In this episode, we focus on how the narrative imagination helps us make sense of the world. Additionally, we dig into the connection between story and imagination. Our guest scholar in this episode is Dr. Richard Kearney, Charles B. Seelig Chair of Philosophy at Boston College

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Richard Kearney holds the Charles B. Seelig Chair of Philosophy at Boston College and has served as a Visiting Professor at University College Dublin, the University of Paris (Sorbonne), the Australian Catholic University and the University of Nice.

He is the author of over 26 books on European philosophy and literature (including three novels and a volume of poetry) and has edited or co-edited 23 more. His most recent publications include Anatheism (2012), Reimagining the Sacred (2015), Carnal Hermeneutics (2015), Twinsome Minds: An Act of Double Remembrance (2018), Touch: Recovering Our Most Vital Sense (2021), Thinking Film: Philosophy at the Movies (ed. Richard Kearney and M.E. Littlejohn) (2023).

He was formerly a member of the Arts Council of Ireland, the Higher Education Authority of Ireland and chairman of the Irish School of Film at University College Dublin. He is also a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

As a public intellectual in Ireland, he was involved in drafting a number of proposals for a Northern Irish peace agreement (1983, 1993, 1995).

He has presented five series on culture and philosophy for Irish and British television and broadcast extensively on the European media.

He is currently international director of the Guestbook Project–Hosting the Stranger: Between Hostility and Hospitality.

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While his full catalog of articles and books is far too long to list here, the publications below provide a useful introduction to his scholarship addressing the topic of imagination:

Kearney, R. (2002). The wake of imagination. Routledge.

Kearney, R. (2002). On stories. Routledge.

Littlejohn, M. E. (Ed.). (2020). Imagination Now: A Richard Kearney Reader. Rowman & Littlefield.

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The Social Science for Public Good Podcast is a project of the ⁠Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance⁠ and ⁠VT Publishing⁠ intended to make social science theories accessible and available to individuals and organizations seeking to promote social change.

Music: purple-planet.com