COMMUNITY CALENDAR A PUBLICATION OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO
MARCH/APRIL 2013 VOL. 2.13
When Music and Sweet Poetry Agree Parthenia, early music consort Friday, April 12, 7:30 p.m. Great Hall, Peterson Student Center
In this Issue: Dean’s Lecture Series, Seminars, Concerts, Events, Programs, Bookstore
But, for my own part, it was Greek to me. — WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
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DEAN’S LECTURE AND CONCERT SERIES Please join us for the continuation of the spring 2013 Dean’s Lecture and Concert Series. All lectures are free and open to the public. See below for times and locations.
LECTURES Aristotle and the U.S. Constitution Murray Dry, professor of political science, Middlebury College Friday, March 29, 7:30 p.m. Great Hall, Peterson Student Center In this lecture, Mr. Dry will raise the question whether Aristotle’s political science is reflected in our Constitution and, if so, where and how. He also will consider whether the political science of other philosophers, such as Hobbes, Locke, Spinoza, and Montesquieu, is not also reflected in our Constitution — and, if so, where and how. Mr. Dry will discuss the Constitution as both the work of the Founders and the more or less agreed-upon body of political practices and legal doctrines that have characterized American government from the founding to the present. The lecture will consider a range of philosophic contributions to our Constitution and whether the philosophic contributions have changed over time. And if they have, what should we make of that change? Murray Dry is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science at Middlebury College, where he has been teaching since 1968. He teaches courses in political philosophy, American constitutional law, and American political thought. His scholarship includes a book, Civil Peace and the Quest for Truth: The First Amendment Freedoms in Political Philosophy and American Constitutionalism, Lexington Press, 2004, and numerous articles and book chapters on diverse topics in American constitutionalism and political philosophy (especially the separation of powers, the Anti-Federalists, federalism, and the First Amendment). He is currently completing a book on same-sex marriage and the law.
Is Culture a Second Nature? Thoughts on Politics, Religion, Culture, and the Middle East John Agresto, past president, St. John’s College, Santa Fe Wednesday, April 17, 3:15 p.m. Junior Common Room, Peterson Student Center This lecture will consider a number of questions: What stands in the way of liberty and democracy becoming universal? What preconditions might there be — historical, political, economic, cultural — for the growth of liberal democracies worldwide? And what might we learn on this matter from our forays into Iraq and Afghanistan and from the coming of the “Arab Spring?”
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John Agresto, past president of St. John’s College, Santa Fe (1989 to 2000), served as a Coalition Provisional Authority Senior Advisory to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Baghdad, an experience he drew on to write Mugged By Reality — The Liberation of Iraq and the Failure of Good Intentions (2007). He subsequently was interim provost and chancellor of The American University of Iraq-Sulaimani and then, from 2008 to 2009, a visiting fellow at Princeton University’s James Madison Program. Agresto holds a doctorate in political science from Cornell University and has published in the areas of politics, law, and education. He currently lives in Santa Fe and chairs the New Mexico State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
The Quest for the Islamic State – Past and Present Hillel Fradkin, director, Center on Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World, Hudson Institute Friday, April 19, 7:30 p.m. Great Hall, Peterson Student Center Over the past two years, the Arab Middle East has been subject to a series of revolts popularly known as the Arab Spring. Where successful, these revolts overthrew existing autocratic regimes and initiated democratic electoral processes. To date, the main beneficiaries of these elections have been what are known as Islamist movements and parties connected with both the Muslim Brotherhood and so-called Salafists. In addition, the Islamist movement has had an important impact in other non-Arab Muslim countries — for example, Iran and Turkey. Traditionally these movements aimed at a reform of Muslim politics, which had as its ultimate goal what they termed the “Islamic State.” This lecture will discuss the present meaning of the Islamic State, its origins, its prospects, and its relationship to the experience of Muslim history and thought. A senior fellow of the Hudson Institute and director of its Center on Islam, Democracy and the Future of the Muslim World, Fradkin is co-founder (with Ambassador Husain Haqqani) and co-editor of Current Trends in Islamist
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Ideology, the leading journal on the subject of the Muslim movement known as Islamism. Also a member of the faculty of Barnard College/Columbia University and the University of Chicago, Fradkin has previously taught at Yale and Georgetown universities. He earned his bachelor of arts degree from Cornell University and received a doctorate in Islamic studies from the University of Chicago, where his studies were directed by the late Muslim philospher Muhsin Mahdi and the late Muslim theologian Fazlur Rahman. Fradkin has published widely on contemporary Muslim and Middle Eastern affairs as well as the history of Islamic thought. He also has written on the history of Jewish thought and the general issue of the relationship between religion and politics.
Mastery of Nature in Descartes’ Discourse on Method Topi Heikkerö Friday, April 26, 7:30 p.m. Great Hall, Peterson Student Center René Descartes’ Discourse on Method (1637) prefaces three of its author’s scientific studies (Dioptrics, Geometry, and Meteorology). These studies present and make use of novel analytic mathematical and scientific methods that Descartes had created. Yet the Discourse is strikingly self-described as “a history, or if you prefer, a fable.” Why do revolutionary mathematics and science need to be introduced by a narrative that admittedly verges on fiction? Furthermore, in the sixth part of the Discourse, Descartes articulates the promise that his new scientific ideas can enable a practical
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to e 4
philosophy in terms of making human beings “the masters and possessors of nature.” In this lecture, Mr. Heikkerö aims to offer a reading of this promise in its context of the Discourse, Descartes’ scientific project, and his interactions with his peers and surroundings. How does Descartes weave fiction and exact quantitative inquiry together so that they result in a project of mastering nature, the power of which we have witnessed? Topi Heikkerö has been on the faculty of St. John’s College, Santa Fe, since 2008. He earned a master of theology degree in theological ethics and philosophy of religion from the University of Helsinki in 2000, followed by a master of arts degree in theoretical philosophy in 2005 and a doctorate in social ethics in 2009. Academic appointments at the University of Helsinki included researcher in the Center for Social Ethics and university lecturer ethics in the Department of Systematic Theology. He also was a visiting scholar at the Colorado School of Mines.
SYMPOSIUM Beyond Reductionism: Biology as a Liberal Art Selected faculty, St. John’s College, Santa Fe Friday, April 5, 3:15 p.m. Great Hall, Peterson Student Center A panel of St. John’s faculty — John Cornell, Linda Wiener, Llyd Wells, Russell Winslow, and Gregory Schneider — will give short talks on problems in the philosophy of biology.
ntertain a thought without accepting it. — ARISTOTLE
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SPRING 2013 COMMUNITY SEMINARS Community Seminars are 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. Please call 505-984-6117 to register for any of the seminars described below. Teachers with proof of full-time employment may enroll at a 50 percent discount. Community Seminars are free to 11th and 12th grade high school students (limited spaces available).
Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi, Divine Flashes Tutor: Michael Wolfe Dates/Times: Four Saturdays, March 23 – April 13, 1:00-3:00 p.m. Cost: $ 140 Love where you may, you will have loved Him; turn your face whatever way, it turns toward Him — even if you know it not. Sufis and scholars of Sufism have often wondered if Sufism’s two greatest masters, Rumi and Ibn al-‘Arabi, ever met. They probably didn’t. Nonetheless, their lineages are united in the person of Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi. ‘Iraqi knew and studied under Rumi; he was also a disciple of Ibn al-‘Arabi’s adopted son and successor. Inspired to bring these two Sufi schools together, he wrote the Divine Flashes, a book that expresses Ibn al-‘Arabi’s startling metaphysical insights in ecstatic Persian poetry reminiscent of the poetry of Rumi.
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George Eliot’s Scenes of Clerical Life Tutor: Arcelia Rodriguez Dates/Times: Three Wednesdays, April 10 -April 24, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Cost: $105 Published in 1858, a time of religious reform and upheaval during Queen Victoria’s reign, Scenes of Clerical Life was George Eliot’s first work of fiction. The three novellas of the book — “The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton,” “Mr. Gilfil’s Love Story,” and “Janet’s Repentance” — are about the life that unfolds around Shepperton Church in the fictional English village of Milby. These stories will be an occasion to reflect on the questions and problems that arise in rapidly changing times, of which the most important of these might be how we should confront and adapt to a world that seems to be quickly leaving us behind.
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EVENING CONCERTS When Music and Sweet Poetry Agree Parthenia, early music consort Friday, April 12, 7:30 p.m. Great Hall, Peterson Student Center There is no charge for admission. The quartet — Rosamund Morley on treble, Lawrence Lipnik on tenor, Beverly Au and Lisa Terry on bass viols, with mezzo-soprano Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek and actor Paul Hecht (of Anonymous 4) — highlights the inseparable bond between poetry and music in an engaging program that blends dramatic readings from Shakespeare and John Donne with the intimate chamber music of Shakespeare’s London in an evening of sung poetry and spoken music. Parthenia, hailed by The New Yorker as “one of the brightest lights in New York’s early-music scene,” is a quartet dedicated to the performance of ancient and contemporary repertoires. The quartet collaborates regularly with the world's foremost early music artists and ensembles and has been featured on radio and television as well as in festivals and music series in the United States and in Europe. Parthenia was featured along with frequent collaborator, the Renaissance wind band Piffaro, in the Philadelphia premiere of the comic opera The Loathly Lady, based on Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale. Parthenia is in residence at Corpus Christi Church in New York and is the Beatrice Diener Early Music Ensemble-in-Residence at Stern College for Women,Yeshiva University, in New York.
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Biographies In addition to her extensive work with the viol consort Parthenia, Beverly Au has performed with many notable early music ensembles and series, including Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, New Yorks’s Ensemble for Early Music, Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concerts, and The American Classical Orchestra. She received graduate degrees in cello and viola da gamba from the Mannes College of Music under Paul Tobias, Timothy Eddy, and Martha McGaughey; she also studied with Wieland Kuijken in Innsbruck, Austria. Beverly has appeared on film (Al Pacino’s Looking For Richard), television (PBS’s City Arts), radio (WNYC), on the Broadway stage (The Tempest, starring Patrick Stewart), and off-Broadway (Romance of the Rose, The Ship of Fools, La Dafne, Semele, Dido and Aeneas, Cupid and Death, Venus and Adonis, all under the direction of the late Paul Echols; as well as in the ground-breaking theater pieces Blue Scene Gray, Flatlands Little Remarks, If Kansas Goes, Silent When Loaded, and Go Between Gettysburg, with Linda Mussman’s noted avant-garde ensemble, Time and Space Ltd). Her duo, Spuyten Duyvil, was semifinalist at the International Early Music Competition in Utrecht, The Netherlands. She was also a finalist in the 2001 Dorian/EMA recording competition as a member of the Ensemble for the Seicento. She has recorded on the MSR Classics, Evening Star, Gothic, Museovich, and Buckyball Music labels.
Lawrence Lipnik has performed with many acclaimed chamber and early music ensembles including the Waverly Consort and Anonymous 4 and is a founding member of the viol consort Parthenia and vocal ensemble Lionheart, whose new recording, “John the Revelator,” rose to the top 20 Billboard Classical Crossover charts this past spring. This summer he served as continuo gambist and recorder player and engaged in musical score research and preparation for a new production of Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria at Wolf Trap. He has recently prepared a performing edition of Francesco Cavalli’s opera La Calisto, which was commissioned by the Juilliard School and performed by the San Francisco Opera, and is music editor for an upcoming authoritative edition of the original songs from the plays of William Shakespeare. In addition to performing, he is currently co-director of the New York Recorder Guild and enjoys a busy teaching schedule, which has included national and international festivals from the Benslow Music Trust in the United Kingdom, Port Townsend, and the San Diego Early Music Festival to Pinewoods and Amherst Early Music, as well as currently serving as instructor of viol, recorder, and early music performance at Wesleyan University. He has recorded for numerous labels including EMI, Angel, Nimbus, Virgin, Sony, Koch International, and Cantaloupe.
On treble, tenor, and bass violas da gamba (and their medieval ancestors), Rosamund Morley has performed with many renowned early music ensembles, including ARTEK, The Boston Camerata, The Catacoustic Consort, Lionheart, Piffaro, and Sequentia. In addition to her position in Parthenia, New York’s premiere consort of viols, she is a founding member of the Elizabethan group, My Lord Chamberlain’s Consort. Her interest in
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playing contemporary music as well as early music was fostered by many years working with the New York Consort of Viols. She has toured worldwide as a long-standing member of the Waverly Consort and has appeared as soloist at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with Les Arts Florissants. Her busy teaching schedule has included numerous national and international workshops such as Charney Manor and the Benslow Music Trust in Hitchin, United Kingdom; Triora Musica in Liguria, Italy; the Cammac Music Center in Quebec, Canada; Amherst Early Music in New England; the Port Townsend Workshop in Seattle; and the Viola da Gamba Society of America’s annual Conclave. She directs the summer music course, Viols West, at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California, and holds teaching positions at Columbia and Yale universities. Ms. Morley has recorded for CBS Masterworks, Arabesque, Musical Heritage Society, Classic Masters, EMI/Angel, Museovich Productions, and MSR Classics.
Lisa Terry practices, performs, and teaches viola da gamba and violoncello in New York City, where she is a long-time member of Parthenia and the Dryden Ensemble and a new member of BaroQue Across the River. She was a founding member of ARTEK and has performed with the New York Philharmonic, New York City Opera, Juilliard Opera Orchestra, Opera Lafayette, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Concert Royal, New York Collegium, American Classical Orchestra, Four Nations Ensemble, Santa Fe Pro Musica, and Chicago Opera Theatre. She earned her degree in cello performance from Memphis State University and continued her studies in New York with Richard Taruskin (viol) and Harry Wimmer (cello). Ms. Terry appears to great acclaim as soloist in the Passions of J.S. Bach, notably under the batons of Robert Shaw, Richard Westenburg, and Lyndon Woodside in Carnegie Hall; in the Jonathan Miller-staged performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music conducted by Paul Goodwin; and with Andrew Parrot, Gary Thor Wedow, Kent Tritle, and Simon Carrington. Ms. Terry teaches viola da gamba and cello at the French-American School of Music in New York and at workshops around the country.
My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: ‘in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of god.’ – BOBBY KENNEDY, INDIANAPOLIS (4 APRIL 1968)
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LUNCHTIME CONCERT Chopin, Schoenberg, and Webern Peter Pesic, piano Friday, April 5, 12:10-1:15 p.m. Junior Common Room, Peterson Student Center There is no charge for admission. Musician-in-residence and tutor Peter Pesic offers the fifth in his series of pianistic explorations for the 2012-2013 academic year. In this concert, he will perform Chopin’s Waltzes, opp. 64/3, 69/1, 42, and 70/1 as well as his Polonaises Kk 4A/3, 71/2, and 53; Schoenberg’s Piano Pieces, opp. 33a and 33b; and Webern’s Variations, op. 27. Peter Pesic is a tutor and musician-in-residence at St. John’s College, Santa Fe. He attended Harvard and Stanford, obtaining a doctorate in physics. He has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Mr. Pesic is also a visiting scholar at Harvard University.
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MUSIC ON THE HILL™ BENEFIT EVENTS
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Bring your family and friends to enjoy great cuisine at local restaurants and support the summer 2013 season of Music on the Hill™. Our restaurant partners will donate 20% of the evenings’ sale of food and beverages to help us mount our popular free concert series. All diners may enter to win the door prize: a $50 gift certificate for the respective restaurants.
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Tuesday, March 19, Il Piatto (95 W. Marcy St). Tuesday, April 16, Santa Fe Bar & Grill (187 Paseo De Peralta) For details see HERE.
DANCE Dancehibition Saturday, April 27, 7:00 p.m. Great Hall, Peterson Student Center There is no charge for admission. Dancehibition — the inspiration of two international students — presents a variety of dance styles, both American and international. Colorful costumes, beautiful music, enthusiastic performers, and some cultural enlightenment will make for a great night of entertainment. This is an effort by the students for the college and the community; so, come one, come all and support them.
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St. John’s College honors awardwinning New Mexico artists who work in the Spanish Colonial Tradition at its 2013 Auction and Market
San Isidro, Retablo, Nicholas Otero. Photo: Pat Carr
ART SHOW A Special, Juried Event Featuring Award-Wining New Mexico Artists who Work in the Spanish Colonial Tradition Auction and Reception: Friday, March 15, 5:00-9:00 p.m. Peterson Student Center, 2nd floor This year’s auction of 15 pieces, accompanied by a reception, begins at 5:00 p.m. and concludes at approximately 7:00 p.m. To participate in the auction, one must purchase a bid card ($10), available at the door. Auction proceeds support financial aid programs for New Mexico students attending St. John’s College. Music will be performed by Amanda Quintana, vocals and guitar. At the auction’s conclusion, the Market will open in the Great Hall. Admission to the Market is free. Market Day Saturday, March 16, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Great Hall, Peterson Student Center Market Day features work for sale as well as artists’ demonstrations of their craft and impromptu music. This year’s lecture will be given by jeweler and blacksmith extraordinaire Ralph Sena, winner of the Spanish Colonial Arts Society’s Masters Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2011. Details can be viewed HERE. Questions may be directed to Deborah Spiegelman, dspiegelman@sjcsf.edu or 505-984-6199.
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SUMMER CLASSICS 2013 Unlock new realms of thought in the words of Western Civilization’s greatest authors and in the company of inquiring minds around the seminar table.
Join us for Summer Classics in Santa Fe Week I: July 7-12 Week II: July 14-19 Week III: July 21-26 Seminars cover a wide range of topics and interests. 2013 offerings include seminars on works by Aristotle, John Le Carré, Mozart, Issac Newton, Marilynne Robinson, Shakespeare, Stendhal, Leo Tolstoy, Marguerite Yourcenar, and more. Summer Classics participants are invited to explore the vibrancy of historic Santa Fe and attend cultural events, including St. John’s College Music on the Hill™ concert series, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the world-renowned Santa Fe Opera. The complete schedule for Summer Classics 2013 and seminar details can be viewed HERE. For a brochure or to register, please call 505-984-6105 or email summerclassics@sjcsf.edu.
I love to revel in philosophical matters — esp other foolishness there is. 14
GRADUATE INSTITUTE Please Join us for the Third Annual Encounter the Eastern Classics Event St. John's College Santa Fe Campus, Levan Hall Saturday, April 6, 2013 The programs at St. John’s College approach seminal texts purely through thoughtful reading and dialogue—and the Eastern Classics Master’s Program is no exception. In fact, it is precisely this open and direct approach that allows students in the program to encounter and connect with the fundamental texts of China, India, and Japan. The evening’s schedule will be as follows: 3:45 - 4:00 pm:
Welcome Speech by the Graduate Director
4:00 - 5:30 pm:
Seminar on the “Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness” A Sutta from the Pali Canon of Buddhist Texts
5:30 - 7:00 pm:
Reception and Panel with Faculty, Alumni, Students and Staff
Following the seminar, enjoy light refreshments while continuing the conversation with St. John’s faculty, staff, current students, and alumni. During the panel session, you will learn more about the program and the application process. The Eastern Classics program has often been described as unique, exciting, and life-changing. Join us to find out why. We look forward to seeing you there! Space is limited. Please RSVP to Katie Widlund at katiescarlett.widlund@sjcsf.edu or 505-984-6050 before Friday, March 22.
ecially astronomy. I study astronomy more than any — LETTER FROM MARK TWAIN, SAN FRANCISCO ALTA CALFORNIA, AUG. 1, 1869
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VISIT THE ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE BOOKSTORE
OPEN MONDAY – THURSDAY, 8:45 A.M.-7:30 P.M. FRIDAY, 8:45 A.M.-5:30 P.M. SUNDAY, 12:00 -7:00 P.M. (CLOSED SATURDAY)
Two new books written by St. John’s Santa Fe faculty available at the bookstore.
> Jorge Aigla First Lie/ Primera Mentira
> Richard McCombs The Paradoxical Rationality of Soren Kierkegaard And a new edition of Hermann Weyl’s works edited and with an > introduction by Peter Pesic Levels of Infinity: Selected Writings on Mathematics and Philosophy
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