David Cayley interviewed about Ivan Illich
While there may have been others who knew Illich better in his lifetime, no one has been anywhere near as generous as Cayley in helping the world get to know Illich better. Nor does anyone else have access to such a quantity of first-hand recordings of interviews with Illich. In Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey, published by Penn State University Press in 2021, Cayley is forthcoming with background information which makes what transpired in Illich’s life, in the life of Cuernavaca, on the world stage, even more impacting and the book a true page turner.
Cayley was interviewed on May 19, 2022 by Charlie Goff in an event organized by Cuernavaca residents Carol Hopkins, and Frances Kissling, herself a force in both 20th and 21st Century social activism. The interview was followed by a question and answer period. David Cayley joined from Canada by Zoom with those present at the Cemanahuac Educational Community in Cuernavaca and those signed in on Zoom. English-Spanish simultaneous translation was provided online by UNAM’s Department of Philosophy.
Beset as we are these days by the cascading consequences of climate change and the descent into dysfunction of our social institutions, it is worth remembering Ivan Illich, a prophet whose time has come. For some in Cuernavaca, Illich and CIDOC, the language school and educational center he established, are as alive as they were when he founded and set it on course in 1960. Many expats currently living in Cuernavaca are here because of Illich and many more know that for a period of time Illich created a Mecca here in Cuernavaca not just for students but for intellectuals, teachers, clergy, philosophers. All were drawn to this charismatic, revolutionary, renaissance thinker. Immersion language schools were born in Cuernavaca. Ivan Illich created the original model and gave it birth.
Cayley was interviewed on May 19, 2022 by Charlie Goff in an event organized by Cuernavaca residents Carol Hopkins, and Frances Kissling, herself a force in both 20th and 21st Century social activism. The interview was followed by a question and answer period. David Cayley joined from Canada by Zoom with those present at the Cemanahuac Educational Community in Cuernavaca and those signed in on Zoom. English-Spanish simultaneous translation was provided online by UNAM’s Department of Philosophy.
Beset as we are these days by the cascading consequences of climate change and the descent into dysfunction of our social institutions, it is worth remembering Ivan Illich, a prophet whose time has come. For some in Cuernavaca, Illich and CIDOC, the language school and educational center he established, are as alive as they were when he founded and set it on course in 1960. Many expats currently living in Cuernavaca are here because of Illich and many more know that for a period of time Illich created a Mecca here in Cuernavaca not just for students but for intellectuals, teachers, clergy, philosophers. All were drawn to this charismatic, revolutionary, renaissance thinker. Immersion language schools were born in Cuernavaca. Ivan Illich created the original model and gave it birth.