Professor of French and Comparative Literature Robert Barsky (Vanderbilt University)
“I have always loved art and have become convinced of its fundamental power to shift deeply held attitudes by creating empathy and a sense of shared experiences,” said Barsky, a professor of French and comparative literature who has additional appointments in law, European studies and Jewish studies. [. . .]
“Working on this collaboration was a deeply powerful experience,” Clinard said. “It poetically emphasized the need to look at issues of border crossing in a refreshing and profoundly different way…a way that may speak louder than words or policies that get stored away and forgotten. When we allow ourselves to feel something, we inherently create empathy, and this speaks volumes for future understanding.”
For Barsky, “much of Susan’s work relates to border crossing. It’s powerful and gorgeous, and profound,” he said. So he wrote her about Contours, which he described as exploring “how art and humanities can shape the way we think about border crossing without using the same stuff we always hear,” Clinard said. It was about seeking “new and creative ways to create empathy for a subject that is so layered. When you learn about border crossing it’s often described as what the laws are, without talking about the human factor.”
