Category: Uncategorized

Analects of the Core: Durkheim on egotistical society

Egotistical society derives from the fact that society is not in every respect sufficiently integrated to keep all its members dependent on it. So if it develops to excess, this is because the state on which it depends has itself expanded to excess: society is weakened and disturbed, allowing too many of its subjects to […]

Analects of the Core: Fry on Homer’s genius

Stephen Fry’s BBC mini-series “Fry’s Planet Word” discusses The Odyssey: “Homer’s genius was to create vivid, archetypal scenes that transcended time and place. The Sirens episode is only a few paragraphs long, yet has become embedded in our collective memory.” Check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W4i6sWCbk0&t=8m22s

Analects of the Core: Hawthorne on the burden of the past

Yesterday I went out at about twelve, and visited the British Museum; an exceedingly tiresome affair. It quite crushes a person to see so much at once; and I wandered from hall to hall with a weary and heavy heart, wishing (Heaven forgive me!) that the Elgin marbles and the frieze of the Parthenon were […]

Analects of the Core: Homer on the gods’ attention to Telemakhos

“Reason and heart will give you words, Telemakhos; and a spirit will counsel others. I should say the gods were never indifferent to your life.” – Homer, from The Odyssey Book III, lines 31-33. Translation by Robert Fitzgerald.

E-bulletin for week of 10/2/11

Lectures this week CC101: Stephanie Nelson on The Culture & Religion of Ancient Greece (10/4) CC105, Tuesday: Scott Whitaker on atoms (10/4) CC105, Thursday: Midterm 1 (10/6) CC201: Victor Coelho on Claudio Monteverdi (10/4) CC203: Judith Swanson on Inequality, Property & Social Contract (10/6) General announcements A reminder to alumni — if you will be […]

From Scroll to Screen

From scrolls, to the codex, to e-books, like the Amazon Kindle, the format of the book is changing in our new technological age.  A recent New York Times article describes this ever-changing phenomenon and what we should expect to sacrifice in giving up the good-ole paperback. In the classical world, the scroll was the book […]

Analects of the Core: Voltaire on Cunégonde’s disposition for the sciences

Un jour, Cunégonde, en se promenant auprès du château, dans le petit bois qu’on appelait parc, vit entre des broussailles le docteur Pangloss qui donnait une leçon de physique expérimentale à la femme de chambre de sa mère, petite brune très jolie et très docile. Comme Mlle Cunégonde avait beaucoup de dispositions pour les sciences, […]

Save the date: MoS College Night

From the Museum of Science website: The Museum welcomes students back to the city in style by offering free admission to a night in our Exhibit Halls, Monday, September 19, 2011, beginning at 5 PM. This exclusive evening features Omni and 3-D Digital Cinema films, Theater of Electricity shows, Boston Duck Tours, mini Segway tours, […]

CC106 Ecosystem Challenge Winners

The CC106 Ecosystem Challenge has come to a conclusion and the much-coveted grand prize, an Ecosphere — which has been residing happily and without complaint on Dr. Hudon’s desk, as per the images below — is now moving to a new home. Prof. Hudon writes: Congratulations to Sloane Williams and Caroline Smith who concocted the […]

Photos from Core at Walden

Core took a trip to Walden Pond this past Saturday, April 30th. After stopping for lunch at the famous Concord Cheese Shop, the group took a walk around the pond and pondered Thoreau’s literary and philosophical legacy. It was a fine spring day for it. L-R: Nora Spalholz, Julia Sinitsky, Sarah Schneider, Cara Papakyrikos, Prof. […]