COMMUNITY CALENDAR A PUBLICATION OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO
JULY/AUGUST 2012 VOL. 4.12
7th
TM
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In this Issue: Dean’s Lecture and Concert Series, Summer Lecture Series, Community Seminars, Events
DEAN’S LECTURE AND CONCERT SERIES Please join us for the beginning of the fall 2012 Dean’s Lecture and Concert Series. All lectures are free and open to the public. Evening lectures take place in the Great Hall, starting at 7:30 p.m., and afternoon lectures take place in the Junior Common Room, starting at 3:15 p.m.
OPENING LECTURE Walter Sterling, Dean, St. John’s College, Santa Fe Friday, August 24, 7:30 p.m. Great Hall, Peterson Student Center St. John’s College Dean Walter Sterling will offer the first lecture of the fall 2012 Dean’s Lecture and Concert Series. J. Walter Sterling earned his bachelor’s degree in 1993 from St. John’s College, Annapolis, and master’s degree in philosophy in 1997 from Emory University. He held academic positions at Loyola College, Gwynedd-Mercy College, and Temple University, and also worked with Project H.O.M.E. (Philadelphia) before joining the faculty of St. John’s College, Santa Fe, in 2003.
SUMMER LECTURE SERIES 2012 Join us for a series of informal lectures, sponsored by the college’s Graduate Institute. The series continues in July and August on five consecutive Wednesday afternoons, concluding August 1. Free and open to the public, the seminars are followed by a question-and-answer period.
What is a Question? Richard McCombs, tutor, St. John’s College, Santa Fe Wednesday, July 4, 3:15 p.m. Junior Common Room, Peterson Student Center Questions are essential to and ubiquitous within human life. Without them we could not think and act as we do. And yet almost no great thinkers have made them a theme in their writings. In his lecture Mr. McCombs investigates the causes of this perplexing neglect of questions and sketches an account of them so as to suggest their worthiness of serious philosophical study. Richard A. McCombs II earned bachelor of arts and of science degrees from Fordham University in 1990 and a master’s degree and doctorate from Fordham in 1992 and 2000, respectively. Before joining the faculty of St. John’s College, Santa Fe, in 1999, he held academic positions at Fordham University, Marist College, Rose Hill College, and the University of South Carolina.
Education is the b
On the Meno: Why Does Socrates Never Tell Us What We Want to Know? David Starr, tutor, St. John’s College, Santa Fe Wednesday, July 11, 3:15 p.m. Junior Common Room, Peterson Student Center Mr. Starr will address the aporetic nature of the Socratic dialogue, considering why Plato is so reticent to have his hero and presumed spokesman enunciate definitive accounts of things like virtue, justice, knowledge, and the soul. Can he really not know? Can such things be known? And why does Socrates insist on questions he cannot (or will not) answer? It seems so ironic! An alternative, though too ambitious, title might be, what does authentic philosophy strive to do, and can it be done? David Starr received his bachelor of arts degree from Gordon College in 1962 and master’s and doctorate degrees from Boston University in 1966 and 1972, respectively. He was a tutor on the Annapolis campus of St. John’s College from 1972 to 1980. Starr joined the faculty on the Santa Fe campus in 1980 and immediately served a two-year term as Director of The Graduate Institute in Liberal Education.
God Going Naked: An Exploration of the Female Bhakti Poets of Ancient India Patricia Greer, tutor, St. John’s College, Santa Fe Wednesday, July 18, 3:15 p.m. Junior Common Room, Peterson Student Center In this lecture, Patricia Greer will explore the lives and works of a few of the Indian women whose poems express a passionate and profound love for the lord: Buddha, Krishna, Shiva. These women chose lives that society deemed highly unorthodox, even transgressive. This rich and much ignored body of work deserves an honored place in the ancient and ongoing cannon of Indian bhakti (devotional) literature. Patricia Greer has been a tutor at St. John’s College, Santa Fe, since 2001. She received a bachelor of arts degree from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland (1966), master of arts degrees from Johns Hopkins University (Writing Seminars, 1967) and from St. John’s College, Annapolis (1995), and a doctorate in history of religions from the University of Virginia (2002). Before joining the St. John’s faculty, she held a number of academic positions, including adjunct instructor, history of Asian religions, University of Virginia, and visiting lecturer on Sanskrit epics at Sweet Briar College.
best provision for the journey to old age. — ARISTOTLE
FIRST ANNUAL LEVAN LECTURE Poetry and Power: A Literary Reflection on the Book of Job Jack Hernandez, Director, Norman Levan Center for the Humanities, Bakersfield College Wednesday, July 25, 3:15 p.m. Junior Common Room, Peterson Student Center The Book of Job is often discussed as a theodicy. This lecture will focus on its marvelous poetry, especially on Job’s despair, anger, and plea for justice and on God’s response to Job, which is one of overwhelming power. Jack Hernandez is professor emeritus of philosophy and English at Bakersfield College, in California, and currently the director of the Norman Levan Center for the Humanities at the college. He has published poetry in a variety of journals.
Francis Bacon and the Problem of Asclepius Natalie J. Elliot, tutor, St. John’s College, Santa Fe Wednesday, August 1, 3:15 p.m. Junior Common Room, Peterson Student Center Of the Wisdom of the Ancients is Francis Bacon’s playful, yet philosophical, retelling of a series of classical fables to develop a moral philosophy that addresses challenges unique to the modern world. One of the themes that Bacon tackles in the book is our changing relationship with death. In the world that he helps to create, the human lifespan gets longer, and the human imagination turns increasingly toward everlasting life. The lecture will explore the classical myths that Bacon retells to address our new mortal condition. Natalie J. Elliot received her bachelor of art and master of art degrees in political science in 2002 and 2004, respectively, from the University of Alberta. Her doctorate in political science was conferred in 2009 by the University of North Texas. Before joining the faculty of St. John’s College in Santa Fe, she was a teaching fellow in the Department of Political Science and Honors College at UNT and visiting professor of political science at Southern Methodist University.
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and som
COMMUNITY SEMINARS Community Seminars are special opportunities for community members to read and discuss seminal works in the same unique manner as our students. Seminars are discussion-based and small in size in order to ensure spirited dialogue. There are topics to pique every interest, and for many participants the discussion-based learning model is an entirely new experience. The seminar series resumes inlate July, with a four-week seminar that meets on consecutive Wednesdays (see below). Five additional seminars are being offered in the fall. Please call 505-984-6117 to register for any of the seminars described below. Teachers with proof of employment can enroll in a Community Seminar at a 50 percent discount. Community Seminars are free to 11th and 12th grade high school students (limited spaces available).
Marcus Aurelius’ Mediations Tutor: Topi Heikkerö Dates/Times: Four Wednesdays, July 25 through August 15, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Cost: $140 Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote Meditations as a series of self-corrections and reminders; hence the Greek name of the book, Ta eis heauton (To himself). In this philosophical journal, Aurelius addresses most centrally death, one’s role in life, self-improvement, handling desires, and the order of the cosmos. Although his thinking is characterized as Stoicism, Aurelius’ personal quest reaches beyond the typical boundaries of philosophical schools.
Rumi, Masnavi-ye Ma’navi Tutor: Michael Wolfe Dates/Times: Four consecutive Saturdays, September 8 through September 29, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Cost: $140 Seminar participants will read all of Book I of Rumi’s Masnavi-ye Ma’navi, or “spiritual couplets,” which was begun in 1262 AD and is thought to be the longest single-authored “mystical” poem ever written. Jalaluddin Rumi was a poet and mystic of the highest attainment, but he was first and foremost a spiritual teacher. Rumi draws on a vast range of sources, from fables to stories from daily life and religious tradition, to compose a remarkable text, which is a ladder to the spiritual world.
me few to be chewed and digested. — SIR FRANCIS BACON
Fortunate Fall? Exploring John Milton’s Paradise Lost Tutor: Gregory Schneider Dates/Times: Six Wednesdays, October 10 through November 14, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Cost: $210 John Milton’s blank verse masterpiece, Paradise Lost, announces in its opening that it will “justify the ways of God to men.” Springing from just a few lines from the Book of Genesis, the poem puts forth a much expanded version of the relationship between Adam and Eve and their cursed choice to eat from the forbidden tree of the Garden. As it unfolds, Milton offers a portrayal that attempts to justify the God who put humans in the place to make that choice. Along the way, we meet a captivating Satan, hear of the story of the rebellious angels, and see the unique ways that Adam and Eve each respond to their predicament. Over six sessions, this seminar will explore this complicated story, often considered the greatest epic poem in the English language.
Rabbinic Stories Tutor: Ken Wolfe Dates/Times: Five consecutive Tuesdays, October 2 through 30, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Cost: $175 Seminar participants will study a collection of rabbinic stories selected from the Talmud. The rabbis told stories about law, piety, sin and suffering, the relation of Jews to Gentiles, and important events in Jewish history, such as the destruction of the 2nd Temple and the revolt of Bar Kokhba.
Plutarch’s Essays Tutor: Topi Heikkerö Dates/Times: Four consecutive Saturdays, October 20 through November 10, 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon. Cost: $140 Plutarch, best known for his biographies of important Greek and Roman men, was a skillful essayist, too. Seminar participants will read a selection of his essays, including “On Listening” and “How to Distinguish a Flatterer from a Friend.”
If Rousseau were a Woman: Women Thinkers’ Points of View Tutor: Michael Bybee Dates/Times: Six consecutive Wednesdays, September 12 & 19 and October 3, 10, 17, and 24, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Cost: $210 Arguably, the great minds of Occidental philosophy were predominantly male, almost universally unmarried, and without child-rearing responsibilities. One might wonder whether the major doctrines in Western philosophy, history, and literature seem plausible only to this class of individuals. What if we were to look at these themes from the point of view of their female counterparts? What insights into the human condition would we find? This seminar will examine society through the thoughts and writings of some of the foremost female minds of past and present, including Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, and Alice Walker.
Celebrating its seventh year, 2012, Music on the Hill™ has rapidly become a signature Santa Fe summer event. From mid June to late July, local and nationally known musicians offer free weekly Wednesday concerts in a wide range of musical styles, including jazz, R&B, and world music. Concerts take place on the college’s athletic field. For parking options, visit our website at www.stjohnscollege.edu. Concert-goers are encouraged to picnic on the field. Food and soft drinks will be available for purchase. Catering by Walter Burke Catering; beverages by Sunflower Markets. St. John’s College would like to thank the Santa Fe community and lead sponsors Los Alamos National Bank, KSFR, Comcast, Verve Gallery, Albuquerque Journal North, and the Santa Fean for supporting our annual concert series. Please note that NO PETS are allowed on campus, and that bicycles must be parked in designated areas. This year’s Music on the Hill™ series line-up features the following musicians: July 11
Janice and Vinnie Zummo Jazz Vocals and Guitar July 18
Bobby Shew Jazz Trumpet July 25
Hillary Smith with Soul Kitchen R&B
McDowall Construction Eye Associates of America
High Country Macula
This project is made possible in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
BREAD LOAF LECTURE Heritage as Inspiration Thursday, July 5, 7 p.m. Great Hall Peterson Student Center Ana Castillo, novelist, essayist, poet Renowned poet, novelist, short story writer, and essayist Ana Castillo is one of the leading voices to emerge from the Chicana experience. Her work is based on established oral and literary traditions, yet at the same time it is highly innovative. This “most daring and experimental of Latino novelists” is a prolific writer and teacher whose work has been critically acclaimed and widely anthologized in the United States and abroad. In her lectures, Castillo speaks about the craft of storytelling as well as Chicana identity and culture. Raised in a working-class neighborhood in Chicago, Ana Castillo credits the powerful storytelling tradition of her Mexican heritage as the foundation and inspiration for her writing. By the time she graduated from college, Castillo had already begun to establish herself as a dynamic poetic voice: she published poems in anthologies and magazines as a college student, and three volumes of poetry followed shortly thereafter. In the mid-1980s, Castillo turned to fiction. So Far From God, her first novel to be widely read, was published in 1993. Blending aspects of magical realism with a powerful family narrative and strong feminist undertones, the book marked Castillo as one of the country’s most gifted and engaging Latina writers. Publications following this include the short story collection Loverboys and the novel Peel My Love Like an Onion. The Guardians follows the lives of Mexican immigrants who illegally cross the border into the United States. Currently living in New Mexico, Castillo is working on a screenplay of So Far From God.