Virtual Conversation Series

The RA Virtual Conversation Series is an online discussion of recent Rousseau scholarship that takes place several times over the course of the year. If you are a member of the Rousseau Association, check your inbox for details on the next event, and if you are interested in presenting at or moderating a discussion, please contact any member of the Executive Committee.

2023-2024

On Friday, October 20, 2023, at 11:00 am EST, Alexandra Oprea joined us for “Rousseau’s Emile: Education for Citizenship by Consent,” with John Warner as discussant.

On Friday, November 17, 2023, at 10:30 am EST, Thierry Côté spoke on “Rousseau and Dubos on Musical Imitation,” with Nathan Martin as discussant.

On Friday, January 26, 2024, at 11:00 am EST, Céline Spector and Johanna Lenne-Cornuez presented on their book, Rousseau et Locke: Dialogues critiques.

On Friday, February 23, 2024, at 11:00 am EST, David Lay Williams presented a selection on Rousseau from The Greatest of All Plagues: How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx.

On Friday, March 29, 2024, at 11:00 am EST, Rudy Le Menthéour and Ourida Mostefai presented the introduction to their edition of the Lettre à D’Alembert.

On Friday, April 19, 2024, at 1:00 pm EST, Brigitte Weltman-Aron moderated a conversation with Jean-Luc Guichet, who presented “Climatisation du moi et temporalité subjective au XVIIIe siècle (Rousseau)” as part of his current research on the genesis of ecological thought.

2022-2023

On Friday, September 30, 2022, at 1:00 pm EST, in collaboration with the Society for Eighteenth-Century French Studies, Olivier Contensou moderated a virtual conversation with Flora Champy around her book L’Antiquité politique de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, entre exemples et modèles (Classiques Garnier, 2022).

On Friday, November 4, 2022, at 1:00 pm EST, Flora Champy moderated and Jason Neidleman served as respondent for a virtual conversation with Théophile Pénigaud around his book manuscript, Les délibérations du peupleJ-J. Rousseau en contexte.

On Friday, December 9, 2022, at 11:45 am EST, John T. Scott moderated and Denise Schaeffer served as respondent for a virtual conversation with Emma Planinc on the topic “Painting Political Philosophy: On Reading Rousseau as an Artist.”

2021-2022

The inaugural meeting of the Rousseau Association Virtual Conversation Series took place via Zoom on Friday, October 15, 2021 at 1:00 pm EST. John T. Scott discussed his book, Rousseau’s Reader: Strategies of Persuasion and Education (University of Chicago Press, 2020) in conversation with Geneviève Rousselière

Our second virtual conversation, moderated by Flora Champy and featuring Elliot Montagano on “Rousseau and the Problem of Censorship: Freedom, Virtue, and the Education of the Citizen,” took place at 1:00 pm EST on Friday, December 3, 2021.

On Friday, January 21, 2022, a virtual conversation moderated by Sarah Benharrech featured Célia Abele on “Material Rêveries: Plants and Playing Cards.”

On February 25, 2022, Christophe Litwin led a conversation with Johanna Lenne-Cornuez on her book, Etre à sa place. La formation du sujet dans la philosophie morale de Rousseau (Classiques Garnier, 2021).

On Friday, April 29, 2022, at 1:00 pm EST, Zev Trachtenberg moderated a virtual conversation with Rebecca Ploof entitled “‘A Fruit of Every Clime’? Rousseau’s Environmental Politics.”