Paul Celan was a Jewish poet writing in the German language. His parents were murdered by the Nazis and he confronted the Holocaust with a unique poetic voice. Martin Heidegger was a renowned philosopher whose enormous influence on 20th century thought has been shadowed by his involvement with the Nazi party. This seminar will explore their improbable intellectual kinship and their eventual face-to-face meeting in the Black Forest.

Mark Goodman received his PhD in philosophy from Boston College in 2000. He wrote his dissertation on the relationship between Martin Heidegger and Emmanuel Levinas with respect to their philosophies of language, and how each saw their competing views reflected in the work of the poet Paul Celan. Dr. Goodman taught at Boston College and Emerson College. He is currently a venture capitalist focusing on cybersecurity start-ups in Israel.