The following entry is from our colleague, Dr. Benjamin Storey (Furman University). Dr. Storey’s experiences with a great teacher, Dr. Leon Kass (University of Chicago), helped set the course of his life as a scholar and a humanist. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing my teacher, Dr. Leon R. Kass, on the subject of his...
(Note: the following post was provided by our colleague and friend, Dr. David Rothman, who is one of the most energetic supporters of K-12 classical education in the country--and a remarkable poet, to boot!) One of the challenges we face in our current moment might be best described as a kind of collective obsessive-compulsive disorder. Despite...
With her usual style and wit, poet Marianne Moore explains why “Poetry” can be such a perfectly contemptuous form. After all, it can be nearly impenetrable, often paradoxical, and seemingly condescending to the uninitiated. Yet, in spite of poetry’s sometimes inscrutable ways, Moore acknowledges its clarifying role in our collective consciousness--i.e., the best phrases and most...
“Something happens and you take it personally and get upset; something happens, you don’t take it personally and you don’t get upset. That’s 25 years worth of therapy in a sentence.” That one liner might be worth its weight in counseling fees, and you can hear it in the middle of the interview between psychologist Dr....
Today we’re reposting an interview conducted at this year’s National Classical Education Symposium in Phoenix. Joining me for a few minutes is Dr. Karen Taliaferro, to discuss her scholarship and the story that led her to that research. From her Peace Corps experiences in Morocco and her quest for a deeper understanding of knowledge, Taliaferro research...
If you find yourself with more time to observe the natural world--taking walks and hikes at sufficient social distance--you might also be interested in some careful observations surrounding the 19th century’s most famous naturalist, Charles Darwin. From David Quammen’s NYRB review of three new books on Darwin, we discover that botany was definitely the focus of...
Today we are reposting an interview with historian Patricia Limerick, whose research and scholarship focuses on the American West. We spoke with Professor Limerick at this year’s Symposium 2020. Limerick is a prolific award-winning author, whose scholarship is supplemented by a regular column in The Denver Post. A recognized leader within the historian’s guild, Limerick served...
Romantic poet, amateur orientalist, prolific essayist and speaker (author of “Nature,” “Self-Reliance,” and “The American Scholar,” to name a few), and a leader of the Transcendentalist movement: these are but a few of the descriptors necessary to capture the contribution of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), on this anniversary of his death. Not a few schools have...
Recently re-reading Leon Kass, I was struck by the profoundly humane quality of his reasoning. As a trained physician, medical researcher, and ethicist, Kass has been involved with a number of deeply insightful projects (e.g., President’s Council on Bioethics) that promote a truly liberal understanding of the human experience, and I would argue that he...
David Rothman is one of those colleagues whose friendship in pursuit of the Good is a genuine grace. With his characteristic wit, verve, and style (all of a piece for a man dedicated to the arts), Rothman is an incredibly cultured man, who wears his learning lightly, even delightfully. Today I’m reposting an interview with David...