Leena PetersenResearch Fellow (Sussex Weidenfeld Institute of Jewish Studies - Centre for German-Jewish Studies)
Research
Leena Petersen’s research interests lie in the fields of philosophy of history, aesthetics and literature with a particular focus on critical theories of the early Frankfurt School.
Current Research Project
The current research project is entitled "Transformations of the Utopian. From Jewish Apologetics to Dialectics of the Enlightenment".
While a growing scholarly body is concerned with the role of religion in modernity, few approaches tend to engage a comparative approach considering the adaption of religion to modernity. The proposed research project aims to reestablish a critical aspect in the study of post-Enlightenment Europe. By relating the less researched and diverse European dimension of Jewish Studies with the religious impact within the critical theory of the early Frankfurt School, the research aspires to get an insight into the relation of positive religious belief, modern individuation and nationhood, and also into the disintegration of religion into the modern world.
Selected Organisation of Workshops
The Hole in Time: German-Jewish Political Philosophy and the Archive 06/2010
Two-Day Workshop co-organised with Dr Nitzan Lebovic and
Dr Sas Mays at the Institute for Modern and Contemporary Culture,
University of Westminster
Aesthetic Theories of Catastrophe in Fin-de-Siècle 04/2009
One-Day Workshop, co-organised with Prof Howard Caygill,
Goldsmiths College
Selection of Recent Conference Papers
"On Negative Aesthetics in German-Jewish Thought in the 19/20th Century" (forthcoming) 09/2010
BAJS 2010, University of Southhampton.
“Reconsidering Utopia” (forthcoming) 07/2010
6th Annual Joint Conference of the Society for European Philosophy
and the Forum for European Philosophy, Loyola University Chicago,
John Felice Rome Center – Rome, Italy.
"On Immediacy and Critique" 06/2010
Workshop The Hole in Time: German–Jewish Political Philosophy
and the Archive, University of Westminster.
"On Dogmatism and Tolerance” 04/2010
within the Lecture Series “Toleration of Variety in Judaism”
at the Oriental Institute, Oxford University.
“Transformations of the Utopian. From Jewish Apologetics to Dialectics of the Enlightenment” 01/2010
History Work in Progress Seminar, Sussex University..
“Heartquake and Suburbia Hallucination. On Israeli Palestinian Art Collaborations” 07/2009
Common Ground Publishing Conference “The Arts in Society. Transnationalism”,
Venice/Italy.
“Physiognomic Culture Critique and Image Studies – A Comparison” 05/2009
Third Critical Theory Conference “Images of a Demystified World: Critical Theory”,
John Cabot University Rome/Italy.
““Times of Decay” in the Linguistic Thought of Baroque and Expressionism” 04/2009
Workshop “Aesthetic Theories of Catastrophe in Fin-de-Siècle”,
Goldsmiths College London.