I am organizing a one-time discussion of Anthony Appiah's newest book, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, starting with this semester's IAS fellows and including others who have expressed any vague curiosity about the issue of cosmopolitanism. The book is not long and doesn't look terribly dense (it's written for a broader public than his previous books).
Trained as a philosopher with research in moral and political philosophy, Appiah has also published widely in African and African-American studies and in Cultural Studies. His Cosmopolitanism can be seen as a more extended meditation of some issues in his 2004 Ethics of Identity.
I envision 1-2 hours of conversation about Appiah's ideas as well as their relationship to our current work and our disciplines. This would allow us to digest the book and get a sense of its scope and relevance beyond our regular lenses. If you want to join us, do reply directly to me so I can begin coordinating a meeting time.