Calvin D. Ullrich

Part I: Thinking of the Body — The Body as Unthinkable

In our unprecedented times, the body as a phenomenon has issued its own cri de cœur for the fragi... more In our unprecedented times, the body as a phenomenon has issued its own cri de cœur for the fragility and vulnerability of life. No longer is the body a topos for thought within the confines of the academy only; not least, our pandemic age has created a fissure, impressing itself with a force of an opening in a continuous line from nature to politics, the religious, and onto our very own bodies. Therefore, what is calling is a body not only exceeding thought or escaping its confines, but also a body which presents an impossibility or even a monstrous gravity for thought: an unthinkable body that might open alternative ways to articulate its relation to religion, politics, and understanding. How are we to make sense of our bodies in this uncertainty? How are we to ‘think’ about the body when the body seems itself to be ‘unthinkable’?

Prof. Dr. Rebekka Klein and Dr. Calvin Ullrich will pursue a new research project and conference series on this topic in the years 2022 and 2023. Drawing together experts in the fields of philosophy, theology, and psychoanalytic theory, the research project will debate contemporary notions of the body with a focus on their material, affective, and alien nature.

Part I of this project will include contributions from the following:

Richard Kearney
Lisa Blackman
Donovan Schaefer
Rachel Aumiller
Philipp Stoellger
Gregor Etzelmüller
Selin Gerlek

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Part III: Thinking of the Body — The Body as Unthinkable

In our unprecedented times, the body as a phenomenon has issued its own cri de cœur for the fragi... more In our unprecedented times, the body as a phenomenon has issued its own cri de cœur for the fragility and vulnerability of life. No longer is the body a topos for thought within the confines of the academy only; not least, our pandemic age has created a fissure, impressing itself with a force of an opening in a continuous line from nature to politics, the religious, and onto our very own bodies. Therefore, what is calling is a body not only exceeding thought or escaping its confines, but also a body which presents an impossibility or even a monstrous gravity for thought: an unthinkable body that might open alternative ways to articulate its relation to religion, politics, and understanding. How are we to make sense of our bodies in this uncertainty? How are we to ‘think’ about the body when the body seems itself to be ‘unthinkable’?

Prof. Dr. Rebekka Klein and Dr. Calvin Ullrich will pursue a new research project and conference series on this topic in the years 2022 and 2023. Drawing together experts in the fields of philosophy, theology, and psychoanalytic theory, the research project will debate contemporary notions of the body with a focus on their material, affective, and alien nature.

Part III of this project will include contributions from the following speakers:

Emmanuel Falque
Hartmut von Sass
Kurt Appel
Ulrich Körtner
Espen Dahl
Burkhard Liebsch
Fana Schiefen
Aaron Looney

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Critical Phenomenology of Christian Bodily Affect

German Research Foundation (DFG) Funded Project (2021–2024)

This project offers a contemporary theological-philosophical account of the body. It takes as its... more This project offers a contemporary theological-philosophical account of the body. It takes as its starting point the widely held assumption that conceptions of the body in the West have often been ascribed an inferior and subordinate status. The corollary is all too evident, not only historically, but also today in the 'age of pandemics', where the (in)visibility of the body and forms of violence perpetuated against it have become common occurrences. Aligning with recent intellectual trends which have sought to overturn this dynamic, the primary aim of this project is to produce a description of the body that can aid theological reflection by reinterpreting some of its own-often problematic-doctrinal claims and assessing what impact this might have for religious and political life.

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