Category: Great Questions

Rachel Richardson: Escape Artists

March 28, 2013 at 1:57 pm

In her article about studying poetry with prisoners, Rachel Richardson shares the intricacies of the endeavor. Here is an extract: My partner and I went into the prison to write and hear poems, to share poetry with a group of men who might want to have this art in their lives. That was our theory. Any […]

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Auden on Memorizing Poetry

March 27, 2013 at 1:17 pm

Relating to the Core’s study of W.H. Auden is an article about his insistence on memorizing poetry. Here is an extract: Auden would insist that the boys in his class learn poem after poem by heart. Even parrot-fashion. Auden said it didn’t matter whether they understood them. If they learnt the poems now, they would […]

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One Of Us: Discussing Descartes & Animal Consciousness

March 25, 2013 at 11:39 am

Relating to CC201’s study of The Renaissance is the essay ‘One Of Us’ by John Jeremiah Sullivan on animal consciousness, in which he discusses Descartes’ views on the topic. Here is an extract: Descartes’ term for them [animals] was automata—windup toys, like the Renaissance protorobots he’d seen as a boy in the gardens at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, “hydraulic statues” that […]

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Gender Inequality: CC204 & The Claims of Esquire’s Editor

March 23, 2013 at 4:12 pm

Relating to last week’s lecture by Professor Mears on gender inequality and Hochschild’s readings, are two articles discussing the claim made by the Esquire’s editor, that “women are there to be beautiful objects”. Some extracts: “The women we feature in the magazine are ornamental,” he said, speaking at the Advertising Week Europe conference in London on Tuesday. […]

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The Future of the Bolshoi Ballet

March 18, 2013 at 3:13 pm

The Core presents an article from The Atlantic discussing the Bolshoi ballet and its changing state. Here is an extract: History and lingering popular sentiments tether the institution to the state more than any other cultural venue, even if ideologically speaking, neither is much use to the other. Though Putin’s own insistence on machismo makes clear […]

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‘Seeds of Hope’ by Jane Goodall

March 18, 2013 at 2:30 pm

In this article for the Boston Globe, Adam Langer discusses Jane Goodall’s new work. He describes it as: Part reminiscence, part natural history, and part plea on behalf of the natural world, “Seeds of Hope” begins with Goodall’s childhood in Bournemouth, England, where she recalls spending hours in her favorite tree doing her homework, reading […]

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Mo Yan’s Delicate Balancing Act

February 28, 2013 at 3:50 pm

Sabina Knight writes, in this review, of author Mo Yan’s receipt of a Nobel Prize and the controversy that arisen due this event. Here is a sample: Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for his writing, not for political engagement. This essay thus offers a perspective on his politics based not on a few symbolic […]

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Core Texts on Leadership

February 28, 2013 at 1:37 pm

Here are samples from the Odyssey, the Aeneid, and Don Quixote on the topic of leadership: My child, what strange remarks you let escape you. Could I forget that kingly man, Odysseus? There is no mortal half so wise; no mortal gave so much to the lords of open sky. ~ The Odyssey, Book I, […]

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The Penelopiad: A Great Experience

February 26, 2013 at 12:49 pm

The Penelopiad turned out to be as interesting and multi-layered as we had expected, attracting about 35 Core students and many more theater fans! Following the events of the Odyssey from the female perspective, the play interwove the voice of Penelope and the voices of her twelve maids who are killed in the end at […]

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Justifying Coercive Paternalism

February 26, 2013 at 11:58 am

In his compelling article, Cass Sunstein explores the validity of Mill’s ideas on government and the individual. Here is a sample: In his great essay, Mill insisted that as a general rule, government cannot legitimately coerce people if its only goal is to protect people from themselves. Mill contended that: The only purpose for which […]

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