On Wednesday, May 8, at 4 p.m. in the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery, the Humanities Forum will present “Charisma in the Age of Digital Reproduction” with Raphael Falco, the 2012-13 Lipitz Professor and professor of English.
Charismatic authority, the most fluid form of leadership, should thrive in the new media environment of digital reproduction, emerging amid swiftly forming groups and capitalizing on unrestricted, private access to the bearers of charisma. Yet, the status quo of charismatic groups dependent on digital reproduction is systematically undermined by reproducibility itself—the driving force of new media. My talk explores how this inescapable conflict destroys charismatic authority and abandons logged-on group members to isolation.
Raphael Falco received his B.A. and his Masters degrees from Columbia University and his Ph.D. from New York University. In his latest book, Charisma and Myth (Continuum Publishing), Professor Falco has explored areas beyond his usual precincts of early modern literature. He hopes to engage intellectuals of all stripes by introducing a completely new element to the study of myth—the idea that myth and myth systems operate in the same way as charismatic groups.
This event is sponsored by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences with support from the Dresher Center for the Humanities
