“What Was Enlightenment?” is a roundtable devoted to a critical re-examination of Enlightenment thought and its enduring, yet ambivalent, legacy in modernity.
The event will open with a 15-minute virtual presentation by Antoine Lilti, Professor at the Collège de France and a leading specialist of the Enlightenment, who will outline the central arguments of his book The Legacy of the Enlightenment – Ambivalences of Modernity.
The presentation will be followed by a faculty conversation in which Lilti and an interdisciplinary group of Houston-based scholars will explore his book’s themes and critically consider the Enlightenment’s relevance today.
The discussion will conclude with a Q&A session, offering students and audience members the opportunity to join the panel’s conversation about the contemporary meaning and stakes of Enlightenment thought.
“Who Speaks for the Future?” is a student-led panel exploring questions of responsibility, authority, and evolving forms of public action. Participants will speak to their challenges and aspirations in finding a voice and creating platforms to help think and make the future, as well as to the question of what the idea of “the future” means for younger generations today. The session highlights students from across fields and interests, offering diverse perspectives on what it means to speak for and to the future in today’s world.