About

‘Human Being Human’ is the 7th annual Cultural Social & Political Thought graduate student conference, hosted at the University of Victoria.

Each year the conference is organized by a committee of graduate students, with (highly appreciated) support from CSPT faculty and staff.

This year’s Conference Committee is comprised of Susan Kim, Philip Cox and Yusuf Saadi.

In an effort to get to know our committee members a bit more, we asked them to answer a few questions for the inquiring public:

Name:
Susan Kim
Program:
M.A. Political Science/Cultural, Social & Political Thought
Where do you feel ‘home’?
Wherever I am loved.
Who is the most important thinker you discovered this year?
Jacques Derrida
If you were stuck on an island with only one text, what would it be?
Lord of the Flies. Though more seriously I’m open to suggestions.
What’s one word to describe how you hope history remembers you?
Fostering.
Name one trait you admire about one or both of your fellow conference committee members.
Yusuf – tenacious. Philip – straight-shooter.
Name one food that makes you happy.
My mother always said, “Hunger is the best sauce,” and any food without hunger would be pretty unpleasant.

Name:
Yusuf Saadi
Program:
M.A. English/Cultural, Social & Political Thought
Where do you feel ‘home’?
Still looking.
Who is the most important thinker you discovered this year?
Derrida
If you were stuck on an island with only one text, what would it be?
100 Years of Solitude.
What’s one word to describe how you hope history remembers you?
Visionary.
Name one trait you admire about one or both of your fellow conference committee members.
Phil: pragmatic. Susan: caring.
Name one food that makes you happy?
Anything my mom cooks.

Name:
Philip Cox
Program:
M.A. English/Cultural, Social & Political Thought
Where do you feel ‘home’?
Either of two lakes in Ontario – one in Scarborough, the other in Algonquin Park.
Who is the most important thinker you discovered this year?
… It would be: Ernesto Laclau (and by extension Derrida) or Jacques Ranciere. But if I had to choose just one…
If you were stuck on an island with only one text, what would it be?
The Oxford English Dictionary.
What’s one word to describe how you hope history remembers you?
“Who?”
Name one trait you admire about one or both of your fellow conference committee members.
The depth of Yusuf’s thought; the breadth of Susan’s concern.
Name one food that makes you happy.
Roti.