Uploaded December 2020 | Updated September 2026, 9 hours ago
Bard College Berlin faculty Aaron Tugendhaft discusses new book, "The Idols of ISIS: From Assyria to the Internet" (Chicago UP, 2020) during a virtual roundtable.
The book unpacks the aftermath of a video that was released by the Islamic State in 2015, showing ISIS members smashing ancient sculptures in Iraq’s Mosul Museum in an effort to cleanse the world of Idolatry. Analyzing the role of images in our life, the political importance of museums, and the efficacy of videos in furthering an ideological agenda through the internet, Tugendhaft asks whether there can be any political life without idolatry at all.
Discussion with Ewa Atanassow (Bard College Berlin), BCB alumni David Kretz (University of Chicago) and Glenn Most (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, University of Chicago). Moderated by David Hayes (Bard College Berlin).
Jointly organized by Bard College Berlin and the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.
Bard College Berlin faculty Aaron Tugendhaft discusses new book, "The Idols of ISIS: From Assyria to the Internet" (Chicago UP, 2020) during a virtual roundtable.
The book unpacks the aftermath of a video that was released by the Islamic State in 2015, showing ISIS members smashing ancient sculptures in Iraq’s Mosul Museum in an effort to cleanse the world of Idolatry. Analyzing the role of images in our life, the political importance of museums, and the efficacy of videos in furthering an ideological agenda through the internet, Tugendhaft asks whether there can be any political life without idolatry at all.
Discussion with Ewa Atanassow (Bard College Berlin), BCB alumni David Kretz (University of Chicago) and Glenn Most (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, University of Chicago). Moderated by David Hayes (Bard College Berlin).
Jointly organized by Bard College Berlin and the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.
