The Sacred at Hand

This seminar explores the phenomenology of the sacred as it emerges within ordinary lived experience, drawing primarily from modern German arts and letters. We read poets of attentiveness (such as Holderlin, Rilke, Lasker-Schuler, and Celan) alongside thinkers who theorize the conditions of meaningful encounter (such as Rosenzweig, Buber, Weil, Heidegger, Hartmut Rosa, and Byung-Chul Han) and practitioners of duration and presence in contemporary art (such as Pina Bausch, Gerhard Richter, and Marina Abramovic). Emerson and Marilynne Robinson offer counterpoints from the American tradition. We ask how artistic form might not merely represent but actually structure the conditions under which such experiences can appear. The course extends beyond the seminar room. We visit sites such as Goldsworthy's Stone River and the Windhover Contemplative Center, where art and architecture discipline perception. Circumstances permitting, we may attend local performances and exhibitions. Assignments include analytical essays, seminar discussion, and exercises in phenomenological description. Taught in English; all readings in translation.