February 16, 2011 at 12:49 pm
Earlier this week, Prof. Emily Hudson—a specialist on Religion and Literature—introduced faculty and students in CC102 to the world of The Bhagavad Gita. For years we have heard about the “dilemma” that Arjuna faces as he stands with his charioteer Krishna between two armies who are preparing to destroy each other. Should he fight in […]
February 14, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Professor Steve Esposito, a longtime member of the Core Humanities faculty and associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Classics, writes about a recent Core excursion to a new theatrical version of Ajax… This weekend, 85 Core students and 10 members of the Core faculty attended the very successful production of Sophocles’ […]
February 9, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Day was departing, and the darkening air Called all earth’s creatures to their evening quiet While I alone was preparing as though for war To struggle with my journey and with the spirit Of pity, which flawless memory will redraw: O Muses, O genius of art, O memory whose merit Has inscribed inwardly those things […]
February 3, 2011 at 2:03 pm
The American Repertory Theater is putting up a production of Sophocles’ Ajax this month, a world-premiere of this particular translation. This evening, Obie Award-winning director Sarah Benson will speak about her experience directing classical Greek plays professionally, and about her work on the upcoming production. This event is part of the Core-sponsored series of lectures […]
February 3, 2011 at 1:18 pm
In the coming weeks, you’re going to see more posts from Core lecturers and faculty here on the Core blog, as we find ways to share part of the Core classroom experience with you readers. Prof. Eckel invited Prof. Wiebke Denecke — who lectured this past Tuesday on Confucius for the students of CC102 — […]
February 1, 2011 at 2:12 pm
In his lecture last week for CC102 on Aristotle’s concept of virtue, Prof. David Bronstein made a fascinating point about Aristotle’s understanding of the relationship between virtue and pleasure. Prof. Bronstein explains: Does it feel good to be virtuous? Hear what Aristotle has to say: We may even go so far as to state that […]
January 28, 2011 at 3:59 pm
Between friends there is no need for justice, but people who are just still need the quality of friendship; and indeed friendliness is considered to be justice in the fullest sense. It is not only a necessary thing but a splendid one. — Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics
January 27, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without. — often attributed to Confucius, whose Analects are studied in the second-semester freshman humanities, CC102: Antiquity and the Medieval World. [Tertiary research suggests this is derived from 寧可玉碎，不能瓦全, a Chinese proverb meaning roughly “Better be a piece of broken jade than unbroken tile.” Why this […]
January 24, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Try not to fret in this frozen city, Aristotle can help you find happiness without (much) reference to the weather: For some people think that happiness is a virtue, others that it is practical wisdom, others that it is some kind of theoretical wisdom; others again believe it to be all or some of these […]
