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St. Olaf to mark 100th anniversary of Simone Weil's birth

By David Gonnerman '90
October 23, 2009

St. Olaf College will feature two events -- an interdisciplinary faculty discussion and a film screening -- to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of French writer, activist, philosopher, and mystic Simone Weil (1909-1943).

Thursday's faculty panel will discuss various aspects of Weil's life and work. Participants will include Associate Professor of French Jolene Barjasteh on the power of language; Associate Professor of Religion David Booth on gender, embodiment, and self-discipline; Associate Professor of Philosophy Vicki Harper on love and attentiveness; Associate Professor of History Dolores Peters on Weil's involvement in World War II; Professor of Religion and Philosophy Edmund Santurri on Roman Catholicism; and Assistant Professor of Religion Gregory Walter '96 on mysticism.

Cathy Lee Crane, associate professor of art at Ithaca College, will show her film, “Unoccupied Zone: The Impossible Life of Simone Weil,” Friday. The experimental film looks at Weil's wartime life in Vichy France, and also the "existential zone" she inhabited while exploring ideas that would establish her as one of the great thinkers of the 20th century.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.