The article examines the intellectual relevance of Hannah Arendt’s graduate course, "Political Experiences of the Twentieth Century", given in the Fall of 1965 at Cornell University. The article draws on my notes taken as her student in this course and on her own notes prepared for the course that are in her papers in the Library of Congress. The article relates, on the basis of her papers in the Library of Congress, this course to a previous one offered in 1955 at the University of California and to a subsequent one in 1968 given at the New School for Social Research. The article explores how these courses are relevant for the understanding of the importance in Hannah Arendt’s work of experience, narrative, action, imagination, reflective judgement, that are critical components of her originality as a major thinker of the XXth century.
Hannah Arendt; Experience; Narrative; Action; Imagination and reflective judgement
