The inaugural event in BCRW's Salon series, this

engaged dialogue brings together several prominent and influential

scholars whose work explores how affect and emotion influence public

life. Just as feminism has sought to identify the ways in which the

personal and the political are linked, the study of 'public feelings'

draws our attention to how and why feelings and emotion (assumed to be a

private, personal experience) influence politics and notions of social

belonging and intimacy. This conversation, moderated by BCRW

Director and Professor of Women's Studies, Janet Jakobsen, focuses on

how perceptions of citizenship and solidarity are often bound up in

emotions - like optimism, rage, and disgust - and how feelings can govern

policy and political debates. Panelists include Jose Munoz, Ann Pellegrini,

Tavia Nyong'o, and Lauren Berlant.