Distinguished Colombian philosopher Dr. Santiago Castro-Gómez will deliver a public lecture on October 17 at 3:45 p.m. in Room 311 of the Melbern G. Glasscock Building at Texas A&M University. No fees or tickets are required for the free lecture, called “Transmodern Primitivisms,” which is inspired by his most recent work and challenges the dominant belief that the core notions of the United States and French revolutions are of European origin.
His lecture is part of a week of events as a short-term visiting fellowship sponsored by the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research.
Castro-Gómez is known for his contributions to decolonial theory and the intellectual traditions of the Global South, which “broadly comprises Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Oceania.” His work has had a significant impact on Latin American philosophy and beyond, according to Dr. Don Deere, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and host of his fellowship.
“His reception in the United States is growing as well as the visibility of his work in the English language, so it’s the perfect time for him to come,” said Deere, who recently translated Castro-Gómez’s one of Castro-Gómez’s earliest works.
This residency marks nearly two decades since Castro-Gómez’s last trip to the United States, where he completed a similar fellowship at Duke University in the early 2000s.
The week of events featuring Castro-Gómez will commence Monday, October 14, with a campus tour and introduction to the philosophy department and the Glasscock Center. On Tuesday, October 15, he will visit Deere’s undergraduate class on Latin American philosophy, where they will discuss one of his recently translated earlier works, Critique of Latin American Reason. Later, Castro-Gómez will visit a graduate seminar for a similar discussion in critical theory, taught by Dr. Daniel Conway, professor of philosophy.
“Students will get the opportunity to see that Latin American philosophy is a living discipline, and its ideas are still being developed,” Deere said.
On Wednesday, October 16, Castro-Gómez will lead a philosophy graduate workshop to discuss his recently translated book, Zero Point Hubris: Science, Race, and Enlightenment in Eighteenth-Century Latin America.
On Friday, October 18, Castro-Gómez’s residency will conclude with a roundtable discussion co-organized by Deere and fellow philosophy professor, Dr. Ege Selin Islekel. In addition to bringing in four more international speakers, this event is the inaugural launch of Texas A&M Philosophy’s International Consortium for Thought of the Global South. This initiative, proposed by Deere and Islekel, aims to build research strength in Philosophies of the Global South. Additionally, the consortium will create an international network connecting similar programs in other institutions such as the University of Toronto, the University of California, Santa Cruz and Javeriana University in Bogota.
The roundtable discussion will include conversations regarding challenges and the future direction of critical thought in the Global South today, with a focus on building connections between the six scholars and their work.
“Castro-Gómez’s visit this fall not only highlights a need for translation but also draws attention to some of the most cutting-edge scholarship happening in Latin American philosophy today,” Deere said. “For Texas A&M, hosting such an important scholar underscores the university’s priority towards global, forward-thinking research and deep commitment to a much-needed intercultural dialogue. Dr. Santiago Castro-Gómez is probably one of the best thinkers living in the world today who can show us how philosophy is approaching those kinds of difficult issues that are at the front of the questions that we need to ask today.”