While holding forms an integral part of many physical interactions, and while it can, by itself, generate intense emotions and sensations, it is rarely investigated on its own merit. Often we do not actually feel safely held, even though that is what we long for (we can only truly let go when we know that someone will be there to hold us). Once we understand what it is that makes being held a less than satisfying experience, we can be clearer about what it is that we wish to feel in an embrace and where to place our attention.

This workshop, which has been inspired by the work of Frank T. Khani and Sheila Crux, will experiment with different ways of holding someone. We will be looking at an entire spectrum from the caring, protective embrace to playful grappling where we can test the limits of our strength.

Doctor Peter Banki is Research Associate in Philosophy at the University of Western Sydney. He holds a Ph.D from New York University. He wrote his Ph.D on the debate on forgiveness in the literature of Holocaust survivors. He has published a number of articles in peer review journals in the fields of continental philosophy and literature. He has recently spoken about his research on the Radio National Program “The Philosophers’ Zone” and has tutored and lectured in philosophy at the University of Western Sydney and also at the University of Sydney. His website is http://peterbanki.com

His book The Forgiveness To Come: the Holocaust and the Hyper-Ethical is forthcoming with Fordham University Press (2018).