Wednesday April 27, 12:00-1:15 pm
Book Talk
The Privilege of Being Banal:
Art, Secularism, and Catholicism in Paris
Elayne Oliphant
Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Religious Studies
New York University
Location: Joyce Cummings Center, Room 402
France, officially, is a secular nation. Yet Catholicism is undeniably a monumental presence, defining the temporal and spatial rhythms of Paris. At the same time, it often fades into the background as nothing more than “heritage.” In a creative inversion, Elayne Oliphant asks in The Privilege of Being Banal what, exactly, is hiding in plain sight? Could the banality of Catholicism actually be a kind of hidden power?
Cosponsored by the Department of Anthropology, Department of Religion, and the Provost’s Office Bridging Differences program
