Rita Katalin Laszlo

Ph.D. Candidate

Courses

GER200Y1Y LEC5101

Office Hours

Mon & Wed by appointment

Background

M.A. (2017) in Germanic Studies, University of British Columbia (Master’s thesis: “Understanding the Aesthetics and Materiality of Ver Sacrum, the Seminal Magazine of the Vienna Secession”) B.A. (2014) Hispanic Studies and Honours in Germanic Studies, University of British Columbia (Honours thesis: “Pseudoscience, Gullibility and Language”) OTHER: (2007–2010) Germanic and Hispanic Studies, International Relations, University of Manitoba (2009-2010) German Literature and Social Studies, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany

Publications / Published Translations

Laszlo, Rita K. “Introducing Ágnes Heller's “Reflections on Gullibility,”” Telos, Issue 179, 2017:33-35; doi:10.3817/0617179033

Heller, Ágnes. Trans. Laszlo, Rita K. “Reflections on Gullibility,” Telos, Issue 179 , 2017:36-47; doi:10.3817/0617179036

Research and Interests

  • 19th and 20th century German Literature and Thought, Enlightenment, Critical Theory, The Frankfurt and The Budapest Schools
  • gullibility and its relation to language, types of knowledge, reason, the will to believe and judgement

PhD dissertation focus

a genealogy of gullibility in German literature and thought

Conferences / Presentations

  • “Vortrag zum Thema Leichtgläubigkeit,” (guest lecture, GER 430: Stories of the Mind with Dr. Christine Lehleiter), University of Toronto, Toronto, Nov. 27, 2018.
  • “Between Gullibility and Thoughtlessness: From Ágnes Heller to Hannah Arendt,” (guest lecture, PHIL 385: Existentialism with Dr. Steven Taubeneck), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Aug. 9, 2018.
  • Ver Sacrum, the Seminal Magazine of the Vienna Secession,” (guest lecture, GER 150: German Culture and Civilization with Dr. Peter Schweppe), Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto, Toronto, Feb. 13, 2018.
  • “Storm or Progress: Engagements with the Anthropocene,” (paper presentation). Engagement in the German Tradition Graduate Conference, Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures, University of Toronto, April 26-28, 2018.
  • “Ágnes Heller’s Reflections on Gullibility,” (paper presentation). German Studies Students’ Union Lecture. University of Toronto, Toronto, November 29, 2017.
  • Feminist Youtube Interventions in Germany, (panel moderator). 42st Annual Women in German Conference, Coalition of Women in German, Banff, October 26–29, 2017.
  • “Understanding Kunstempfinden in Ver Sacrum, the Seminal Magazine of the Vienna Secession,” (paper presentation). Mediating the Modern: Sound/Image/Text Graduate Conference, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, Sept. 29-30, 2017.
  • The Proximity of Cultures, (organizer). Graduate Student Conference, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. April 7, 2017. Keynote Speaker: Dr. Asma Sayed (MacEwan University).
  • “On the Relevance of Proximity” (paper presentation). The Proximity of Cultures Graduate Student Conference, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. April 7, 2017.
  • D. Laing: Existentialism and Buddhism, (organizer). University of British Columbia, Vancouver. April 3, 2017. Guest lecture: Andrew Feldmar (psychologist-psychotherapist).
  • “Literature in Action: Atmospheres of the Kafkaesque – Vor den anderen,” (short film presentation). 41st Annual Women in German Conference, Coalition of Women in German, Banff, October 13–16, 2016.
  • “The Tin Drum,” (moderator). European Book Club, Consulate General of Germany in Vancouver and EUNIC Canada-Vancouver, in partnership with the Alliance Française, Vancouver, September 24, 2016.
  • “On Metaphors and Estrangement at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century,” (paper presentation). 21st World Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association, University of Vienna, Vienna, July 21–27, 2016.
  • “Is There Another Acceptable Interpretation of Kafka’s Fiction?” (paper presentation). On Souls Selves and Literary Techniques CENES Graduate Student Colloquium, March 21, 2016.
  • The Fantasy of Social Justice: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Fantastic Literature, (panel moderator). Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. March 11-12, 2016.
  • “Metaphors of Alienation: Wallpaper, Bugs and Madness,” (paper presentation).Warum das Lesen?–‘Must-Reads’ in German Literature Undergraduate Research Conference, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, April 12, 2014.