Thomas Merton may not be the typical undergraduate, but I was glad to see his reminiscences about Mark Van Doren and the influential Columbia Western Civ program. They are just one example of how these programs guide and illuminate one’s life.
when I was a freshman at Stanford in 1962, we all had to take Western Civ, which was basically a Great Books course with weekly lectures mainly to fill in the history and multiple section meetings to discuss the readings. . Best course I ever took. It came under fire during the fights about the canon and the exclusively (almost) Western focus. But it gave you a TASTE for reading such books, and I certainly went on to read more women and diverse traditions in later life.
I don't know who Alz is, but his twitter profile doesn't offer much to impress, and his comments cement the fact he fundamentally misunderstands the purpose of life. Meanwhile, my reading list includes Les Misérables, The Illiad (again) and Nicholas Carr's latest: "Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart," a thoughtful investigation into what it means to be human and why humans should get off of Twitter.
Productivity is NOT a fundamental measure of human value or worth. I'm sorry that's just capitalism tricking the working class into enslavement and then firing them when a robot can do it 'better'. Some of us have to live in the world, and AI isn't helping anyone.
Thomas Merton may not be the typical undergraduate, but I was glad to see his reminiscences about Mark Van Doren and the influential Columbia Western Civ program. They are just one example of how these programs guide and illuminate one’s life.
Everyone seems to write about the same books and the same conversations when there are so many more out there. Here's our Great Books/Great Science Books sequence at Utah, for example. https://humanities.utah.edu/perspectives/2023-2024/great-books-returns.php And while the recording doesn't seem to be available any more this was an awesome conversation about the Black Literary & Philosophic tradition. https://ah.a7prd.sonoma.edu/spotlight/dean-hollis-robbins-participates-university-chicago-philosophy-departments-night-owls
Will add to CrowdSource next week!
when I was a freshman at Stanford in 1962, we all had to take Western Civ, which was basically a Great Books course with weekly lectures mainly to fill in the history and multiple section meetings to discuss the readings. . Best course I ever took. It came under fire during the fights about the canon and the exclusively (almost) Western focus. But it gave you a TASTE for reading such books, and I certainly went on to read more women and diverse traditions in later life.
I think the Louis Menand link is wrong. Looks like it’s this
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/12/20/whats-so-great-about-great-books-courses-roosevelt-montas-rescuing-socrates
fixed, thanks!
I don't know who Alz is, but his twitter profile doesn't offer much to impress, and his comments cement the fact he fundamentally misunderstands the purpose of life. Meanwhile, my reading list includes Les Misérables, The Illiad (again) and Nicholas Carr's latest: "Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart," a thoughtful investigation into what it means to be human and why humans should get off of Twitter.
Productivity is NOT a fundamental measure of human value or worth. I'm sorry that's just capitalism tricking the working class into enslavement and then firing them when a robot can do it 'better'. Some of us have to live in the world, and AI isn't helping anyone.
Get off Twitter. Seriously.