Edward Said, Palestinian-American writer, and founder of postcolonial theory delivered four lectures on campus in 1985 that became the basis for his seminal work, ‘Culture and Imperialism’. On 16 May 2026, we gathered, as part of our University of Kent 60th anniversary celebrations, we revisited Said’s T.S.Eliot lecture. PhD candidate Jessica Elias delivered the opening remarks, reflecting on the significance of Said’s legacy, the rediscovery of the original recordings, and the themes that shaped the day’s discussions. Here is an abridged version:
“Few authors today are as important and prolific as Edward W. Said.” So wrote Gauri Viswanathan in Power, Politics and Culture. Few intellectuals have shaped the humanities as profoundly. Whether discussing literature, politics, culture, music, or Palestine, Said remains indispensable to any serious conversation about power, representation, and resistance.
He was the exiled intellectual whose homeland lived in every word. A witness to loss and a weaver of hope. A humanist who became a radical humanist. A literary critic of resistance whose work continues to speak to our present moment.
In February 2025, while speaking with our archivist in the University of Kent’s Templeman Library about the erosion of international legal principles and the unfolding crises in the Middle East, I clicked on an old recording. Suddenly, Edward Said’s voice filled the archive room. The lectures had been delivered at Kent in December 1985 as part of the T. S. Eliot Memorial Lectures. Hearing that voice across four decades felt less like a discovery than a summons.
Those lectures—Overlapping Territories, Intertwined Histories, Consolidated Vision, Opposition and Resistance, and Domination Futurestyle—would later form the foundation of Culture and Imperialism. Listening today, they feel remarkably prescient. They speak directly to the overlapping territories, intertwined histories, and enduring structures of domination that continue to shape our world.
It was therefore fitting that we gathered once again in Canterbury, forty years later, around Said’s voice and legacy. We were especially honoured to welcome Professor Wadie Edward Said, whose concluding reflections connected his father’s intellectual legacy with his own distinguished work in law.
The University of Kent has long served as a sanctuary for critical thought. Edward Said, Julia Kristeva, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Kazuo Ishiguro, and many others have contributed to a tradition of intellectual courage that remains central to the university’s identity. Organising this symposium during a period marked by war, displacement, and uncertainty often felt challenging, but it also reinforced the importance of universities as spaces for difficult conversations and public engagement.
Throughout the day, speakers from across the UK and beyond reflected on the legacies of empire, the global significance of humanism, and the role of intellectuals in advocacy and resistance. Together, they explored questions that remain as urgent today as they were in 1985.
The symposium brought together archives and influence, past and future, literature and politics, law and history. It connected Palestine, Lebanon, Britain, Ireland, and many other places through shared conversations about justice, memory, and responsibility. Most importantly, it reminded us that Edward Said’s work endures not simply because it helps us understand the world, but because it challenges us to change it. Between 1985 and 2026, between archive and action, between memory and possibility, we found ourselves once again at what we called Humanity at a Crossroads.
Our sincere thanks go to everyone who contributed to making the symposium possible, including colleagues, students, volunteers, archivists, speakers, guests, and university staff. The event was generously supported by the University of Kent as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations, alongside Kent Law School, the School of Social Sciences, and the School of Humanities.
For information on speakers at the symposium, some session recordings from the day, and how to access Said’s recordings from the University of Kent archives, please visit the Humanity at a Crossroads webpage.