TSHD Lustrum Event

Our society is in the midst of unprecedented change and transitions. Together, we face many interconnected challenges, from climate change and digitisation to inequality and polarisation. While it’s impossible and undesirable to solve all problems just like that and go back to the way it once was – which led us to this point in the first place – we need to find a way forward and develop new perspectives on how to relate to the turmoil. What means are available to us to have an impact on the world we live in, as individuals and collectively?

In this talk, Miriam Rasch proposes to engage in an ethics of listening. We are all well versed in speaking up and voicing our opinions, but do we dare to listen? In our media-saturated culture dominated by screens and visuals, can we take the time to be quiet and let unheard sounds and voices come forward - where sound and voice may also be understood as story or gesture. Listening is a form of generous curiosity, be it towards fellow human beings, other animals, or nature. It can open up pathways to the unexpected and unpredicted. A value and virtue for our times and age, not in the least in the context of research and education.

Miriam Rasch is an essayist and philosopher with a background in literature and a focus on the ethics of technology. She writes about our lives in post-digital times for different newspapers and journals, including NRC Handelsblad, De Nederlandse Boekengids and Filosofie Magazine, where she has a monthly column. Her books include Frictie: Ethiek in tijden van dataïsme (Friction: Ethics in times of dataism, 2020, winner of the Socratesbeker for the best philosophical book of the year) and Autonomie, een zelfhulpgids (Autonomy, a self-help guide; 2022). Miriam also works at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, where she coordinates and develops research education in art and design. In the fall of 2023, she will be Writer-in-Residence at NIAS, Amsterdam.