(m)/Other

(pdf of the call)

Writing is a core activity for many academics, artists, thinkers, students… Yet how can we practise writing in a way that is not evolving around one – one author, one text, one Truth, one publication – which is a repetition of the same (Irigaray), a violence to the world (Levinas), and a phallic lack (Ettinger). During this week we invite collaborators who are interested in exploring an-other reality that can be writing. Not limited to linguistic practises. 

with – Power is often understood along the lines of ‘power over’. But there is also a power-with. Heidegger talked about being in terms of a ‘being-with’. We would like to extend these distinctions towards the realm of art, and writing in particular. What does it mean to write-with. Is it possible? What are the prerequisites, what are the possible outcomes? We particularly invite experiments and failure. 

An-other – Although the understanding that the individual’s identity and being relies on the relationality with the an-other/not-I is more and more acceptable in Western philosophy and the arts, it remains an ephemeral concept that is riddled with prejudices. How to create a space in which an-other is neither othered nor destroyed by colonisation of the I? And more prominently, how to do that within language, within a linearity of text? How to deal with archives that lack the other-as-other as they write within systems of exclusion? How to deal with a text that is not one’s own? How to deal with a text an-other-you has written yesterday? 

\(m)/Other – And yet there is also the possibility of compassion, the raised arms of the (m)Other that does not know yet that all turn to for knowledge. The burden of proof is always shifted to those who already understand, whose knowledge is earned through generations and emotional work, and how to convey this to the Other that is never going to go through all of that? How is writing also a practise to be with one’s self, raising arms in desperation and in prayer, \(m)/, accessing something that lies between Truth and Life. 

Invitation

This is an invitation for exploration around these themes. We especially encourage workshops / interactive formats. We have a whole week together, to write with an-other\(m)/Other. Also very welcome to participate without presenting / giving a workshop. First-time experiments are as welcome as tested concepts. 

Please send us a short text explaining your aim / topic / idea, how much time you would need to host the experience, and what materials you would need (paper/paint/bicycles). 

About Nordic Summer University (NSU):

NSU is a space for collaboration between disciplines/peoples/ideas. During the Summer Session several study circles, each hosting their own program, will come together – participants are welcome to join different circles/programmes during the week. NSU is a flat organisation, being present means you are a member and part of the organisation.

Costs

NSU offers a limited amount of grants and scholarships. If you are interested in receiving one (which means a reduced participation fee), please let us know while applying. 

• 175 euros – grants and scholarships – bed in a twin room 
• 250 euros – children 4 to 12
• 425 euros – bring your own tent
• 475 euros – glamping in a tent with 5 other beds 
• 550 euros – bed in a double or twin room
• 675 euros – single room
• Family room for 2 adults and 1 child – 1300 euros
• Family room for 1 adult and 2 children – 1025 euros
• Family room for 2 adults and 2 children – 1550 euros 
• Family room for 2 adults and 3 children – 1800 euros

The price includes NSU membership, so it is not necessary to purchase it separately. Those who have already attended a winter symposium and paid the membership will receive a discount code to deduct the membership fee. No refunds will be given if participants pay membership twice by mistake, so please mention in your application that you already attended an NSU event this year, to receive a discount code.

Deadlines

Please send us your application by April 25th. Especially if you would like to be considered to receive a grant/scholarship, as decisions on grants/scholarships will be made at the beginning of May. Deadline to confirm and pay your spot as a grant/scholarship receiver is May 7th. 

Other applicants are accepted on a rolling basis. Final deadline to apply: May 25th. By June 1st you will need to register and pay for the accommodation.

Applications and queries can be send to: nicole.nobyeni@nsuweb.org
Please be aware that everyone involved at Nordic Summer University is doing so on a voluntary basis.

About the Circle:

How to think/write/be/inter-act without being limited by an already outlined goal/outcome/impact? How to explore what is messy/confused/embodied while accepting that exploration is always also taking place within philosophy/genre/language/life – within what is. That is, our attempt to explore, to transcend our sites of speech happens in this world and is framed by the situatedness of our lives. Could it be otherwise? This study circle aims to take advantage of the network, space and openness provided by the Nordic Summer University to raise questions that cannot be answered/grounded/voiced, for philosophers/writers/feminists and/or/as-well-as those who are other(s/ed/ing). 

This study circle will explore the liminality of not belonging in a discipline/space/frame/ category/nation. Accepting language as the limit/tool/curse and an unavoidable starting point, building upon the work of Irigaray/Arendt/Ettinger, this state of exception of being-with/in/of language is not simple put aside, but accepted as a reality which is “disturbing, overwhelming, and sometimes too close for comfort”. 

These tensions open up a liminal space – how to think/write/be/inter-act within such a space, while being an/Other\not-I/(m)\Other within feminist philosophy? How to write/create/live as a being that is more than the available categories available to mark/describe/situate them? How to explore power as a temporary space, a moment, political and liminal? How to read and ground ourselves in feminist philosophy while also living/m-othering/PhD-ing? How to even ask/write/question these questions, without falling prey to the linearity inherent in what/who/why it means to question? 

More information: https://www.nsuweb.org/study-circles/circle-4-an-other-not-i-m-other-in-feminist-philosophy/