Silent Gestures: Bildung in Eckhart and Of Gods and Men
Dr Katja Frimberger
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In this talk, Dr Frimberger explorse the theological heritage of the concept of Bildung through the writings of Dominican friar Meister Eckhart. Focusing on the mystical structure of Eckhartian Bildung, she maps its threefold dialectical movements as: gifted/divine grace, human cultivation and the harmonisation of both in (what she calls) ‘careful gestures’. In the talk’s concluding second step, she illustrates this mystical structure of Eckhartian Bildung—with a particular focus on the emergence of careful gestures—through the French motion picture Des Hommes et Des Dieux.
If you would like to read the paper (open access) beforehand, please click here.
If your university subscribes to Box of Broadcast, you can watch Des Hommes et Des Dieux for free (it’s also available on all major streaming platforms).
Dr Katja Frimberger is Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at the University of Strathclyde and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research centres on the philosophy of arts and aesthetic education, exploring how film and theatre shape human formation through continental traditions of pedagogy, philosophy, and aesthetics. Alongside her academic work, she is also an actor and performer, collaborating with creative and community partners on award-nominated film projects, including the BAFTA-qualifying short Refuge and the feature film The Silent Messenger. Her recent publications include “Education as the art of making oneself at home in the world with and through others”: the call to Bildung in Meister Eckhart and the film Of Gods and Men” (2024); “Don’t educate me — move me!”: Why we need art and artists (especially films and filmmakers) to love education into existence (2025); and “The craft of acting as a pedagogical model for living a flourishing life in a world of tensions and contradictions” (2024). Her work integrates performance, philosophy, and practice in exploring the ethical and formative possibilities of art and education.