Current Events

 

April 29, 2011

PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature

World premier of The Guestbook Project: Facing the Stranger Across the Divide. The screening of Guestbook films from Mitrovica, Derry, and Jerusalem, will be accompanied by a panel discussion on “Imagining the Stranger,” which will address notions of hospitality and hostility, violence and reconciliation, and the roles of the citizen and the stranger.  Instituto Cervantes New York City.

 

May 13, 2011

Boston College

Launch of Guestbook Publications:  

Hosting the Stranger: Between Religions, edited by James Taylor and Richard Kearney (2011);

Special edition of the journal Religion and the Arts, Hospitality: Imagining the Stranger, edited by Chris Yates, (2010); 

On Hosting the Stranger, edited by Thomas Epstein, (2011); 

Phenomenologies of the Stranger edited by Richard Kearney and Kascha Semonovitch (2011);

Screening of Three Guestbook Documentaries (2009-2011): 

Facing the Other Across the Divide: Mitrovica (Petra and James Taylor); 

Beyond the Walls: Derry/Londonderry (Martin Malarkey); 

Crosstalk: Jerusalem (Sarit Larry)

 

May 22, 2011

European Premiere of the Guestbook 'Divided Cities' Films at the 'Divided Cities in Transition' conference.  Derry/Londonderry

 

June 8, 2011

Screening of Guestbook Interreligious films at the 'Pilgrimage and Faith' lecture by Richard Kearney. Rublin Museum, New York

 

EXCHANGING NARRATIVES ACROSS THE DIVIDE (september-December 2011): An interdisciplinary Interactive Seminar between Boston College (Philosophy, History, Fine Arts), Georgetown University (Lannan Center for Poetry and Culture: Fanny Howe) and the Nerve Center in Derry, Northern Ireland (Martin Melarkey). The semester long seminar and related events and screenings were directed by Richard Kearney, Sheila Gallagher and Robert Savage.

SCREENING OF THE NARRATIVE EXCHANGE VIDEOS BY CLAY VENETIS AND CHRISTOPHER CHUNG (Boston College, December 9, 2011)

 

Summer 2010 events

In the summer of 2010, the Guestbook Project organised and co-produced the following events:

 

May 28, 2010
Skellig Islands, Ireland

The Guestbook Project (Richard Kearney, Fanny Howe, Noirin Ni Riain, Eoin O'Suilleabhain) co-organized an Interreligious Hospitality ceremony on Skellig Michael Island, 6 miles off the south Irish coast and one of the oldest monastic sites in Ireland dating back to the sixth century. The performance was hosted by the Dzogchen Buddhist community in Beara, West Cork, Ireland, who welcomed representatives of the Christian communities of Ireland. The event, including prayers and songs of welcome from the Christian and Buddhist traditions is posted on Guestbookproject.com. "Crossing Thresholds: at the Edge of the world"

May 24-26, 2010
Mitrovica, Kosovo

Guestbook Project assistant directors, James and Petra Taylor, in association with the 'Divided Cities in Transition' project (Padraig O'Malley and Nancy Riordan) co-organized and filmed a meeting between Serbs and Bosnians in this ancient city divided along religious, political, ethnic, and cultural lines. The documentary will be posted on the Guestbook Web site and made available to students and researchers in three other divided cities in the world (Derry, Jerusalem, Bangalore). "Hosting Strangers across the Divide"

June-July, 2010
Derry, Northern Ireland

Guestbook Project directors Richard Kearney and Fanny Howe, in association with the Nerve Centre directors, Martin Melarkey and John Peto, in Derry co-produced a documentary with students from the Catholic and Protestant communities of this historically divided city. The documentary is available on the Guestbook Web site for interactive exchanges between students in our other three divided cities and the students at Boston College. "Beyond The Walls"

June 1, 2010
Bangalore, India

The Guestbook Project (Richard Kearney and Sheila Gallagher) co-organized an interreligious hospitality event between the five wisdom traditions of India. This event was hosted by Professor Siddartha at the Fireflies International Centre for Political, Religious and Cultural Reconciliation in Bangalore. It was recorded in a short documentary and is posted on the Guestbook interactive Web site. "Welcoming the Stranger"
 
August, 2010
Jerusalem, East/West

Guestbook Project assistant, Sarit Larry, met with Israeli and Palestinian faculty and students of Universities in Jerusalem and invited them to take part in the Guestbook Project's 'Facing the Stranger' interactive Web site exchange, 2010-2011.

Summer 2010 events

In the summer of 2010, the Guestbook Project organised and co-produced the following events:

May 28, 2010
Skellig Islands, Ireland

The Guestbook Project (Richard Kearney, Fanny Howe, Noirin Ni Riain, Eoin O'Suilleabhain) co-organized an Interreligious Hospitality ceremony on Skellig Michael Island, 6 miles off the south Irish coast and one of the oldest monastic sites in Ireland dating back to the sixth century. The performance was hosted by the Dzogchen Buddhist community in Beara, West Cork, Ireland, who welcomed representatives of the Christian communities of Ireland. The event, including prayers and songs of welcome from the Christian and Buddhist traditions is posted on Guestbookproject.com. "Crossing Thresholds: at the Edge of the world"

May 24-26, 2010
Mitrovica, Kosovo

Guestbook Project assistant directors, James and Petra Taylor, in association with the 'Divided Cities in Transition' project (Padraig O'Malley and Nancy Riordan) co-organized and filmed a meeting between Serbs and Bosnians in this ancient city divided along religious, political, ethnic, and cultural lines. The documentary will be posted on the Guestbook Web site and made available to students and researchers in three other divided cities in the world (Derry, Jerusalem, Bangalore). "Hosting Strangers across the Divide"

June-July, 2010
Derry, Northern Ireland

Guestbook Project directors Richard Kearney and Fanny Howe, in association with the Nerve Centre directors, Martin Melarkey and John Peto, in Derry co-produced a documentary with students from the Catholic and Protestant communities of this historically divided city. The documentary is available on the Guestbook Web site for interactive exchanges between students in our other three divided cities and the students at Boston College. "Beyond The Walls"

June 1, 2010
Bangalore, India

The Guestbook Project (Richard Kearney and Sheila Gallagher) co-organized an interreligious hospitality event between the five wisdom traditions of India. This event was hosted by Professor Siddartha at the Fireflies International Centre for Political, Religious and Cultural Reconciliation in Bangalore. It was recorded in a short documentary and is posted on the Guestbook interactive Web site. "Welcoming the Stranger"
 
August, 2010
Jerusalem, East/West

Guestbook Project assistant, Sarit Larry, met with Israeli and Palestinian faculty and students of Universities in Jerusalem and invited them to take part in the Guestbook Project's 'Facing the Stranger' interactive Web site exchange, 2010-2011.

Autumn 2010 - Summer 2011 Events

Hermeneutics of the Gift

Seminar (Sept-Dec, 2010) directed by Richard Kearney with guest speakers, John Manoussakis, Eileen Sweeney, Kevin Newmark and Eric Severson

Seminar (Feb-Mar 2011) directed by Richard Kearney at University College Dublin

Imagining the Sacred: Anatheism/Atheism/Theism

Dialogue between Richard Kearney and James Wood, Boston College, Nov 18, 2010

Launch of Guestbook 2010 Documentaries 

World premier of Guestbook documentaries at the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, New York City, April 29, 2011

A screening of Guestbook documentaries from Skelligs, Banagalore, Mitrovica, Jerusalem, and Derry at Boston College, May 13, 2011

Past events

Performance: The Fall of Rome

"The Fall of Rome: A Traveller's Guide," a multimedia performance by poet, translator and essayist Anne Carson. April 16, 2010, 7:00 p.m. (Devlin 101)

BC Graduate Seminar: Hosting the Stranger

Spring 2009

Professor Richard Kearney of the Boston College philosophy department directs "Hosting the Stranger," a graduate seminar in collaboration with MIT. Sponsored by the Institute for the Liberal Arts. Learn more.

Conference: Inter-Religious Hospitality in the Five Wisdom Traditions

March 13 and 14, 2009  
 
(a) Hospitality in Jewish Culture, panel with Ed Kaplan (Brandeis) and Jacob Meskin (Hebrew College), Friday, March 13, 3 - 4:30 p.m. (Devlin 008) 
(b) Hospitality in Christian Culture, panel with Catherine Cornille (BC) and Patrick Hederman (Abbot of Glenstal Abbey), Saturday, March 14, 9:30 - 11 a.m. (Devlin 101) 
(c) Hospitality in Muslim Culture, panel with Dana Sajdi (BC) and Joseph Lumbard (Brandeis), Saturday, March 14, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. (Devlin 101) 
(d) Hospitality in Hindu Culture, panel with Francis Clooney (Harvard) and Swami Tyagananda (Harvard and Vedanta Institute), Saturday, March 14, 2 - 3:30 p.m. (Devlin 101) 
(e) Hospitality in Buddhist Culture, panel with Andy Rotman (Amherst), John Makransky (BC), Saturday, March 14, 4 - 5:30 p.m. (Devlin 101)

Sponsored by the Institute for the Liberal Arts.

Concert: Songs of Sacred Welcome

March 13, 2009 
 
Featuring Noirin Ni Riain & Company, Saint Mary's Chapel, 8 p.m. Sponsored by the Institute for the Liberal Arts.

Lecture: Dorothy Cross

April 1, 2009 
"Strangers of the Deep"
 
Guestbook/Lowell Lecture in Devlin 101 (5:30 p.m.). Sponsored by the Institute for the Liberal Arts. 

Festival: Poetries of the Stranger

April 17-19, 2009

Sponsored by the Institute for the Liberal Arts
 
Friday, April 17, 7 p.m.
"Strange Voice" with James Tate, Fanny Howe, and John Ashbery

Saturday, April 18, 7 p.m.
"Strange Image" with Henri Cole, Jorie Graham, and Mark Strand

Sunday, April 19, 7 p.m.
"Strange Place" with Adam Zagajewski, Lucie Brock-Broido, and Derek Walcott

Learn more

Panel: Hosting the Stranger: Hospitality and Hostility in World Politics, featuring Noam Chomsky

April 22, 2009, 6:30 p.m.
Merkert 127 Auditorium

Noam Chomsky is the featured panelist in this event, moderated by Richard Kearney, director of the seminar, with responses by Ali Banuazizi, professor of political science, and Stephen Pfohl, professor of sociology. Sponsored by the Boston College Guestbook Series.

Conference: Phenomenologies of the Stranger

May 2, 2009

This conference features panelists Jack Caputo, Karmen MacKendrick, Edward Casey, David Wood, Simon Critchley, and William Richardson (Devlin 101, 11 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.) Sponsored by the Institute for the Liberal Arts.