Levinas on the Border(s) :: Teaching Education

Levinas on the Border(s)ABSTRACT This essay explores my own situation of give lessonsing philosophy in a more or little traditional undergraduate setting but in a way that is especially relevant to the theme of this Congress, namely, the theme of philosophy educating humanity. In my case, I teach philosophy but from a perspective that is non-traditional and which undercuts the standard questions originating from and orienting around a philosophia perennia. Specifically, I teach philosophy of religion from the perspective of Jewish philosophy, and yet more specifically, from the perspective of the French Jewish philosophy of Emmanuelle Levinas. Moreover, I teach philosophy in an educational environment that is representative of the greater global company because I teach at the University of Texas at El Paso, situated on the put off that separates the United States and Latin America. Finally, my teaching situation is one that is further marginalized because of the rickety nature of my academic position, namely, trained outside the traditional borders of philosophical faculty and working at first as a part-timer and only recently as a full-time, non-tenure track teacher of philosophy and humanities. Hence, I offer my experience of doing work of successfully teaching philosophy on the borders in the hope that others garner here will be challenged to think differently about their own way of educating others. What follows is about teaching the philosophy of Levinas, on the Mexico/USA border, on the border of a traditional discipline of philosophy (the philosophy of religion), and on the border of academia--as a non-tenure-track, non-traditionally trained Lecturer in ism and Humanities at the University of Texas at El Paso. The relevance of these three interrelated themes for the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, whose theme is Philosophy Educating Humanity, should be at least initially obvious, but a few preliminary remarks should clear up any confusion s about my title. Most important of all, my scope is broader and deeper than the stated regional or academic limits. I deal out that how I do what I do where I am at, and with whom I teach and learn has inter-national and inter-cultural significance which justifies inclusion of my remarks in an international Paideia forum. As a non-Jew with a degree in Religious Studies, I teach the philosophy of Levinas, a French-Jewish philosopher, in a relatively traditional Program of Philosophy to Spanish-speaking-Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and Anglo-Americans. Moreover, I do so in the predominantly Christo-centric and conservative cultural climate of the border region of El Paso, USA and Juarez, Mexico.