December 10, 2010 at 4:37 pm
‘Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.’
She read, and indeed could read, no farther, but closed the book and stood up quickly.
‘That is all about the raising of Lazarus,’ she whispered abruptly and sternly, and stood without moving, turned away from him and not daring to raise her eyes to him, as though she were ashamed. Her feverish trembling continued. The candle-end had long since burned low in the twisted candlestick, dimly lighting the poverty-stricken room and the murderer and the harlot who had come together so strangely to read the eternal book.
— Crime and Punishment, Part Four, Chapter IV, pp. 277-8
By CAS Core Curriculum
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Posted in Analects
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Tagged analect
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December 9, 2010 at 2:12 pm
This having learnt, thou hast attained the sum
Of Wisdom; hope no higher, though all the Stars
Thou knew’st by name, and all th’ ethereal Powers,
All secrets of the deep, all Nature’s works,
Or works of God in Heav’n, Air, Earth, or Sea,
And all riches of this World enjoy’dst,
And all the rule, one Empire: only add
Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add Faith,
Add Virtue, Patience, Temperance, add Love,
By name to come called Charity, the soul
Of all the rest: then wilt though not be loth
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess
A paradise within thee, happier far.
– Archangel Michael, Milton’s Paradise Lost
By CAS Core Curriculum
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Posted in Analects
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Tagged analect, CC201, milton, Paradise Lost
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December 7, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Democracy...is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.
- Plato. Today's analect, suggested by Sarah Cole (Core '10, CAS '12), addresses democracy, as does today's panel discussion in CC101
By CAS Core Curriculum
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Posted in Analects
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Tagged analect, CC101, democracy, Plato
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December 7, 2010 at 12:27 pm
The problem with storytelling is that it appeals to the desirous part of the soul and not the rational -- that's why Socrates has such a problem with it. So, my question is: Would it be just to ban Sophocles and his plays in the city of Athens, when they clearly show a deep understanding of the human condition?
-- Stephen Esposito, associate professor of classical studies and instructor in the Core Humanities, giving an example of the way individual liberty and civic interests can come into conflict, during the panel debate on democracy which took place during the last lecture of CC101 for this fall semester. Prof. Michael Corgan (International Relations), Prof. David Roochnik (Philosophy), and Prof. Jay Samons (Classics) also took part in this interdisciplinary discussion.
*
The complex strengths and shortcomings of democracy are a particular specialty of Prof. Samons, whose book What's Wrong With Democracy? From Athenian Practice to American Worship considers how the practice of democracy in the ancient world can offer lessons for our modern era.
By CAS Core Curriculum
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Posted in Core Lecturers, Events, Faculty Publications
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Tagged CC101, Corgan, debate, democracy, Esposito, faculty, interdisciplinary, publications, Roochnik, Samons, Socrates, Sophocles
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December 6, 2010 at 12:58 pm
In her recently published new book, Viennese Jewish Modernism, Professor Abigail Gillman -- associate professor of Hebrew and German, and instructor in the Core Humanities -- takes a novel approach to exploring Jewish Modernism that goes beyond identity as Jewish or non-Jewish. Instead, Prof. Gillman focuses on the works of Sigmund Freud, Hugo Von Hofmannsthal, Richard Beer-Hofmann, and Arthur Schnitzler as sources which illuminate the context for Modernism as a whole. In his blurb, William Donahue of Duke University writes:
Gillman's book is as rich and paradoxical as Jewish assimilation itself, for the author is at once telling a particularly Jewish and a larger European story of aesthetic, cultural, and sometimes even political engagement with tradition.
Viennese Jewish Modernism, published by Penn State University Press in 2009, is available at the PSU website, via Google Books preview, and in hard copy at Mugar library. A reviewer for the Journal of Jewish Identity called the book "a major accomplishment", one that "provides a wealth of new ideas and information."
By CAS Core Curriculum
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Posted in Faculty Publications
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Tagged books, faculty, Freud, Modernism, publications
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December 6, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Core Lectures this week
CC101: Panel on Democracy with Professors Corgan, Esposito, Samons and Roochnik 12/7
CC105: Integrating Forum #3: Man and the Environment 12/7
CC105: Science and Humanity in Perspective 12/9
CC201: Professor Johnson on Bach 12/7
CC203: Concluding Forum 12/9
Core Exam Schedule
CC101: Wednesday, December 15, 9-11 am Tsai Auditorium
CC105: Friday, December 17, 9-11 am Tsai Auditorium
CC201: Thursday, December 16, 6-8 pm CAS 224
CC203: Saturday, December 18, 9-11 am CAS 522
Selected Study Sessions
CC101: Friday, December 10, 5-6 pm (with Formichelli & Wood) CAS 316
CC105: Wednesday, December 15, 6:30-9 pm CAS 224
More study sessions may be added, check with your discussion leader.
Core Stuff
- Consider stopping by the Core writing center to get help all your final Core papers Writing tutors are available to meet this week from 10-1 & 2-4. Sign up for an appointment in CAS 119.
- CC105 walk-in tutoring occurs every Monday, 3-5 PM in the Core office, CAS 119, with ERC tutor John McCargar.
Get connected with Core!
Do you have any ideas, or comments about Core activities? Email Professor Kyna Hamill.
By CAS Core Curriculum
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Posted in e-bulletin
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Tagged e-bulletin, final exams
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December 6, 2010 at 12:09 pm
It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.
- J. S. Bach (whose St. Matthew Passion is studied in CC201)
By CAS Core Curriculum
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Posted in Analects
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Tagged analect, Bach, CC201
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December 3, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Dear Core,
Hola! I am on a mini-break from Paris, in Madrid right now, where I had the treat of spending the day in the Prado. Velázquez and Goya close up are really an experience. I never really “got” the singular appeal of Las meninas or The 2nd of May until I was there, in the room with them. You can’t look away! I also have to thank you for the awesome education. It is almost exclusively thanks to the Core that I have the Humanities/Social Science background that French students seem to have as second nature. Core’s the best!
Anyway, I hope you all are doing well, and that things are good in Boston with the new corelings!
Love,
Logan Gowdey (Core '10, CAS '12)
By CAS Core Curriculum
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Posted in Postcards
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Tagged alumni, Art, CC202, Goya, Humanities, Paris, postcard, Velázquez
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December 3, 2010 at 12:30 pm
In anticipation of the debate on democracy being presented in CC101, consider this point made by Aristotle in Politics:
In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.
Is there any way this can be critiqued? Offer your opinions on the EnCore Facebook page.
By CAS Core Curriculum
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Posted in Analects
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Tagged analect, aristotle, CC101, democracy, politics
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December 2, 2010 at 7:34 am
In honor of CC203's examination of the seminal ethnography by Bronislaw Malinowski:
The time when we could tolerate accounts presenting us the native as a distorted, childish caricature of a human being are gone. This picture is false, and like many other falsehood, it has been killed by Science.
- Argonauts of the Western Pacific
By CAS Core Curriculum
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Posted in Analects
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Tagged analect, CC203, Malinowski
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