Laughter spilled from lively debates over philosophical questions as Emory University undergraduates and graduate students mingled with professors over light refreshments. The buzz of conversation built an air of anticipation for the discussion ahead, moments before Carla Freeman, director of the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry (FCHI), took the stage to introduce the highlight of the night.Around 60 students and faculty came to the Emory Center for Ethics on Sept. 22 to celebrate Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Philosophy Lynne Huffer. In addition to commemorating her birthday, the audience gathered to learn about Huffer\u2019s latest book, \u201cThese Survivals: Autobiography of an Extinction.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before Huffer took the stage, Philosophy Department Chair Andrew Mitchell and Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor of Art History Lisa Lee gave their remarks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Freeman spoke first, discussing FCHI\u2019s tradition of hosting book launches for all faculty in the humanities, which began two years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m a strong believer in ritual and celebrations,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cIn any time, but especially in dark times, we should seize any opportunity we can to celebrate creativity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following Freeman\u2019s comments, Mitchell introduced Huffer and shared what he gleaned from her\u00a0 work. Due to the fragmented nature of the \u201cThese Survivals,\u201d which intertwines collages and text, Mitchell described Huffer\u2019s work as uncontainable and evergrowing as opposed to seeming like a single text.\u201cIt is about fragments and holes, to a certain extent, and there\u2019s immediacy about that,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cIn reading the book, you come to realize how much of our own experience is fragmented.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Huffer then took the microphone, sharing that various interests and social causes informed her text \u2014 from 20th-century French philosopher Michel Foucault to biology to feminist theory. She revealed that one of her inspirations behind writing about climate change and environmental issues was attending over 10 years of meetings with an Anthropocene reading group at Emory. Perspectives from scientists, social scientists and others in the humanities coupled with her extensive research of Foucault inspired Huffer to rethink her approach to history.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years, I\u2019ve developed a take on Michel Foucault\u2019s work that allows me to think about the Earth, archives and planetary time, or what\u2019s known as deep time \u2014 geological time \u2014 through the lens of what Foucault calls genealogy, a method of writing that rethinks the present by approaching the past as fragmented, incomplete and radically discontinuous,\u201d Huffer said.<\/p>\n