ECCE program focuses on poststructuralism

The University of Illinois at Springfield will be hosting its final program for the summer Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speaker Series on Wednesday, July 15 at 6 p.m. in Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library on the UIS campus. The program is called “This Event is Not Taking Place: Truth, Reality and History in Baudrillard’s Political Philosophy” and will be presented by Dr. Richard Gilman-Opalsky.

The lecture, followed by an open discussion, will focus on some of the central claims of the work of Jean Baudrillard and the most provocative tenets of late 20th century French social and political philosophy, especially the movement known as “poststructuralism.” Gilman-Opalsky will discuss how this movement challenges the ways we think and speak about the world in which we live. Background knowledge about Jean Baudrillard or “poststructuralism” is not needed to understand and participate in this program.

Gilman-Opalsky is an assistant professor of political philosophy in the Department of Political Science at UIS. His teaching areas and research interests include the history of political philosophy, continental and contemporary political theory, socialist philosophy, globalization, cosmopolitanism, critical theory, and poststructuralism.

For information about the ECCE Speaker Series, contact Kimberly Craig, series coordinator, at 206-6245 or e-mail speakerseries@uis.edu.