Australian philosopher Elizabeth Grosz will present the 2005 Goldfarb Lecture in Visual Arts – “Chaos, Territories, Art” – at York University on Feb. 23.
An internationally recognized scholar in the fields of French feminist theory, cultural theory, psychoanalysis and the body, Grosz will talk about French philosopher, theorist and social psychologist Gilles Deleuze. In particular, she will explore the relevance of Deleuze to rethinking the ways in which we understand the origins and impetus of art and architecture.
Deleuze (1925-1995) was one of the foremost philosophers of the 20th century. A popular university lecturer and prolific writer, his two best-known books, each co-written with Felix Guattari, were The Anti-Oedipus (1972) and A Thousand Plateaus (1980). His theories in the inter-connected areas of art, literature, philosophy and psychoanalysis reverberated far beyond academia.
Grosz was born in Sydney, Australia and earned her PhD in philosophy from the University of Sydney, where she taught from 1978-1991. She assumed the role of director of the newly-formed Institute of Critical and Cultural Studies at Monash University, Melbourne in 1992, where she also taught critical theory and philosophy. In the US, she has been a visiting professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Davis and Irvine; Johns Hopkins University; University of Richmond; and George Washington University.
Now based in New York, Grosz is the author of six books, including The Nick of Time: Politics, Evolution and the Untimely (2004); Space, Time and Perversion: Essays on the Politics of Bodies (1995); and Volatile Bodies: Toward a Corporeal Feminism (1994). She is currently a professor in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University.
This free public lecture is generously supported by Joan and Martin Goldfarb.
Grosz’ talk will be held in Feb. 23 at 2:30pm in Room E111 in the Seymour Schulich Building at the Keele campus. For more information, call ext. 55187.