Presentations by D. R. Koukal
Co-organizer of panel-workshop: BACK to the THINGS THEMSELVES!
(2007-present)
Back to the Things Themselves! (BTTTT!) is an annual attempt to effect a liberation from textual ... more Back to the Things Themselves! (BTTTT!) is an annual attempt to effect a liberation from textual exegesis/critique and return to the lived world to divine the essential structures of experience through rigorous phenomenological description. Please visit website at www.btttt.net
Presented to the International Association of Environmental Philosophy in Columbus, OH (May 23, 2... more Presented to the International Association of Environmental Philosophy in Columbus, OH (May 23, 2025).
Presented to the Society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture, McGill Universi... more Presented to the Society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture, McGill University (Montreal, Canada), June 18, 2024
In this paper I am seeking an understanding of what it means to be fully in the midst of a world brimming with accrued significance and confronted with a future of possibilities, portended by a living present evolving out of a meaningful past. At the same time, I invite my readers to also reflect on what it might mean to be deficient in “world.” It is my hope that these reflections will serve to highlight what concrete elements of lived experience are in play within situations where abortion emerges as a possibility, so we can more clearly see the ontological stakes involved. By pointing out these elements, it is my hope that we can begin to more thoroughly inspect the ground upon which the abortion debate is founded, a ground which in my view has not yet been sufficiently explored.
Presented by video to the German Society for Phenomenological Research, Friedrich-Schiller-Univer... more Presented by video to the German Society for Phenomenological Research, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität (Jena, Germany), September 29, 2022
Accepted for presentation to the Society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture,... more Accepted for presentation to the Society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture, Western University (London, Canada), June 1-3, 2020. Meeting canceled due to coronavirus pandemic. Presented virtually April 30, 2021.
Presented by video to the annual meeting of the British Society of Phenomenology, University of E... more Presented by video to the annual meeting of the British Society of Phenomenology, University of Exeter (Exeter, UK), September 3, 2020
"Evocation as Method"
Accepted for presentation to the annual meeting of North American Society for Early Phenomenology... more Accepted for presentation to the annual meeting of North American Society for Early Phenomenology, St. John's University (New York, NY), April 22-24, 2020. Meeting canceled due to coronavirus pandemic.
Presented to the annual meeting of the Philosophy of the City conference, University of Detroit M... more Presented to the annual meeting of the Philosophy of the City conference, University of Detroit Mercy (Detroit, MI), October 4, 2019
Local Co-Organizers:
D. R. Koukal, Professor of Philosophy, University of Detroit Mercy, College... more Local Co-Organizers:
D. R. Koukal, Professor of Philosophy, University of Detroit Mercy, College of Liberal Arts & Education
Noah Resnick, Professor and Associate Dean, University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture
Presented to the annual meeting of the Society for Values in Higher Education, Loyola University ... more Presented to the annual meeting of the Society for Values in Higher Education, Loyola University (Chicago, IL), July 11, 2019
Presented to "Teaching Philosophy in the Michigan Area," Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti,... more Presented to "Teaching Philosophy in the Michigan Area," Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti, MI), September 24, 2016
Presented to the Society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture, University of Calgary (Calgary, Canada), June 1, 2016
Expression has long been considered a central theme in Merleau-Ponty's thought, but only in recen... more Expression has long been considered a central theme in Merleau-Ponty's thought, but only in recent years has this phenomenon been subject to more rigorous thematization by a number of scholars. 1 What these recent efforts reveal is that for Merleau-Ponty expression functions not only at aesthetic, perceptive, linguistic, bodily, behavioral,
Presented to the Society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture, University of Ottawa (Ottawa, Canada), June 2, 2015
Many thanks to Chris Nagel for inviting me to provide some commentary for this panel, and to our ... more Many thanks to Chris Nagel for inviting me to provide some commentary for this panel, and to our three authors for exposing me to a field of study of which I'm basically ignorant. Bearing this ignorance in mind I hope you will judge my comments generously when-not if-I transgress against well-established categories, theories, terminology, or
Presented to the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts & Letters at Andrews University (Berrien Springs, MI), March 13, 2015
Critical thinking" is one of the most powerful and frequently used buzzwords in academia today, a... more Critical thinking" is one of the most powerful and frequently used buzzwords in academia today, and is universally seen as something with positive educational value, something we want our students to be able to do. But the term has been remarkably resistant to any univocal definition. We want our students to be critical thinkers, but are frequently unable to say with any degree of precision what that actually means.
Keynote presentation for “Essays of Significance: A Graduate Philosophy Conference” at the University of Windsor (Windsor, Canada), March 22, 2014
A preface: phenomenology, philosophical citizenship, political change, and social media Many than... more A preface: phenomenology, philosophical citizenship, political change, and social media Many thanks to the philosophy department at the University of Windsor and the Humanities Research Group for sponsoring this conference, and many thanks to its organizers for extending their kind invitation across the river and asking me to come over and talk with you this evening. I'm deeply flattered, and very happy to be here.
Presented to the Society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture, Saint Thomas University and the University of New Brunswick (Fredricton, Canada), May 30 – June 4, 2011
In Jane Martin's Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Keely and Du, Keely, a young working class woman i... more In Jane Martin's Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Keely and Du, Keely, a young working class woman intending to terminate her pregnancy, is abducted by a group of religious fundamentalists, who spirit her away to an undisclosed location where she is held prisoner.
Presented at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (San Diego, CA), April 23, 2011
Presented to the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts & Letters at Saginaw Valley State University (Saginaw, MI), March 11, 2011
We in the liberal arts are ever engaged in the search for meaning, but how often do we consider t... more We in the liberal arts are ever engaged in the search for meaning, but how often do we consider the meaning of the liberal arts within the contemporary academy? In other words, how do our colleagues outside of the liberal arts regard us? One concrete way this regard might be measured is to look at where we stand within the core curricula of our various institutions. We could look at small liberal arts colleges with strong cores, where we, not surprisingly, figure prominently. Or we could look at for-profit or technical colleges, where the liberal arts have only a token (if any) presence in their general education requirements. We enjoy a significant presence within two-year community colleges, but because of their focus on transfer, career, developmental and continuing education, this typically precludes such institutions from offering
Presented at “Flesh and Space: Intertwining Merleau-Ponty and Architecture,” Mississippi State University (Starkville, MS), September 9, 2009
This paper claims that torture involves an experience and expression of space, and offers a pheno... more This paper claims that torture involves an experience and expression of space, and offers a phenomenological description of this practice that delves beneath its mere physical effect on the human body, in order to demonstrate that bodily pain is only one dimension of the experiential structure of torture. This claim is supported by Merleau-Ponty's comments about spatiality, which are closely interwoven with his theories of the embodied subject and perception. This analysis underscores what space means to us as the spatial and spatializing beings that we are, and shows that no matter how "unscarred" survivors of torture may be, their lived world remains irretrievably damaged at the ontological level, due to the living spatiality stolen from them during their ordeal.
Presented to the Society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture, Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada), May 26-30, 2009
This paper will offer a phenomenological analysis of litter. The analysis proper will be preceede... more This paper will offer a phenomenological analysis of litter. The analysis proper will be preceeded by a brief overview of the method employed in the analysis. The analysis is then presented in a way that draws subtle attention to the various methodological "moves" undertaken, hopefully without being overly technical and diminishing the force of the description. And last, the conclusion will outline the philosophical insights derived through this phenomenological analysis, at it relates to the present meaning of the city of Detroit.
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Presentations by D. R. Koukal
In this paper I am seeking an understanding of what it means to be fully in the midst of a world brimming with accrued significance and confronted with a future of possibilities, portended by a living present evolving out of a meaningful past. At the same time, I invite my readers to also reflect on what it might mean to be deficient in “world.” It is my hope that these reflections will serve to highlight what concrete elements of lived experience are in play within situations where abortion emerges as a possibility, so we can more clearly see the ontological stakes involved. By pointing out these elements, it is my hope that we can begin to more thoroughly inspect the ground upon which the abortion debate is founded, a ground which in my view has not yet been sufficiently explored.
D. R. Koukal, Professor of Philosophy, University of Detroit Mercy, College of Liberal Arts & Education
Noah Resnick, Professor and Associate Dean, University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture