We often think of modernity as a distinct time period in history – one that is said to start at different places, but which always includes us. Yet people have been claiming to be modern since at least the third century BC. Harvard scholar Michael Puett takes us back to ancient China, when a series of emperors laid claim to modernity in order to consolidate their rule. Puett argues that modernity is best understood not as a period on a timeline but as a claim to freedom from the past. By recognizing how “modernity claims” try either to erase the past or to master it for our own uses, we can appreciate what is at stake in our own invocations of “modernity."
Researcher, writer, and episode producer: Ryan McDermott, Associate Professor of English, University of Pittsburgh; Senior Research Fellow, Beatrice Institute
Featured Scholar:
Michael Puett, Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology, Harvard University
Special thanks: Travis DeCook, Rokhaya Dieng, Gina Elia, Thomas A. Lewis
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Making Meaning Episode 14: The Challenge of Choice
Making Meaning Episode 13: Flickers of Light
Making Meaning Episode 12: Expansion of Life
Making Meaning Episode 11: Living Music
Making Meaning Episode 10: Connection in Community
Making Meaning Episode 9: Questing Spirits
Making Meaning Episode 8: Gifts of Belonging
Making Meaning Episode 7: Virtuous Stories
Making Meaning Episode 6: Here and Now
Making Meaning Episode 5: Beyond Happiness
Making Meaning Episode 4: Weaving the World Together
Making Meaning Episode 3: The Weight of the World
Making Meaning Episode 2: A Fortunate Coalescence
Making Meaning Episode 1: You Don't Have To Be Special
Introducing Making Meaning
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Out of TIme
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강유원의 책담화冊談話
The Art of Manliness
Dear Hank & John
کتاب باز - صفحه رسمی
Through the Word