Dr. Joshua Kraut of the Hope College faculty will deliver the address “The Sabbath of the Earth: Introducing the Ecology of Fabrice Hadjadj” on Thursday, Nov. 7, at 6:30 p.m. in Winants Auditorium of Graves Hall.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Hadjadj is a contemporary Catholic French philosopher and writer whose work explores the spiritual underpinnings of environmental crisis. Kraut, who is an associate professor of French, is translating a collection of Hadjadj’s essays and talks for a book that will make Hadjadj’s perspective on ecology accessible to an English-speaking audience. “The Sabbath of the Earth” is the title of one of the essays.
As described in the Nov. 7 presentation’s abstract, “Many thinkers have seen the environmental crisis as a symptom of a deeper spiritual crisis, one whose solution is not simply technical. Dr. Joshua Kraut's talk will bring two such figures into dialogue: the well-known American agrarian writer Wendell Berry and the contemporary French philosopher, Fabrice Hadjadj, with a particular focus on the latter. While Hadjadj writes about a broad variety of topics, including ecology, a central theme in his work is the severing of the material and spiritual worlds typical of the modern age.”
Kraut joined the Hope faculty in 2016 and teaches courses in French language, literature and civilization. He also co-directs the college’s Emmaus Scholars Program, through which students work closely with faculty as they read and discuss texts, and share meals and worship together. The Emmaus Scholars Program is named for the passage in Luke (24:13-35) in which Jesus helps two of his disciples understand the meaning of his death and resurrection while they walk together to the village of Emmaus and share a meal when they arrive.
The lecture is sponsored by the college’s Green Team; the Department of Religion, and the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Hope; and the Saint Benedict Institute. The Green Team, which is celebrating its 15th year this year, is a committee of students, faculty and staff who coordinate sustainability efforts at Hope. The Saint Benedict Institute is a ministry of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Holland that seeks to promote and nurture intellectual work done from the heart of the Catholic Church, to foster an ecumenical community of Catholic Christians and friends committed to the renewal of culture, and to aid in the formation of intellectually and spiritually mature Christians by making available the riches of the Catholic tradition to Hope College and the wider community.
To inquire about accessibility or if you need accommodations to fully participate in the event, please email accommodations@hope.edu. Updates related to events are posted when available in the individual listings at hope.edu/calendar.
Graves Hall is located at 263 College Ave., between 10th and 12th streets.