“I met Marisa (pronounced “Marīsa”) at the 2019 Philosophy as a Way of Life conference at University of Notre Dame. She was part of a group of folks who had been at a previous NEH workshop together, many of whom rented a house to share during the conference in South Bend. One night, I shared a fire with them and happened to sit next to Marisa during the sing-around. Learning about what she’s been up to, I was heartened. Her group is doing community-based philosophy woven into people’s lives. I thought that academics might find inspiration from her organization about how to extend what we focus on in our studies into long-term, community-based practice – the books alive & philosophy people-sized, & people part of the country-side.

Marisa & I exchanged sets of long voice-recordings as a way of conducting our interview. She then wrote up a transcript based on her replies to my questions from her voice-notes. She also adapted material from a forthcoming book chapter in various places. Then I subtracted my questions, edited her responses lightly, and sent it out to Sidra & Katherine (my co-editors). Some more voice notes, a phone call, and further emails ensued. Given only in Marisa’s voice as a dramatic monologue, what’s here resulted from that several-month-long process – Marisa taking the stage in a happier version of a Sam Shepard play.” — Jeremy Bendik-Keymer

(Reposted from the APA)