Offered through the Institute for Christian Studies
“We Are Free to Change the World”: Hannah Arendt on Resistance, Hope, and the Power of the Possible
Ron Kuipers · November 5 to December 10, 2026
In our era of post-truth politics, scapegoating persecution of minorities, and re-emerging fascism, Hannah Arendt’s investigations of 20th century totalitarianism and the possibility of resisting its evitable rise have gained fresh urgency. This course introduces Arendt’s thought to new readers through Lyndsey Stonebridge’s acclaimed intellectual biography, We Are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt’s Lessons in Love and Disobedience (2024). Faced with what can feel like impenetrable darkness, Arendt insists that we remain free to resist evil’s suffocating allure and choose instead to love our broken, suffering world. Among other topics, we’ll explore her singular insights on love, natality, and the act of thinking itself, and ask what lessons they hold for Christians who want to embrace human plurality and act together with others to offer shalom to a world crying out for healing.
Read Lyndsey Stonebridge’s acclaimed biography as an entry into Arendt’s thought
Explore Arendt on love, natality, and the act of thinking itself
Ask what her lessons hold for Christians seeking to offer shalom to a suffering world
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Ronald A. Kuipers is professor of philosophy of religion at the Institute for Christian Studies and director of the ICS Centre for Philosophy, Religion, and Social Ethics. His books include Richard Rorty (Bloomsbury Contemporary American Thinkers), Critical Faith: Toward a Renewed Understanding of Religious Life and its Public Accountability, and Solidarity and the Stranger: Themes in the Social Philosophy of Richard Rorty. He teaches a recurring ICS graduate seminar on Arendt’s thought entitled “Evil, Resistance, and Judgment: Hannah Arendt and Religious Critique.”