COMMUNITYCALENDAR

A PUBLICATION OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO VOL. 1.13

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

In this Issue:Dean’s Lecture and

Concert Series, Concerts

Education is the best provision for the journey to old age.”

— ARISTOTLE

Beethoven, Debussy, and ShostakovichAtrium String QuartetFriday, February 22, 7:30 p.m. Great Hall, Peterson Student Center

DEAN’S LECTURE AND CONCERT SERIESPlease join us for the beginning of the spring 2013 Dean’s Lecture and ConcertSeries. All lectures are free and open to the public. See below for times and locations.

Heidegger on Being and CausationGraham Harman, professor of philosophy, The University of CairoFriday, January 18, 7:30 p.m.Great Hall, Peterson Student Center

Heidegger famously begins his Being and Time by trying to reawaken the question of the meaning of being, which has supposedly been forgotten sinceAncient Greece. This lecture claims that Heidegger answers the question of the meaning of being, but that the answer raises numerous unforeseen questions. Heidegger’s philosophy of being leads us directly to another classi-cal problem that he discusses less openly: causation.

Graham Harman is a 1990 graduate of St. John’s College, Annapolis, and currently professor of philosophy and also associate provost for research administration at the American University in Cairo. He is the author of several books, most recently The Quadruple Object and Quentin Meillassoux:Philosophy in the Making.

An Evening with the Short StoryEdith Pearlman, winner of the 2012 National Book Critics Circle AwardWorrell LectureFriday, January 25, 7:30 p.m.Great Hall, Peterson Student Center

St. John’s College is honored to welcome Edith Pearlman, winner of the 2012National Book Critics Circle Award for her fourth and latest collection, Binocular Vision: New and Selected Stories. Mining a long and distinguishedwriting career, Ms. Pearlman will read from her oeuvre, muse upon the craft of writing, and happily answer the inevitable question, “Where do you get yourideas?” Audiences may be surprised at the answer.

Edith Pearlman has published more than 250 works of short fiction and shortnon-fiction in national magazines, literary journals, anthologies, and on-linepublications. Her work has appeared in Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Prize Collection, New Stories from the South, and The PushcartPrize Collection–Best of the Small Presses. Her first collection of stories,Vaquita, was published in 1996 and won the Drue Heinz Prize for Literature;her second, Love Among The Greats, published in 2002, won the Spokane Annual Fiction Prize; and her third collection, How to Fall, published bySarabande Press in 2005, won the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction. Ms. Pearlman is the recipient of the PEN/Malamud Award for excellence inthe art of the short story.

Ms. Pearlman’s short essays have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Smith-sonian, Preservation, Yankee Magazine, and Ascent. Her travel writing—about the Cotswolds, Budapest, Jerusalem, Paris, and Tokyo—has beenpublished in the The New York Times and elsewhere.

Trojan Horse or Troilus’ Whore? Pandering Statecraft and Political Stagecraft in Troilus and CressidaNalin Ranasinghe, professor of philosophy, Assumption CollegeFriday, February 1, 7:30 p.m.Great Hall, Peterson Student Center

Nalin Ranasinghe’s reading of Shakespeare’s rancid comedy Troilus andCressida explores the role played by Ulysses in engineering Troy’s fall. Although Troilus’ waning love for Cressida was re-kindled by her removal to the Greek camp, this second Hector is soon turned into a “dead man walking” by Ulysses. Only allowed to see Cressida through carefully framedperspectives from afar, Troilus—the last best hope of Troy—concludes that shehas been monstrously unfaithful to him and pursues vengeance regardless ofrisk or responsibility. This device parallels the way Ulysses inclined Achillestowards spurning Polyxena’s love and fighting Hector. While Troilus’ andCressida’s cynicism seems to differ sharply from Homeric heroism, closerreading suggests that the tragic wisdom of the Iliad is recast by Shakespearein a less heroic key—one better suited to an age of commodity.

Nalin Ranasinghe earned his doctorate from Pennsylvania State Universityand currently is professor of philosophy at Assumption College. He has writ-ten three books on Socrates: Socrates and the Underworld (2009), The Soul ofSocrates (2000), and Socrates and the Gods (2012). He also has edited Logosand Eros—festschrift honoring Stanley Rosen—and published essays on Homer,The Bible, Shakespeare, Kant, Nietzsche, Arendt, and Walter Benjamin.

“The Blessed in the Kingdom of Heaven will see the Punishments of the Damned so that their Joy may be more Complete”: Nietzsche and AquinasJames Lehrberger, professor of philosophy Friday, February 15, 7:30 p.m.Great Hall, Peterson Student CenterThe quotation from St. Thomas Aquinas in the lecture’s title has been madefamous by Nietzsche’s having cited it in On the Genealogy of Morals (I, 15).Nietzsche’s purpose in citing this passage was to show that the Christian lifeis rooted in an unrecognized or self-ignorant spirit of hatred, envy, and revenge against those who are strong, powerful, and magnanimous. In the lecture, professor Lehrberger first will develop Nietzsche’s analysis of theroots of Christian morality which he sees Aquinas as witnessing. Next, he will turn to Aquinas’ teachings on these same topics and then compare andcontrast the two thinkers’ teaching: Christian virtues and vices versus strong or weak life values. Finally, he will conclude by showing that, despite theirreal differences, Nietzsche and Aquinas have far more in common than is generally recognized.

James Lehrberger is a Cistercian monk and a Catholic priest who was ordained in 1976. He was educated at the University of San Francisco, theAnselmianum (in Rome), and the University of Dallas, he received his

doctorate from the last’s Institute of Philosophical Studies in 1983. His disserta-tion—directed by St. John’ alumnus Mark D. Jordan, SF73—was on the anthro-pology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Upon completing his doctorate, Lehrbergertaught at the University Regina Apostolorum in Rome and for many years atthe University of Dallas. His published work includes articles on Aristotle, Au-gustine, and Aquinas as well as a co-edited volume of essays entitled Saints, Sovereigns, and Scholars: Studies in Honor of Frederick D. Wilhelmsen. His research interests lie in the fields of Aquinas’ thought and in the philosophyof religion, with particular emphasis on the question of faith and reason.

SPRING 2013 COMMUNITY SEMINARS

Community Seminars are special opportunities for community members toread 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 participantsthe 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).

Icelandic Sagas and TalesTutor: Julie ReahardTuesdays, January 15 – February 19, 2013, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., $210A source of inspiration to authors as diverse as J.R.R. Tolkien and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., the Icelandic sagas describe the life of Icelanders in the Vikingage (around 1000 A.D.). Though constructed centuries after the events occurred, the sagas provide a detailed account of Viking life. In reading Egil’sSaga, the Laxdaela Saga, Hrafnkel’s Saga, The Saga of the Greenlanders,Erik the Red’s Saga and a selection of Icelandic tales, we shall encounter ablend of fact and fantasy, extraordinary heroes, and ordinary lives.

Rabelais’ Gargantua and PantagruelTutor: David McDonaldWednesdays, January 30 – March 6, 2013, 5:00 – 6:30 p.m, $210In his prologue to Gargantua and Pantagruel—a book of thirsty giants—Rabelais hints that there is a secret meaning to his work, a secret meaningwhich will make us braver and wiser. What follows is a funny book of boozing,wordplay, mockery, and ribaldry. We will read the first three volumes of thebook, and try to find the secret of Rabelais. Even if we do not become morebrave and more wise, we will probably laugh. Readings will average about 65 pages in length per week.

“Read not to contradict and confute, nor to find —

Rousseau’s Discourse on the Sciences and the ArtsTutor: Topi HeikkeröWednesday, January 30, 2013, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., $35 In 1749 Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778) participated in an essay compe-tition organized by the Academy of Dijon. The Academy had put forth the question whether the development of the arts and sciences had improved public morals. Rousseau’s submission, Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts(published 1750, also known as the First Discourse), somewhat surprisingly,argued that the arts and sciences have corroded both civic virtue and individ-ual moral character. Rousseau won the first prize and was made famous. Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts begins the trajectory of Rousseau’sthought, one main theme of which is the tension between the inherently good human nature and society.

Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi, Divine FlashesTutor: Michael WolfeSaturdays, March 23 – April 13, 2013, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., $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 greatestmasters, Rumi and Ibn al-‘Arabi, ever met. They probably didn’t. Nonethe-less, their lineages are united in the person of Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi. ‘Iraqi knewand studied under Rumi; he was also a disciple of Ibn al- Arabi’s adopted sonand successor. Inspired to bring these two Sufi schools together, he wrotethe Divine Flashes, a book that expresses Ibn al- ‘Arabi’s startling metaphys-ical insights in ecstatic Persian poetry reminiscent of the poetry of Rumi.

talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.” — SIR FRANCIS BACON

“Where are there are two desires in a man'sheart he has no choice between the two butmust obey the strongest, there being no suchthing as free will in the composition of anyhuman being that ever lived.

—MARK TWAIN

EVENING CONCERTS

An Evening of Solo PianoChip Miller, pianoSunday, February 17, 7:00 p.m.Great Hall, Peterson Student Center

There is no charge for admission.

Pianist Chip Miller will perform works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, andothers. Last spring, he performed Book II of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier atthe college. Dr. Miller began piano studies at the age of four and had his pro-fessional debut at age 11. He has received international recognition at theYoung Keyboard Artists Association, Music Teacher’s National AssociationCompetition, and the Stravinsky International Piano Competition. Since2003, he has specialized in the music of J. S. Bach. In the 2010-2011 season,Dr. Miller presented a series of recitals in Austin, Texas, and Boulder, Colorado as an overview of piano literature, including works of Bach,Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Liszt, Busoni, Ginastera,and Bolcom. These presentations included interpretative biographies andanecdotes of the composers as well as backgrounds of the compositionsthemselves, giving audiences new and living insight into these masterpiecesof art and geniuses of the craft.

Dr. Miller received his bachelor’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, his master's from Eastman School of Music, and doctorate fromthe Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. His teachers have included Wesley Ball, Landon Bilyeu, Benjamin Yu, Charles Asche, Nelita True, Mark Gibson, Timothy Hester, Horatio Guitierrez, and RuthTomfohrde. He has held a private studio for 10 years and has been a guestartist and faculty member at the Austin Waldorf School, the University ofHouston, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Interlochen PathfinderSchool, and the Interlochen Arts Academy.

Beethoven, Debussy, and ShostakovichAtrium String QuartetFriday, February 22, 7:30 p.m. Great Hall, Peterson Student Center

There is no charge for admission.

The quartet will be performing theBeethoven String Quartet in F Major, op.18, no. 1, the Debussy String Quartet in G Minor, op. 10, and the ShostakovichString Quartet in F Major no. 3, op. 73.

Founded in 2000 in St. Petersburg, theAtrium String Quartet has been coachedby such illustrious musicians as MarcDanel and by the Alban Berg Quartet andthe Vermeer Quartet. Described as one ofthe most inspiring, dynamic, and charis-matic ensembles on the musical scene, theAtrium Quartet performs with deep emo-tion, intellect, virtuosity, and technicalbrilliance. Highly acclaimed by audiences, the quartet has performedthroughout Europe and in Russia, the United States, Australia, Japan, andBrazil. The Atrium Quartet has won two of the most prestigious internationalcompetitions for string quartet: First Prize and Audience Prize, 9th LondonInternational String Quartet Competition in 2003, and Grand-Prix, 5th International String Quartet Competition in Bordeaux in 2007.

LUNCHTIME CONCERT

Chopin and SchoenbergPeter Pesic, pianoFriday, February 15, 12:15 – 1:10 p.m.Junior Common Room, Peterson Student Center

There is no charge for admission.

Musician-in-residence and tutor Peter Pesic offers the fourth in his series of pianistic explorations for the 2012-2013 academic year. In this concert, he performs Chopin’s Waltzes, B 46, 64/1, and 34/3 and also Chopin’sPolonaises Kk 4A/2, opp. 71/1 and 44 as well as Schoenberg’s Five Pieces.

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.

MUSIC ON THE HILL™ ELEVATED

For the first time, St. John’s College will host two jazz -club events this winter. Musicon the Hill™ Elevated takes place in the college’s Great Hall. Admission at the door.Small plates and wine for purchase.

Julian Waterfall Pollack arranger/composer/pianistSaturday, January 19, 20137:30 to 9:30 p.m.Lori Carsillo, Bay Area singer Saturday, February 16, 20137:30 to 9:30 p.m.For details, visit http://stjohnscollege.edu/events/SF

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