February 22, 2013 at 10:05 am
Adam Kirsch discusses whether or not essays are “extinct” as a form of writing, and references Michel e Montaigne, whose work is studied in CC201. Here is a sample: The essay, traditionally, was defined by its freedom and its empiricism—qualities that it inherited from its modern inventor, Montaigne. “What do I know?” Montaigne asked, and […]
February 21, 2013 at 11:00 am
In view of CC102’s study of the Analects of Confucius, the Core presents an interesting discussion of Confucian ethics when applied to international relations. Here is a sample: Chinese ethics is a deontological system that has a continuity spanning a range from personal to public concerns, without differentiation. A good society, a good state, and […]
By mdimov
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Also posted in Academics, Curriculum, Great Ideas
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Tagged application, CC102, Confucian, Confucius, ethics, idea, international, modern, relations, text
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January 28, 2013 at 3:44 pm
Core classes extensively explore poetry. Here is an essay on the topic of memorizing poetry – whether we should do it, and if so, why and how? An excerpt: Anyone equipped with a smartphone—many of my friends would never step outdoors without one—commands a range of poetry that beggars anything the brain can store. Let’s […]
January 25, 2013 at 4:35 pm
The class of CC202 delves into Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Here the Core presents an article looks at that work from another perspective- politics. Here is an excerpt: The Victorians fostered the idea of Austen as the retiring spinster who confined her novels to the small canvas of village life. In more recent times she […]
By mdimov
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Also posted in Academics, Curriculum, Great Ideas
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Tagged article, CC202, context, history, interesting, Jane Austen, militia, novel, politics, poverty, prejudice, pride, romantic
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January 17, 2013 at 4:37 pm
Language and Other Abstract Objects was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 1981. It discusses the ideas of Plato studied in CC101. Internalization and externalization also explain why, for Plato, poetry corrupts our psyches. Given our psychology, there are two features of poetry which make it an especially potent drug. First, the music and rhythms […]
By mdimov
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Also posted in Academics, Curriculum, Great Ideas
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Tagged boundary, CC101, expression, form, imagination, imitation, inside, outside, perform, Plato, poetry
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January 17, 2013 at 4:27 pm
Professor Knust held a lecture in September of 2011, of which the Core is belatedly releasing the concluding minutes. While it related to The Book of Genesis, which is studied in CC101, the Core feels that the questions raised here are important, and relevant to many other works. In the end, I’m not sure what […]
By mdimov
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Also posted in Academics, Community, Core Authors, Core Lecturers, Curriculum
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Tagged ancestors, creation, destruction, explanation, Genesis, God, Knust, lecture, question, reason, understand, why?
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December 14, 2012 at 11:34 am
Relating to the work of CC202, which inspects Mozart, is an essay arguing that revivals of classic works do not hold back the opera genre from blossoming. Here is an excerpt: Nothing, perhaps, will ever be as good as Shakespeare, but that doesn’t prevent Tony Kushner or David Mamet from writing marvellous plays now. Shostakovich […]
