Dr. Berg's Presentation at the 2020 Albert Camus Society Conference

 

Below, you can watch my presentation to The Albert Camus Society held in October of 2020. In this presentation I make 4 connections between plague in Camus' novel The Plague and COVID-19 in the United States. Enjoy! 

Camus' The First Man in graphic novel form.

A book review of the graphic novel version of Camus' The First Man. A look at the text and the visual images created by the artist Jacques Ferrandez. It is a short episode so you can tune in when you have limited time to listen.

Enjoy and keep reading Camus. 

20 Questions with Simon Lea

Simon Lea founded the Albert Camus Society and is the president of the United Kingdom group. He has consulted for a London production of the Camus play Cross-purposes, is the author of many stunning and ground-breaking articles on Camus, and is working on a Beginners Guide to Albert Camus as part of a series of Beginners Guides produced by a U.K. publisher.

Please set aside some time to listen to and enjoy this wide-ranging and highly informative part 1 of 2 episodes featuring Simon Lea. 

20 Questions with Dr. Kaluza

Dr Maciej Kałuża, in addition to a dear friend and a very gracious host, is the author of two books about Camus's notions of the absurd and revolt, editor for two collected volumes on Camus's philosophy. Founder of Polish Albert Camus society. During his research grants, he visited Albert Camus archives in France and studied unpublished works of Camus. He is currently working on a collection of philosophical essays, revolving around Camus's last published novel, "The Fall", and on a book on the concept of violence in French postwar philosophy. He loves cats, but, because life is actually quite absurd, he is allergic to cats.

Enjoy this engaging episode. 

20 Questions with Dr. James Woelfel

Professor James Woelfel received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of St. Andrews, became a member of the University of Kansas faculty in 1966, and served as Director of Humanities & Western Civilization from 1985 until July 2010. 

His teaching and research have been primarily 19th and 20th century European philosophical and religious thought.  Among the books he has authored are Bonhoeffer’s Theology, Borderland Christianity, Albert Camus on the Sacred and the Secular, Portraits in Victorian Religious Thought, The Existentialist Legacy and Other Essays on Philosophy and Religion, and is an editor of Patterns in Western Civilization fourth edition.  

Professor Woelfel was a 1997 recipient of the Kansas Humanities Council’s Silver Anniversary Public Scholar Award, and in 1998 received a Kemper Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching. He retired from KU in May 2015.

In this interview, I ask Dr. Woelfel 20 questions about Albert Camus. Enjoy this engaging interview with Dr Woelfel, my dissertation advisor!

Thanks to KU for the bio information. 

Dr. Gordon Marino on Camus

 

Below, you will find a fascinating conversation with Dr. Gordon Marino on Camus using my "20 Questions" format.  I am confident you will find Dr. Marino deeply engaging, lucid, insightful, and a very enjoyable conversationalist.

 

Dr. Marino earned his Ph.D., from the University of Chicago, M.A. University of Pennsylvania, and his B.A. from Columbia University.

His areas of specialization include History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, and Kierkegaard and clearly, a deep knowledge and understanding of Camus. 

Professor Marino is the author of Kierkegaard in the Present Age and co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Kierkegaard. His articles have appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, New York Times Magazine, Wall Street Journal, American Poetry Review, and many other periodicals.

 

His most recent book is The Existentialist's Survival Guide: How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Age.

 

Dr. Marino is also the Curator of the Hong Kierkegaard Library, an incredible treasure that generations of scholars have benefited from over the years, including the author of this blog.

 

Enjoy this "20 Questions on Camus" interview:

A new book! Camus' Literary Ethics

Good News! 

A new book on Camus has been released ! The title is Camus' Literary Ethics by Grace Whistler. This text has great promise as it covers an important area in Camus studies and also illuminates a blind-spot in the conversation about Camus. And, I have more good news. Click HERE and you can read a chapter for free to test drive the book.

Here is an abstract of the free chapter of the book linked above to give you a feel for the content: 

This chapter outlines Camus’ critique of abstract moral reasoning and the steps he undertook as a writer to construct an alternative method. Like any writer, he struggled with the development of his own style, but here I suggest that this was driven by the desire to forge new ways of doing philosophy and to develop philosophical form which was not only appropriate but also in some ways indivisible from its ethical content. I suggest that Camus wants to achieve a style of philosophical writing which does justice to the messiness of morality, brings about an intersubjective experience of the Other, and enables us to reflect on our own moral convictions

Enjoy! 

The American Journals

In this episode I take up a very interesting work, Camus' American Journals. In 1946 Camus traveled to North America (primarily New York City) and in 1949 he traveled to South America.  In this episode I will take a look at the context and content of the journals. He makes many very interesting observations about his time in the United States and South America. 

Enjoy! 

Also available as a pod cast on Albert Camus Radio on Anchor. 

The Myth of Sisyphus

 Today, we take up a very important text by Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus.  Here we see some of Camus' most powerful writing as he combines fiction and high level relevant philosophical argumentation. 

Enjoy the video and reading the text.

The Rebel

 A few thoughts on Camus' philosophical book-length essay titled The Rebel.  Enjoy this video and reading this landmark text. 

Also, remember that these are available in audio only as podcasts at Albert Camus Radio on Anchor and they are also available on Spotify and soon on Apple. 

Podcasts now avaliable

Podcasts are now available for this blog. I setup a podcast page through Anchor Media, here is the link to the podcasts: CLICK HERE 

Most of the material on the podcasts are the audio files downloaded from the videos here. If you are on the road, or running, or out walking, or working you can now download and hear more about Camus!  The podcasts are also available on Spotify as Albert Camus Radio.

Enjoy!

20 Questions with Dr. Peter Francev

The guest of the second installment of "20 Questions on Camus" is Dr. Peter Francev. 

Dr. Francev in his doctoral regalia.

Dr. Francev is the Chair of the English Department at Victor Valley College in California. Professor Francev holds an M.A in Philosophy from University College, Dublin, an M.A in English from California State University Polytechnic University, Pomona and his Ph.D. was granted in English from The University of Leicester. Dr. Francev has published multiple articles on Camus and he is the editor of two landmark text on Camus.  

Dr. Francev's answer to the new question: Do you consider Camus an African author, why or why not?

This is a fantastic question! 

I suppose, if one were to look at geography, then he would be considered an African writer; however, if you look at the political dimensions with Algeria being a colony of France, then it would be more appropriate to call him a French-Algerian writer. I prefer French-Algerian, because of his ethnic and geographical make up, rather than a purely “African” writer. And, that is the same logic that I would use in not referring to him as a purely “French” writer.

Please ask questions or comment below and enjoy. 

20 Questions with Dr. Baltzer-Jaray

Welcome to the inaugural post for the series "20 Questions About Camus."  I will be interviewing Camus experts from across the globe and will ask them the same 20 questions so stay tuned for many more interesting and valuable interviews with people who have studied Camus from a variety of perspectives and locations. 

For the first installment, I had the honor and pleasure of chatting with and asking Dr. Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray the 20 Questions.  Dr. Baltzer-Jaray holds her Ph.D. from Wilfrid Laurier University.  Dr. Baltzer-Jaray has studied philosophy at The University of Guelph and The University of Waterloo. She is a very accomplished Camus scholar and also a highly respected writer and thinker in phenomenology circles in North America and Europe. 

She now teaches at King's University College at Western University.

Enjoy this engaging scholar and her thoughts on Camus.

Update!

I eliminated one question and replaced it. To be consistent, I asked Dr. Baltzer-Jaray to answer it and she did, with excellence. 

Question: Do you consider Camus an African writer? Why or why not?

Answer: 

Okay …

That’s a tough one to answer. I want to say yes though i would add the designation of 'African Colonial Writer'. I think we have to remember the ‘colonial’ part because his upbringing and experience of growing up in a colonized North African country is part of his lived experience, it’s in his writing and in his characters’ attitudes and dynamics, and his attitude about France and French culture, and that is unique - it’s not just an African viewpoint. I definitely think he is better identified as an African Colonial Writer than as a French writer. 

Note: I think we have to use colonial rather than postcolonial - the former i see as the writings of a person in an environment that is after the colonizer has left even if they grew up under the colonial rule - but Camus' writing takes place while the colonizer is still present during his life and after his death (he died in 1960 and the conflict ended i think in 1962). Even though he left Algeria she still wasn’t out from under the rule of France yet. 

Four Plays

Four Plays by Camus!  

Today, we take a look at four plays that appear in a collection together.  Enjoy!

Below, I have posted a deeply engaging NPR interview with a top-ranked Camus scholar Dr. Peter Francev. In this interview he discusses Camus' novel The Plague in relation to COVID-19. I apologize that the first few minutes have been cut off. It is a fantastic and illuminating interview. Enjoy! 

Dr. Peter Francev

Click HERE to hear the interview with Dr. Francev. 

On The First Man

A short review of Camus' The First Man.

This is the last novel (and that claim can be questioned). After this review I will move on to plays and short stories. 

On The Fall

A short video on Camus' The Fall. 

Enjoy

On The Stranger

Here is a short video chat on Camus' The Stranger.  Possibly his most famous and influential text and a masterpiece of literature by any measure. 

Enjoy.

On The Plague

Greetings from Dr. Berg

When MacMurray College closed its doors in March of 2020 a few faculty initiated a program called "One Last Good Thing". The faculty produced a series of Mac Talks, Ted-like-talks in their area of expertise. I did one on Camus' The Plague. I have posted it below. Please feel free to ask any questions.