20 20 5666 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/bd6487e82acfe8726db960deda07e3d6.mp4 55db992185ffeafadba895149dd31c73 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Continuing the Conversation Description An account of the resource Continuing the Conversation is a web and podcast series produced by St. John's College. Episodes 1-20 were released in 2023. <br /><br />More information about the series is available on the Continuing the Conversation page of the St. John's College website: <a href="https://www.sjc.edu/continuing-conversation">https://www.sjc.edu/continuing-conversation</a>. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023 Type The nature or genre of the resource moving image Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Santa Fe, NM Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data mp4 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 52:52 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Louis Petrich + Jonathan Badger: Pursuing the Eternal Present Description An account of the resource Louis Petrich + Jonathan Badger: Pursuing the Eternal Present is episode 4 of the Continuing the Conversation series and podcast. The episode was published on February 15, 2023. Does a contemplative life bring us closer to the divine, as Aristotle believed? Is it the highest form of human life or is it self-centered and lived at the expense of others? Can one lead a contemplative life while living in the real world? Philosophers, artists, mystics, and students have long pursued lives of solitude, contemplation, and creative exploration, only to encounter a recurring set of practical obstacles and vexing moral questions. In this episode of Continuing the Conversation, Annapolis host Louis Petrich and tutor Jonathan Badger explore a conversation that honors the pursuit of “the eternal present” in Somerset Maugham’s The Moon and Sixpence (based on the life of the painter Gauguin), while exploring its attendant questions with equal concern and gravity. This episode also includes conversation on works by Goethe, Rousseau, Thoreau, and Aristotle. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Badger, Jonathan N. Petrich, Louis Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) St. John's College (Santa Fe, N.M.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Santa Fe, N.M. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-02-15 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this video. Type The nature or genre of the resource moving image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp4 Subject The topic of the resource Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965. Moon and sixpence Solitude in literature Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778. Rêveries du promeneur solitaire Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CtC_Ep4_Badger_ac Tutors https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/920505d1b85fb4dc27afead813d7b8b4.pdf 51101f57c700a8ef0dd401b27bbc29ca PDF Text Text 2019 COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES Saturday | May Eighteenth Two Thousand and Nineteen SANTA FE | NEW MEXICO �For the Fifty-Second Commencement of the Santa Fe Campus in the Three Hundred and Twenty-Third Year of St. John’s College. �PROGRAM Academic Procession Caprice String Quartet Welcome Mr. Mark Roosevelt President, St. John’s College Announcement of Awards and Prizes Mr. J. Walter Sterling Dean, St. John’s College Mr. Roosevelt St. John’s College Chorus Sicut Cervus Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Address to the Graduating Class David Neidorf (SF80) president of alternative higher education institution Deep Springs College and current Johnnie parent. St. John’s College Chorus Sitivit Anima Mea Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Conferring of Undergraduate Degrees Mr. Sterling Mr. Roosevelt St. John’s College Chorus An Irish Blessing James E. Moore, Jr. Conferring of Graduate Degrees Mr. David McDonald Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, St. John’s College Mr. Roosevelt Closing Remarks Mr. Roosevelt Academic Recession Caprice String Quartet Please stand for the processional and closing procession Graduates will process along the Evans Science Laboratory pathway. Tutors and the platform party will process out of Weigle Hall. Join us for lunch in Peterson Student Center, first floor. 1 �BACHELOR OF ARTS Nicholas Elliot Adelman A Narrative Analysis of Characters and Events in War and Peace Anchorage, AK Pavitra Antony Tirunelvelli, Tamil Nadu, India Cheating Fancy: The Role of Imagination in Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale” Adna Arnaout Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina To Be and Not to Be – Heisenberg’s Third Possibility: On physics as an art and a language immersed in the strangeness of nature in the quantum world Agnieska Zofia Axer The Hollow Silence of Modernity: In Search of Transcendence in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain Portland, OR Michael David Barnes Night in Day: Making Peace with the Inevitability of Striving in Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde Plano, TX Maxwell Teodor Barton Does Expression Preclude Being? Malte’s Struggle to “see” the Actual in The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke Parkton, MD Rasanjana Bhandari The American Veil: An Exploration of American Identity and Double–consciousness In James Baldwin’s essays and W.E.B. Dubois’s The Souls of Black Folk Derry, NH Ngonidzashe Bhejana Mutare, Manicaland, Zimbabwe The Secret to Progress: Mark Twain’s Challenge To Ordinary Men Zenith Bhurtel The Art of Living in a Society: Examining the Legitimacy of the Society Founded On The Social Contract in Light of Fallible Human Nature Rupandehi, Nepal Oona Bella Bjornstad Elizabeth Laughs: Unexpected Union in Pride and Prejudice 2 Sarasota, FL �Silas Casimir Blunk Fiction: Form and Content in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Inverness, CA Leah Danielle Brennan–Magidson Self-Revelation in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God Saint Paul, MN Matthew Gordon Bruggeman Sherborn, MA Technology as Symbol: Ernst Jünger and the Irruption of Technological Consciousness into Bourgeois Space Daniel O’Meara Carrell Within and Without: An Investigation of the Inner and the Outer in Kierkegaard’s Either/Or Madison, IN David Thomas Carroll On Letting Others Down: Embodiment and Responsibility across Inferno 1, Purgatorio 17/18, and Paradiso 33 San Antonio, TX Robert Levon Castle The Brokenness of Language in Flaubert’s Madame Bovary Moriarty, NM Liliana Ione Dallett Cooks, Prostitutes, and Mothers: Erotic Objects in Swann’s Way Brooklyn, NY Ashish Dhakal A Quiet Place: In Praise of Silence in Virginia Woolf’s The Waves Do Hai Anh Einstein’s theories of relativity: Unbinding ourselves from the free creations of our own intelligence Syangja, Nepal Vungtau City, Vietnam Sarah Lynn Elliott A Poet Amongst Poets: Human Consolation and Connectivity in Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling Kalysta Renee Fern Then What Have I to Do with Thee? Re-uniting the Blakeian Self Gianni Sante Garubo Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War: How Democratic Athens Consumed Itself Owen Christopher Gemmer Turning Towards Truth: On Being Open to Jesus’ Non–Rational Teachings in the Gospel According to John 3 Moriarty, NM Stevensvile, MT Ojai, CA Naples, FL �Rebekah Joy Gilman In The Image of God: An Examination of Human Nature Through the Story of Creation According to Genesis Santa Rosa, CA Seung Yeon Han Ulsan, South Korea Why Economics Cannot be Reduced to Mathematics: The Connection between Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and Theory of Moral Sentiments Jared Gregory Harmon Don’t think, look! Wittgenstein’s Investigations: turning philosophy around on the axis of meaning Lehi, UT Paige Alyce Harrison Eros: Killing Within and Dying Without Covington, LA Joshua Burton Hirsch A Barrel Full of Ingredients: Understanding the Episodic Life of Huckleberry Finn Santa Teresa, NM Brian William Hoffman Becoming Who You Are: Nietzsche’s Project of Continual Self–Overcoming, or Zarathustra’s “Doctrine of Life.” Oceanside, NY Jack William Isenberg What Does the Just Man Know? The Relation of Knowledge and Justice in Book 1 of Plato’s Republic Tucson, AZ Su A Jang Gangwon-do, South Korea Human Nature, Loss, and Heroism in Homer’s Iliad Christian Thomas Kennedy Composing the Life of the Soul: The Hand of the Ultimate Artist in Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina Cecilia Elizabeth Kirkpatrick An Analysis of Two Kinds of Repentance in J.S. Bach’s St. Mathew Passion Juhan Lee Why is Gulliver So Restless? Lancaster, PA Newhall, CA Incheon, South Korea Meng Fei Lu Chengdu, Sichuan, China The Truth of Lies: on Discourse and Authenticity in Heidegger’s Being and Time Phoebe Rose Martel Individuality and Spirituality in Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” 4 Putney, VT �Hannah Cody Mattingly Walnut Creek, CA “For There She Was’: The Creative Power of Clarissa Dalloway Lauren Janelle Max Our Dance With Life: How Zarathustra Becomes more Alive Olivia Cooper McHugh The Eloquent Subconscious: Soul and Sense in Proust’s Swann’s Way Pittsburgh, PA Loren Carol Mudd The Land of Truth: The Epistemology of Objects in Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason Colorado Springs, CO Sonia Ellen Carmola Neidorf The Noble Beast: Freedom, Beauty, and Broadness in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov Salisbury, VT Joy Adirimchukwu Nwodo “A Person’s Conscience Ain’t Got No Sense”: An Examination of Goodness in Huckleberry Finn Adashi Margaret Odama Rousseau on Civil Society: Two Provocative and Troubling Accounts Enugu, Nigeria Masaka, Nasarawa State, Nigeria Flor Del Rocio Ortiz What is an “affective truth”? An Analysis of the Dynamic Between Style and Substance in Gustave Flaubert’s Un Coeur Simple Sophia Victoria Paffenroth Narrative Self and the Desire for Authenticity in Virginia Woolf’s The Waves Rio Rancho, NM Cornwall on Hudson, NY Bum Cheul Park A Novel about Novels: Lesser and False Psychological Novels, and the First and Second True Novels of The Brothers Karamazov Asher Thomas Parker* All Solar Love is Innocence, & We Must Learn to Love: On Life as Comedy and Coming to Know in Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Sarathustra John Arthur Kadow Peterson Active Love Between Dimitri and Katerina in The Brothers Karamazov 5 Littleton, CO Seoul, South Korea Dripping Springs, TX San Diego, CA �Louis Anthony Petrich IV The Motion of the Soul: Love and Rhetoric in Plato’s Phaedrus Severna Park, MD Flavia Tennessee Pupura-Pontoniere Through the Eyes of Others: Shame and Its Predicates in Homer’s Iliad Hayward, CA Cole Eugene Rehbein The Internally Determined Self: Spinoza’s Ethics as a remedy for postmodernity’s identity crisis Des Moines, IA Clara Elizabeth Rhoades An Exploration of the Fall of Man in Milton’s Paradise Lost Thomas George Samuels How the Funeral Oration of Pericles Works in Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War John Alexander Saulog Words About Words About Words: Nietzsche’s On the Utility and Liability of History for life. Hardy, AR New York, NY South Pasadena, CA Arthur Frederick Zachary Seltzer Great Barrington, MA With the Clarity of a Fog: An Exploration of Inner Truth and the Limits of Structure in The Hour of the Star Nicholas James Sherwood* Montrose, CO Sushmita Shrestha Kathmandu, Nepal The Dream of Freedom: An Exploration of the Eternal Struggle for Independence in Halldór Laxness’ Independent People Michael McKeon Simoniello An Ethic for Milk and Honey: Hunting Instinct and the Obligations of Sportsmanship in Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac Dillon Parker Smith The Comedy of King Lear – An Insanity Andrew James Sparks Sincerity is a Lie: Unmasking Misanthropy in Molière The Misanthrope Rebecca Lynn Sprague The World Made Flesh: Painting as a Culmination of Knowledge and Action 6 Killingworth, CT McKinney, TX Dripping Springs, TX North Scituate, RI �Darian Alexander Stahl On Flaubert’s Camera Work, Félicité’s Smallness, and the Decision to Laugh or Cry John William Strauch* San Antonio, TX Red Lion, PA Michael Titus Tang Unjust Rhetoric and Its Origin in the Soul: An Analysis of Callicles in Plato’s Gorgias Graeme Charles Thistlewaite Lofty, Infinite Ego: The Incompatibility of Life and Andrei in War and Peace Shanghai, China Hilo, HI Ty Rex Wangsgaard Taylorsville, UT Gods, Brutes, and Bridegrooms: Othello and the Tragic Ideal Liam Simonos Warren Relational Thinking in Heidegger’s Lectures on “The Nature of Language” Noah Gabriel Watts-Fried Are we at War? A Comparison Between the Lives of Civilians and Soldiers in The Warriors, by Glenn Gray Lena Ann Wilder The Tragic Hero: Phèdre and the Consequences of Her Interiority in Jean Racine’s Phèdre Fei Xie Being the Knight of Faith: Self is Formed, Passion is Presented, The World Is (Re)Affirmed Jing Zhang Madness as Endurance: The Nature of Lear’s Madness in Shakespeare’s King Lear Staunton, VA Springfield, MO Thompson Falls, MT Guangzhou, China Beijing, China Stryder Logan-Kim Zug Puyallup, WA Does a character have control over their actions or end: An examination of free will in Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace *Upon satisfactory completion of degree requirements 7 �MASTER OF ARTS IN LIBERAL ARTS WINTER GRADUATES Ryan Douglas Barrett Stone Mountain, GA Thomas Isaac Hirschboeck Saint Paul, MN Edward Casan Montgomery Kimball, NE Ryan Raymond-James Nicholson Americus, GA Matthew Dimas Pietrowski Madera, CA Kathryn Marianne Richards Livingston, MT Patrick Dixon Tull Palo Alto, CA SPRING GRADUATES Daniel M. Brooks Medway, MA William Howard Cathers Los Angeles, CA Erin Cherry Tesuque, NM Jeremy Daniel Fiume Bethlehem, PA Kelsey Ann Hesper Portland, OR Llana Amber Jordan Truchas, NM Badger Brown Koefoed Bethesda, MA David Benton McCormack Santa Fe, NM Darlena Michelle Oltman Denver, CO Kenneth Scott Resnick Santa Fe, NM Eric Benjamin Sanden Lewiston, ID Marianne Strickland San Diego, CA Sam Alan Wittmer Denver, CO *Upon satisfactory completion of degree requirements 8 �MASTER’S ESSAY Christian Buss “The Roots of Thought, the Genesis of the Eidos and the Basis for Historicism in Heidegger’s Introduction to Plato’s Sophist” William Cathers “The Objects of Understanding: How do Thomas Aquinas’ views on the sensible and intelligible influence his epistemology and theory of human nature?” 9 �AWARDS AND PRIZES To the members of the Senior Class who have written the best senior essay, the Richard D. Weigle Prize: Fiction: Form and Content in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Class of 2019 Silas Casimir Blunk How the Funeral Oration of Pericles Works in Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War Class of 2019 Thomas George Samuels Faculty Award for Sustained Academic Excellence Class of 2018 Ambrym Sarah Ragan Smith For his January Freshman first semester essay Iokaste’s Answer to Event in Oidipous Tyrannous Class of 2021 Karl Evan von der Luft For her Sophomore enabling essay Purple Threads: The Question of True Individuality Class of 2021 Portia Louise Abbott Honorable Mention An Aesthetic Amendment Class of 2021 Tang Li For their Undergraduate Essays Other than Annual Biting the Head Off Eternity Class of 2019 Kalysta Renee Fern Class of 2021 Karl von der Luft Two Definitions and a Proof For their Graduate Institute Liberal Arts fall 2018 preceptorial essay: Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra GILA Philippa Scott For his Graduate Institute Liberal Arts summer 2018 preceptorial essay Honorable Mention: On George Eliot’s Middlemarch GILA Jacob Culberson 10 �For his original music composition: “Enten/Eller: An Ecstatic Lecture in e minor” Class of 2022 George Bernard Stengren “Threnody 313” Class of 2022 Christopher Young For her solution to the set freshman-sophomore level mathematical problem: Honorable mention: Class of 2021 Seungyoon Bang For their original fiction Honorable Mention Class Reunion GIEC Eric Wifall Honorable Mention The Wolf Boy GIEC For his original poetry High Flight Class of 2019 John Alexander Saulog For his Greek translations, the William A. Darkey Translation Prize: (Xenophon, Memorabilia, 1.6.11-14) Honorable mention: Class of 2021 Karl von der Luft Honorable mention: Class of 2021 Karl von der Luft For his French translation, the William A. Darkey Translation Prize: (“Une étoile tire de l’arc “ by Jules Supervielle)) 11 Class of 2020 Cleo Ulatowski �To a deserving student to help with the continuation of work at St. John’s College through the cultivation of the liberal arts of Thinking – that is, aiming for and acquiring knowledge; and of Friendship – that is, sharing inquiry and thought joyfully and for its own sake, the Robert Neidorf Memorial Scholarship: Class of 2020 Niko Angell-Gargiulo William Hunter Winkel Thompson To members of the Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior classes in recognition of academic achievement and constructive service to the college community, the St. John’s Community Scholarship provided by faculty, staff and students: Rising Senior Class of 2019 Owen Christopher Gemmer Rising Juniors Class of 2020 Nani Ordofa Detti Abdullah Hussain Mirza To members of the Senior Class for excellence in public speaking, the Senator Millard E. Tydings Memorial Prize: Class of 2018 Kahlieh Bernstein Bryanna Destinee-Alexis Briley Maxfield Abraham Lindig Hubych To a member of the Senior Class who has been an outstanding leader in his class, the Don Cook Student Leadership Award: Class of 2018 Patrick Vivian Gentry To members of the Senior Class who have excelled in service to the college, the Dean’s Award for College Service: Class of 2018 Natasha Esme Farmer Jinxue Chen To the student who has most contributed to the academic support of their peers, the Assistant Dean’s Award: Class of 2018 Xuanqi Zhao 12 �To a member of the Senior Class who has demonstrated achievement in the Arts and Literature, the Walter S. Baird Prize: For her Voice Recital Class of 2018 Hayriye Büşra Solak STUDENT ACTIVITY AWARDS To the seniors who, by his/her leadership, professionalism, hard work, and good will, has made an outstanding contribution to the St. John’s Activities Center, an award offered by the Student Activities Organization: Class of 2019 Ngonidzashe Bhejana Oona Bjornstad Joshua Hirsch 13 �IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR COMMENCEMENT GUESTS For your comfort and enjoyment of today’s commencement activities, please note: • Mark Parenti AGI92, president-elect of the Alumni Association, will be present at Commencement to welcome the graduating students into the Alumni Association. • Water stations are located to the left of the front doors of Weigle Hall, and at the entrance to Santa Fe Hall, under the breezeway connecting Evans Science Laboratory and Santa Fe Hall. • Shaded seating for our elders is available on the breezeway connecting Evans Science Laboratory and Santa Fe Hall, under the Weigle Hall breezeway, and the Weigle portal. • The closest restrooms are located in Weigle Hall and Santa Fe Hall, at the rear of the two main seating areas. Handicap-accessible restrooms are in Weigle Hall. • Please respect the recessional line by allowing the graduates to recess completely. After the recessional, please meet your graduate at the Pond Placita area. • Join us for lunch in Peterson Student Center, 1st floor, following the ceremony. Dining areas are also available outdoors. 14 �The seal of St. John’s College shows seven open books representing the seven traditional liberal arts— the trivium of grammar, rhetoric, and logic; and the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. The balance, or scale, in the center represents modern science. Encircling the symbols is a Latin inscription, which means: “I make free [adults] out of children by means of books and a balance.” 15 �16 ��� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Santa Fe Commencement Programs and Addresses Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 20 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Santa Fe Commencement Program, Spring 2019 Description An account of the resource Program for the fifty-second commencement of the Santa Fe campus in the three hundred and twenty-third year of St. John's College. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019-05-18 Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Commencement (St. John's College, Santa Fe) Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SF Commencement Program 2019-05-18 Commencement https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/ca6ef9c474cbf75e1c9265c3504594c9.mp3 e4ade901d18aef817aabecb731659ee7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Recordings—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data m4a Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 01:01:50 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Moments in the Liberal Education of Frederick Douglass from ‘My Bondage and My Freedom’ Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture given by Dean Joseph Macfarland on March 3, 2023 as part of the Dean's Lecture & Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Macfarland, Joseph C. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-03-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Subject The topic of the resource Frederick Douglass Liberal Education Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SF_MacfarlandJ_Moments_in_the_Liberal_Education_of_Frederick_Douglass_2023-03-03 Deans Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/aba4274cad303588c3e70edc670570b0.mp3 ee7b1f84bb9e96aa4c5bf3c5220c9243 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Recordings—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data m4a Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 00:42:57 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dante in Italian Cinema Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture given by P. Adams Sitney on February 24, 2023 as part of the Dean's Lecture & Concert Series. The Dean's Office has provided this description of the event: Just as all English speakers casually refer to lines by Shakespeare, all Italians quote Dante. Film viewers must pay particular attention to these citations and similar scene structures. Examples will be given of Ugolino’s presence in La Dolce Vita and Ulysses in Il Deserto Rosso. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sitney, P. Adams Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-02-24 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Subject The topic of the resource Dante. Film. Language A language of the resource English. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SF_SitneyP_Dante_in_Italian_Cinema_2023-02-24 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/a6b0e707f0e7b6e1e9935ba88756f3b4.pdf 3db26f32f3d7a5bb28d89ba2438c6768 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 26 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faraday's Galvanometer Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on February 22, 2023 by Howard Fisher as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. The Dean's Office provided this description of the event: "Today we think of the galvanometer as a device that measures electric current. But Faraday’s galvanometer principally measured charge rather than current. That distinctive capability (which modern instruments do not possess) played a vital role in shaping Faraday’s understanding of magnetic lines of force—and especially their physical character. Faraday’s galvanometer shares essential mechanical characteristics with our old friend the pendulum. I will discuss the design of Faraday’s instrument and demonstrate its distinctive action with the aid of a simple homemade model." Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fisher, Howard J., 1942- Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-02-22 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Subject The topic of the resource Faraday, Michael, 1791-1867 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SF_FisherH_Faraday's_Galvanometer_2023-02-22 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/fd3b37ccf37cda39acc2c51d4037265b.mp3 827475f3faf89363e548a9d65516a45c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College. During the Fall and Spring semesters, lectures are given on Friday nights. Items include audio and video recordings and typescripts.<br /><br />For more information, and a schedule of upcoming lectures, please visit the <strong><a href="http://www.sjc.edu/programs-and-events/annapolis/formal-lecture-series/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">St. John's College website</a></strong>.  <br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="Formal Lecture Series" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=5&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection.<br /><br />A growing number of lecture recordings are also available on the St. John's College (Annapolis) Lectures podcast. Visit <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/st-johns-college-annapolis-lectures/id1695157772">Apple Podcasts</a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6GDsIRqC8SWZ28AY72BsYM?si=f2ecfa9e247a456f" title="Spotify">Spotify</a> to listen and subscribe. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context formallectureseriesannapolis Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data wav Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 00:55:11 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1001 Nights of Marcel Proust Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture delivered on February 11, 2011, by Patricia Locke as part of the Formal Lecture Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Locke, Patricia M. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-02-11 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource A signed permission form has been received giving blanket permission to make recordings of lectures and to make them available in the library and online. Type The nature or genre of the resource sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Subject The topic of the resource Proust, Marcel, 1871-1922. À la recherche du temps perdu Arabian nights. Selections Storytelling Sleep. Stages Sleep. Psychological aspects Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LEC_Locke_Patricia_2011-02-11_ac Friday night lecture Tutors https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/a1a7e40c800e067373b0ba2619140fc6.mp3 75a20e23439c3e825fb5a28076c7a498 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Recordings—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data m4a Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 01:43:42 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Poetry Reading by Rita Dove Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture given by Rita Dove on February 21, 2023 as part fo the Dean's Lecture & Concert Series. The Dean's Office has provided this description of the event: Rita Dove reads a selection of her poetry with commentary. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dove, Rita Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-02-21 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SF_DoveR_Poetry_Reading_2023-02-21 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/8fd6e550c715c92e7abbd6506394b59a.mp3 607e3bfd3d1e1077c2aacd324cebf1d7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Recordings—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data m4a Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 00:58:46 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Sounding Alarm: (circa 1850)" Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture given by Alexander Rehding on February 3, 2023 as part of the Dean's Lecture & Concert Series. The Dean's Office has provided this description of the event: "The nineteenth century was a time of progress but also of crisis – and the study of musical sound was no exception. While around 1800 a sense prevailed that scientists like E.F.F. Chladni and Thomas Young had lifted the secret of sound, this was just the calm before the storm. The presentation of the mechanical siren in 1819 sounded an alarm—literally and metaphorically: the new mechanism threatened to overturn the foundations of the old theories and threw the study of sound into a profound crisis. But this crisis was also a time of great creativity: figures like F. Opelt and J.-G. Kastner came up with innovative approaches that turned the study of music and sound in new and unexpected directions. The important scientist H. v. Helmholtz managed to put a damper on this crisis in the 1860s with some wise and conciliatory pronouncements, but the benefits for music remained and continued to be developed – in compositions by Berlioz, Saint-Saëns, and far beyond." Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rehding, Alexander Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-02-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Subject The topic of the resource Sound. Music. Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SF_RehdingA_Sounding_Alarm_circa_1850_2023-02-03 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/d47e09bbb0112de63adc5f0dbe66e805.mp3 925e7465e43f2d6e537f3b14082e8435 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College. During the Fall and Spring semesters, lectures are given on Friday nights. Items include audio and video recordings and typescripts.<br /><br />For more information, and a schedule of upcoming lectures, please visit the <strong><a href="http://www.sjc.edu/programs-and-events/annapolis/formal-lecture-series/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">St. John's College website</a></strong>.  <br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="Formal Lecture Series" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=5&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection.<br /><br />A growing number of lecture recordings are also available on the St. John's College (Annapolis) Lectures podcast. Visit <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/st-johns-college-annapolis-lectures/id1695157772">Apple Podcasts</a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6GDsIRqC8SWZ28AY72BsYM?si=f2ecfa9e247a456f" title="Spotify">Spotify</a> to listen and subscribe. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context formallectureseriesannapolis Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data audiocassette Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 00:59:09 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Another "Lollere in the Wynd"? Chaucer, His Miller, and Nicholas' Door Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture delivered on March 30, 2007, by Christina von Nolcken as part of the Formal Lecture Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Nolcken, Christina von Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-03-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Permission received Type The nature or genre of the resource sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Subject The topic of the resource Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400. Miller's tale Bible--Translating--History Bible--Versions--History Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LEC_Nolcken_Christina_Von_2007-03-30_ac Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/6e30886e3a0094203084fe1cbca320c2.pdf d3384d59c9e18b9123db250cdbceb9e4 PDF Text Text St. John’s College Annapolis, Maryland Vol. XLV, Issue 5 November 21, 2022 the Gadfly �CONTENTS Logos 3 4 6 8 10 11 10 St. John's College Football Gameday McDowell Lives! Club Spotlight: Energeia Board of Visitors and Governors Bug Business Quite A Man, Quite A Hat! Bug Business Symposium Finds From the Archives ξένος, pt. 2 Language Is Like Restoring a House The Subversion of Identity Joy, Beauty, and Terror 12 15 16 18 20 Questioning Questionable Lectures Amsterdam: Film Review Tutor Submission: Onyx Moon Good Hill Haunting The Crane Odyssey Translation Bubble Boy 22 24 25 26 28 30 31 Polis From the Editor’s Desk: Dear Polity, I have a very bad cold. I do not feel very well. I have been consuming equal parts DayQuil and air. My day is suffering and my night is pain. But the Gadfly is done, and it is in your hands now. I hope that you enjoy it and that you have a wonderful thanksgiving break. The theme for the next Symposium section will be time and temporality. Reflections over what it means to take a break, inhabit a moment, fear the future, recall the past, and whatever else time is signifcant for are welcome. Submissions will be due just a bit before winter-break, December 9th is probably as late as it can be without making our (newly bolstered!) layout team mad. Send all submissions, questions, or concerns to either myself (cekoch@sjc.edu) or the gadfly email (sjca.gadfly@gmail.com). Make sure to be nice to your parents; they've probably missed you. Sincerely, Craig Koch THE STRUCTURE Logos typically holds news reports and narratives of immediate relevance to the Polity. The purpose here is to develop a shared reservoir of information relating to campus life and the community. The Managing Editor for Logos is El'ad Nichols-Kaufman. His email is eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu. Symposium offers the opportunity for our readers to thoughtfully consider contrasting opinions regarding a particular topic. The Managing Editor for Symposium is Luke Briner. His email is lbriner@sjc.edu. Polis serves as a platform for elevating voices in our community. Here we find letters to the editor, columns, cartoons, and submitted pieces. The Managing Editor for Polis is Daniel Nathan. His email is djnathan@sjc.edu. THE COVER 2 Illustration by Zeinep Kyzy the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 THE STAFF Meliha Anthony Luke Briner Liz Dowdy Helen Felbek Catherine Greer Louise Harden Craig Koch Bridget Mace Paolo Medelius Daniel Nathan El'ad Nichols-Kaufman Dolan Polglaze Louis Rosenberg Helen Wagner SUBMISSIONS J.H. Beall Emily Caswell Henry David Hills Ranger Kasdorf Zeinep Kyzy Sibyl Kushnir Paz Daniela Ortiz Santa María Adam Powers Lainey Rendelman Lee Tague �{St. John’s College Football Gameday} Injury Casts Cloud Over Hard-Fought Naval Victory Navy Snaps Two Game Losing Streak With Overtime Victory Against the Temple Owls by Adam Powers '24 and Lainey Rendelman '26 October 29—Backup quarterback Xavier Arline’s overtime rushing heroics in Navy’s 27-20 victory were not enough to prevent being overshadowed by the news Sunday that the injury suffered by starting quarterback Tai Lavatai in the first quarter would be season ending. The veteran starter, a Junior, suffered an unspecified left knee injury late in the first quarter after being hit from behind while running with the ball when Arline came in to replace him. Neither quarterback, though, was able to get the offense into gear as the Midshipmen were only able to manage 224 yards of total offense–a problem that has been haunting the team all season. However, an excellent first half defensive performance, anchored by Senior LB John Marshall, allowed the Midshipmen to jump out to a strong 13-3 lead going into halftime. Marshall, a former Gonzaga standout, had a career day, raking in 11 tackles, 5 pass breakups, 2.5 tackles for loss, and a sack. However, Temple turned the tide in the second half thanks to a stellar performance from Junior WR Amad Anderson Jr. and a strong showing from true Freshman QB E.J. Warner, son of NFL legend Kirk Warner, who continued his series of impressive, mercurial performances this season. Late in the game, the Owls drove 66 yards in under a minute and a half and tied the game at 20 with a 22-yard field goal with 1:08 remaining in the 4th, forcing the contest into overtime. Xavier Arline’s 23-yard touchdown run on just the second play of overtime gave the Midshipmen the lead, and it was a Dashaun Peele interception that clinched the Midshipmen their third victory of the season. the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 3 �{Campus Life} McDowell Lives! Dr. Funkenstein's Psychedelic Garage Funk Experience Brings Down the House, Slays Satan, Saves the Day; Hain Cho ('25) Slings Atmosphere and Spins Discs in DJ Set Photos by Bridget Mace '24, Interviews by Daniel Nathan '24 “ELECTRIC. All caps. Wish they boogied down like this at the academy. Wish we could transfer.” - Some Midshipman Josh Flippo ('26) - Keyboard, Logan Arendt ('24) - Guitar, Chris Turney ('24) - Drums, Hannah Chavers ('24) - Vocals, John Teague ('24) - Bass, Andrew Selway ('24) - Guitar 4 the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 �“Have you been in there? You haven’t? It’s actually cool.” - Some Freshman to another Freshman “Hannah [Chavers] is an insane singer. When she said nobody move, I felt moved.” - Some Other Midshipman “Surprisingly, it [the vibe] was good in there.” - Dashiel Buyske-Friedberg ('23) “There seems to be something distinctly European about DJing.” - Craig Koch ('23) the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 5 �{Club Spotlight} Getting Literary With the Archons of Energeia An Interview with Allyson Brink (A24) and Kelly Kane (A24) by Daniel Nathan '24 DN: Can you describe for me what Energeia looks for in a submission, whether it be poetry, prose, or art? AB & KK: We want to highlight the polity’s strengths artistically, in whatever format a submission comes in. Throughout both of our times working for Energeia, we’ve noticed that each batch of submissions tend to have general themes, reacting to the world at large and the current culture of campus of the given semester. We look for the poetry, prose, and art that we, and our review staff, personally feel is the most gripping, refreshing, and rings the most true of the community’s current state. DN: What originally attracted the both of you to Energeia, and what made you decide you wanted to be archons? AB & KK: When we joined as freshman, school was online and campus was closed for the most part. We were interested in ways to get more involved in the creative side of St. John’s while being online, so we started attending the submissions review meetings on Zoom. When campus 6 reopened, we attended meetings in person and became acquainted with the new archons. Working closely with them, we had a lot of fun creating a publication we each found vital to the college’s artistic life, which led us both to engaging a lot in the creation and management process. We both made mental notes of wanting to be archons, so we were sure to attend all the meetings and get on everyone’s good side, masterminding our ways into leadership. DN: What are some initiatives that you have taken as archons that differ from archons in previous years? AB & KK: As you’ll notice when this semester’s edition comes out, we’ve decided to significantly cut the amount of submissions we accept. In the past, Energeia had increased the length of each issue, which could get overwhelming for both editors and readers. We’ve taken a lot of inspiration from editions from 20162018, which were shorter and allowed readers to spend more time with each piece. We’re also playing around with new layout designs and ideas for other content we can create that will keep Energeia a “household” name, if you will. DN: I presume you’re somewhat well-versed in the history of the publication: What are some of the ways that Energeia has changed over the years? AB & KK: In the 80s, Energeia published a Fall issue which consisted of prize-winning work from the previous year, while the Winter and Spring issues were dedicated to the current art that the polity was making. In the 2010s, we published a lot of prose and academic essays, but the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 we’ve since cut the length allowed for submissions, leading contributors to opt more towards poetry and short prose. We’ve seen all kinds of mediums published, from math proposition demonstrations to pottery to music scores. Of course, poetry, prose, and two-dimensional art have remained consistent contributions to our publication. DN: That leads me to my next question: What do you hope for the publication's future moving forward? AB & KK: We’d love to see more variety in our submission types – the bolder, the better. We strongly encourage thinking outside the box with submissions. Think: collages, math and lab proofs, translations in ANY language, three-dimensional art, tattoos, etc. With the call for more mediums, we’ve been working on engaging the polity more between releases. Before COVID, Energeia’s presence wasn’t as prevalent as we’re now pushing for it to be. We want to see our stickers on all bottles, copies on all coffee tables, and everyone we know showing up to events. As we expand our empire, we’re crossing the �bounds from physical to digital. Along with the announcement of zines next semester, people can anticipate a website where we could potentially take digital submissions. DN: This latest Winter issue comes out soon: Did you notice anything in particular about the submissions for this issue? Are there any prevalent themes that stuck out in the polity’s contributions? AB & KK: We tend to get a lot of similar themes for every edition. We see a lot of cigarette motifs, invocations of Genesis and the Greek, and (sometimes concerning) depictions of depressive slumps and alcoholism. Other than that, each AB & KK: Daniel, please. Be round of submissions may or may not f*cking for real. have specific themes depending on what’s going on in the world and in our You can expect to see the Winter community. For example, last year we 2022 edition before Winter break. noticed a lot of cicada imagery as the reemergence from the soil took place. DN: Can we expect campus events put on by Energeia, such as the open mics, to continue? AB & KK: Yes! We’re planning another party for the Winter edition release, as well as more events for next semester. DN: My final, and perhaps most important question: Why won’t you publish Gore Vidaniel? the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 7 �{campus life} Board of Visitors and Governors Meets Inflation, Enrollment and Campus Renovations Discussed by Elad Nichols-Kaufman '25 The fall meeting of the Board of Visitors and Governors was hosted in Santa Fe in early November this year. This semester, rising inflation and its implications on plans to renovate the physical plant of the campus and compensate faculty and staff, as well as national trends in enrollment and mental health dominated the conversation. The conversation largely focused on the college’s list of seven institutional priorities, which include maintaining a balanced operating budget, maintaining full enrollment, improving student supports and retention rates, ensuring that students from all backgrounds feel at home at St. John’s, the Freeing Minds campaign, meeting the Pritzker Challenge, and developing the Program through faculty development, curricular review and revisions, and new offerings. With an already balanced budget for the 2023-24 academic year, much of the discussion focused on maintaining this financial position. “We’ve gone through our existential crisis, and now we’re a small liberal arts college facing the difficulties of a small liberal arts college,” explained Santa Fe President Mark Roosevelt at the Board’s plenary session. However, the path towards keeping college finances stable appears difficult, since there has been a decrease in tuition revenue per student thanks to improved financial aid, and the college’s endowment has suffered due to poor performance on the stock market. In addition to this decreased revenue, costs have also increased. Ron Fieldings, Board President, explained that costs continue to rise for the college like for all private businesses, while the college cannot increase its 8 revenue like a business. “Productivity is not going to go up, because of the nature of St. John’s. Tutor productivity hasn’t improved since Socrates, but they still need to be paid a 21st century wage.” Faculty and staff salaries are still lower than at most comparable institutions, and must be adjusted for the high levels of inflation over the past year. To fund this, the board voted to raise tuition by 5%. While this is below inflation, it is still a substantial increase for students, and may require even greater increases in financial aid offered by the college. 71% of students at St. John’s already receive needbased aid, the most of any of the Small College Consortium, and thus the college receives increasingly little of its funding from tuition and fees. Instead, the college must turn increasingly to philanthropy to fund its operations. Board members highlighted the success of some fundraising initiatives, with nearly a hundred million raised from the Freeing Minds campaign, primarily directed towards the endowment, as well as the ongoing efforts to raise funds to meet the Pritzker Challenge. Even here, however, inflation takes its toll. The Pritzker funding, which is meant to go towards campus improvements, will not be able to fund all the more extensive renovations initially considered for the Annapolis campus, with all discussion over constructing a new residence hall tabled. Even renovations to existing buildings in great need of repairs will be impacted. The renovations to Campbell Hall, which were initial estimated to cost around $4 million, may now cost between $8-10 million due to rises in construction cost. The the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 college now plans not to shut down Campbell for a year to perform the most substantial renovations, but instead to run the renovations over the course of two summers, and continue housing students in it during the year. Other major concerns of the board were student enrollment and retention. The national “demographic cliff,” the phenomenon of their being, for the first time in United States History, less people of college age each year than before, was mentioned frequently. Santa Fe met, and Annapolis exceeded, the enrollment goals for this year, but total applications went down, and further decreases are expected. Austin Lignon, a board member, explained that the decrease in applications has been seen nationally at private colleges, it is limited to certain demographics. “The demographic cliff really means a demographic cliff for white students. We need to find ways to increase our reach.” Student retention has improved over the past few years, although graduation rates are still below the college’s goal. Particular improvements have been made for students who receive Pell Grants: ever since 2017, Pell Grant recipients have been graduating at an equal or higher rate than the college average. Annapolis President Nora Demlitner explained that the college has been working to implement many different programs to support students throughout their time at St. John’s. “We start with the Prtizker Bridge Program, and we work to continue attentions to students. We’ve built one of the best wellness centers for a small college in the country, and moved the Health Center to the lower level, or as some like to say, “garden level” of �Randall… Students are facing more mental and physical health challenges than any generation before, we need to offer better mental health services.” The Annapolis campus recently underwent the accreditation process by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and the notes from that accreditation also informed the board’s discussions. The accreditors were largely positive, with reaccreditation recommended without any requirements, also recommended stronger focus on diversity and inclusion, as well as more research by faculty and better data management. President Demlitner indicated a desire to work on these recommendations, as a way to maintain the intellectual rigor of the program in the 21st century. “We’re a distinctive college, and we need to work to keep ourselves distinctive.” {Student art} Mr. Sterling in Sketch Quite a Man, Quite a Hat! by Zeinep Kyzy '24 the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 9 �{Bug Business} Bug Bulletin What’s Red and Grey and Spotted All Over? Lycorma delicatula! by Louis Rosenberg '25 On a day not too long ago, in a dining hall a bit too familiar to most Johnnies, Lycorma delicatula, commonly known as the spotted lanternfly, initiated a heated debate about the role of humans in addressing invasive species. The prosecution (read: those in favor of squishing those unfortunate bugs they encountered) argued that the bugs posed a threat to agricultural and logging industries and that — without established natural predators in the infested areas — their vigorously rising populations could outcompete native species, causing further ecological harm. Those speaking in defense of the spotted lanternflies asserted the innate value of so many insect lives outweighed the harm they might do. Further, killing individual bugs would likely not be enough to stave off the infestation. Now, chances are that just one decade ago, no one at St. John’s would have been thinking about spotted lanternflies — like most Americans of that time, they probably would never have heard of the species. Indeed, it wasn’t until late 2014 when the insect first arrived in the United States. (Native to parts of China, the bug had also established itself in Korea as an invasive pest earlier in the 2000s.) And it is only in the past few years that the spotted lanternfly has more broadly entered public discussion. A Google Trends analysis shows searches for “spotted lanternfly” peak annually around September, with that peak search volume increasing to its all-time maximum this year. Those seeking information on the spotted lanternfly are most frequently located in Pennsylvania (where the pests first appeared), followed by other 10 Northeastern states (where they are currently most prevalent), but their range is rapidly expanding into the Midwest, leading to more recent searches in that area as well. But what do we know about spotted lanternflies? Let’s start with a look at their taxonomy — they belong to the family Fulgoridae (also known as simply lanternflies), and in turn to the infraorder Fulgoromorpha. Fulgoromorpha are commonly known as planthoppers because they tendto, when startled, hop off of the leaves they feed on. Like other members of this infraorder, spotted lanternflies’ mouthparts have evolved to allow them to pierce plant stems and suck out the sap. Damage to the host plants can sometimes occur as a result — vineyards are at particular risk, for the insects especially enjoy eating grapevines. Spotted lanternflies are also gorgeous animals throughout their lifecycle. Their forewings (which, as for most planthoppers, are held in a tent-like shape over the back when at rest) are grey with black spots, with red coloration on their hindwings and antennae and, for females, the rear end of their abdomen. They can reach slightly more than an inch in length, with females generally larger than the males Starting in September of each year (which likely explains the annual peak in public interest in the bugs), adults lay thirty to fifty eggs at a time, with the mass of brown eggs covered in a waxy grey coating for protection, staying dormant through the winter. Once they hatch, the nymphs are black with white spots for the first three instars before gaining red coloration for their fourth instar. Adults can be the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 found starting in the summer months, and they generally survive for four or five months after their final molt. Naturally, human intervention can cut their lives short — and you may soon be faced with determining a spotted lanternfly’s fate, for they have already been spotted in Maryland, albeit not yet in Anne Arundel County. Should you see a spotted lanternfly, you should report the sighting to the Maryland Department of Agriculture through their online form. Sources: https://mda.maryland.gov/plantspests/Pages/spotted-lantern-fly.aspx https ://trends.goog le.com/ trends/explore ?date=today%20 5-y&geo=US&q=%2Fm%2F012lb9lt h t t p s : / / w w w . n p r . org/2022/08/18/1118049864/what-apest-spotted-lanternflies-are-spreadingin-the-u-s h t t p s : / / p hy s . o r g / n e w s / 2 0 1 4 11-entomologists-vigilance-newlylanternfly.html https ://www.researchg ate.net/ publication/275651706_The_Wild_ Wonderful_World_of_Fulgoromorpha https://www.sciencedirect.com/ topics/immunology-and-microbiology/ planthopper h t t p s : / / w w w. c a b i . o r g / i s c / datasheet/110524 �Finds From The Archives: St. John's and the Peace Corps Helen Wagner I am of the opinion that every Johnnie ought to know about the Peace Corps. Not only is it an intriguing option for postgraduate work, but the Corps and the College are, in fact, old friends. Let me tell you the story. In case you’re not familiar with it, the Peace Corps is a government agency that deploys volunteers abroad to provide support and assistance to developing countries. Perhaps you’re planning to join after you graduate—a number of Johnnies do. But the Corps’ connection to St. John’s runs deeper than that: In the 1960s, it partnered with the College to create an experimental training program for its incoming overseas volunteers. A bit of archive digging brought me some gems: reports and reading material from the program, as well as a few photos of volunteers on campus. I was intrigued: what sparked this partnership? The reports highlighted the value of St. John’s educational philosophy as preparation for the Peace Corps. The Corps had experienced a few years of success after its establishment in 1961, but its members sensed something lacking in the training program. A 1965 report in our archives says that, prior to the collaboration with St. John’s, “There had been little opportunity in some programs for the trainee to stretch his imagination.” 1 Like many modern universities, the old training was lecture-based and composed of separate-track disciplines. But this kind of instruction did not translate well into the real world. The report states, “[W]hen the Volunteer goes to his overseas assignment, there is no one there to lecture him; he is on his own. The key to his success is individual initiative and responsibility.” There was a disconnect between training and reality. So, how to remedy this deficiency? The Peace Corps believed that St. John’s offered a better approach to education— one that would smoothly translate to actual fieldwork. See this excerpt from the same report: This summer’s program is a special attempt to move away from separate track, one-way instruction to a program in which trainees can think, question, and participate instead of just listen. Our aim is integration: a single faculty, and one program built around common principles of education. Seminars have replaced lectures; books on India and America, among them epics of the east and west, have become the substance of the seminars. 2 The rest of this initial report contained more detailed plans and reading lists for the summer curriculum, sprinkled with some healthy praise of the College and many beautiful words on behalf of the Great Books. One piece about St. John’s was especially eloquent. It described how our the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 11 �deeply, a little more carefully, a little more humbly, about themselves and their assignments, America and the west, India and the east, the world and its terrifyingly complex problems.” 5. “[N]ot to violate the spirit, integrity, and motivation of the trainees— however deep or shallow— by unwarranted and unnecessary intrusions, however well intentioned.” 4 own Program was founded to reclaim the essence of liberal education amid a “crisis” of the American College. The Peace Corps, sensing disorder in a fragmented world, wanted a similar innovation in thinking. See this excerpt: The American College, it was felt, faced a crisis. [It] seemed dismembered, an unconnected series of specialties and specialists, each arguing for supremacy…In short, the essential role of a liberal education—to make free men— no longer seemed the primary aim of the American college. It was to recover this goal that the new program at St. John's was founded…The world today reflects a similar crisis. Its ideologies and competing systems, its political, cultural, religious, social and economic specialties are also disordered. The violent arguments amongst them are what we call war, cold and hot; the mildest form of the argument is what we call cross-cultural shock. Whatever the term, it seems clear that these specialties require the kind of understanding and unity that will make peace and pluralism possible. 3 The final report also included a list of the St. John’s tutors involved—among them Jacob Klein and Eva Brann—as well as feedback from participating volunteers, a report by the director, Philip A. Camponeschi, and a commencement address by Klein. Camponeschi, in his report, said something wonderful about the value of seminars that I feel compelled to share here: Unfortunately, the term seminar is often misunderstood; it is sometimes looked upon as so much intellectualizing, or simply as a technique. Divorced from its aims and ends - and they are never fully realized - a seminar is just a talk session. Not that there is anything wrong with good talk. Thus, in response to these parallel crises— both academic and cultural disintegration— the partnership was formed. The final report on the 1965 summer program states its six goals (some of which I’ve paraphrased): 12 1. To give volunteers good practical training in Indian poultry (their specific area of fieldwork). To acquaint them with Hindi. 2. To teach the volunteers about India’s “heritage and traditions; its religious, political, economic and social problems; its life and customs.” 3. To teach the volunteers about their own country, its contemporary problems, and its Western roots. 4. “To do all this in too brief a time, in ways that would encourage them to think a little more freely, a little more the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 notes (1)“Training Program Statement,” India XVI, St. John’s College: Peace Corps Training Program, Annapolis, MD, June 1965. (2) Ibid. (3)“St. John’s College Evening Seminars,” India XVI, St. John’s College: Peace Corps Training Program. (4) Philip A. Camponeschi, “Report of the Director,” India XVI, Final Report: Peace Corps Training Program, Annapolis, MD, June 18-September 10, 1965. (5) Ibid. �And even bad talk has its purgative value. But a seminar is more than that. It has, as it were, two complementary aims. The first is the pursuit, discovery and examination of assumptions - in a book, an action, an idea, even so quixotic an idea as the Peace Corps. The second is what happens to the student or trainee in the process, the opening and deepening of the mind and imagination. 5 Jacob Klein’s commencement address was eloquent in its entirety, but here is one excerpt I particularly loved. He is speaking to the recent graduates of the training program, volunteers who are about to serve in India: The horizons of your lives so far have been circles[,] the identical center of which is our common heritage, conscious to us in varying small degrees and never apprehended by us with complete clarity. Our heritage is in the main of Greek and of Christian origin.… Superimposed upon these Greek and Christian foundations, stemming, in part, directly from them and, in part, breaking away from them,is our all-pervasive scientific habit of mind which colors all our thinking and feeling, no matter how great our ignorance of science and its principles may be. This then is the common center of the horizons in which you have been living — more or less securely encircled — so far. But now the circles of your lives will swell and will become ellipses - if you permit me to stick to my geometrical simile. You will have not one center but rather two foci to gravitate around. One of these foci will be the center I have just been describing, but the other focus will be the invisible source of Indian life that will surround you. While tending consciously and unconsciously to your own focus, you will at the same time be pulled in work, in play, in rest and in enforced inactivity - toward that other focus, and as a result of these contrary motions you will be out of focus altogether- unless you find the inner strength to pursue calmly your new elliptical path. I can’t help but think of Euclid’s Prop III.5, which says that two circles cutting each other will not have the same center. In Klein’s analogy, these two circles are the American and Indian cultural experiences. They are not merely cutting each other, but combining and merging into an ellipse: the complex experience of one individual. The two separate centers— the foci of the ellipse— must suddenly coexist. Though we aren’t Klein’s original audience, we can take note of his wisdom, too. Each of us comes from our own experiential circle, and as we meet new people and expand the horizons of our lives, we must take into account the new foci of our growing ellipse. If our archives are complete, it seems the St. John’sPeace Corps partnership only lasted about two years. After the India reports in 1965, there are records of two more summer programs in 1966—one of which was in Santa Fe. The 1966 Annapolis program was for the Philippines, while Santa Fe trained volunteers for Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. I was not able to discover why the partnership was discontinued after this: perhaps St. John’s had served its purpose in reinvigorating the Corps, and was no longer needed. Perhaps the Corps changed its priorities. Either way, these two years of collaboration seem to have been richly rewarding, and their records in the archives provide a wealth of interesting reading. Unfortunately, I cannot include it all here. Throughout are some scans of the written records, as well as some pictures of the Annapolis program in our digital archives. Citations for material from the Digital Archives can be found on the back cover the Gadfly / Sept 22, 2022 13 �How Language is Like Restoring a House Dolan Polglaze Somewhere in the dwindling days of August, a friend quoted a poem to me that has been drifting in and out of my mind ever since. The poem is short and taut: it strikes one head-on and feels somewhat like the blow of a hammer. It is called Lightenings ii, and is written by Seamus Heaney, an extraordinary Irish poet who uses language in a way I have never before encountered. Heaney is a master sculptor of language, and his poems are brilliant examples of what it looks like to fully narrow one’s attention on the specifics of physical sensation and force. I have specifically chosen to write here about Lightenings ii for this reason: the poem speaks tangibly of language as an intentional action, and calls our attention to the gap—sometimes narrow, sometimes vast—between sensations and the words we choose to express them. Let us take the poem two stanzas at a time: knowing one’s door is both latched and barred against whatever is outside. In the second stanza, the work becomes finer. Someone is checking the straightness of the “lintel, coping-stone, and chimney breast.” A lintel is the support that stretches across a window top to support the wall, and a coping stone is the highest stone in a wall. Verifying the verticality of the walls and chimney breast is essential to ensuring the structural life of a house. It is a precise act, requiring attention to minute variations and an acute awareness of the future. I say that ensuring the straightness of the walls is an act of future-looking because in such an act one is looking to build something that will last. Such work must be sufficient for the house to persist long after our labor on it has ended. Let us take up the last two stanzas: Roof it again. Batten down. Dig in. Drink out of tin. Know the scullery cold, A latch, a door-bar, forged tongs and a grate. Relocate the bedrock in the threshold. Take squarings from the recessed gable pane. Make your study the unregarded floor. Touch the crossbeam, drive iron into a wall, Hang a line to verify the plumb From lintel, coping-stone and chimney breast. Sink every impulse like a bolt. Secure The bastion of sensation. Do not waver Into language. Do not waver in it. As the first stanza begins, we can see someone at work. “Roof it again. Batten down. Dig in,” he begins arduously. We see someone sweating from the difficulty of re-roofing a house, securing it against the unpredictable sky. The second line shows that there is a certain roughness to this period of restoring the house against the harsh outside; things are in motion and nothing is settled. There is only a tin to drink from, and the scullery kitchen—normally a center of warmth for any home—is cold. Yet even in this time of re-building, there is strength and conviction. The listing of “latch, a door-bar, forged tongs and a grate” in the third line emphasizes the presence of security, the comfort of 14 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 This third stanza brings us firmly into the earth, to the foundation on which the house is built. A bedrock is the ground of any created thing, and relocating is surely no easy task. The bedrock is often the image of the absolute foundation of all things, the first place on which all else is built. In the second line, our vision is quickly reflected upwards, towards the triangular gable pane, which is usually the highest window in a house. Here also the restorer is verifying the squarings (angles) of the window in order to check whether the window is rectilinearly sound or not. The description of the house ends with a study of the floor, directly opposite of the roof where we began in the very first line. At this point, the poem is entirely charged with descriptions of force. �The strength and power needed to restore a house is immense: “Batten down… Touch the crossbeam… Drive the iron… Relocate the bedrock.” These actions require physical strength, power, conviction and time. Yet the quality—goodness—of labor is paramount: to properly restore a house, the actions of pure force—of roofing, of driving iron, of toiling with one’s entire body—requires a certain delicate attention and care. As we reach the final stanza, we are no longer talking about physical action; force is now a mode of human impulse. Impulse seems to be somewhere between endeavor and action. It is like endeavor in that it is a sort of inward motion, but unlike endeavor in that an impulse seems to possess a clarity that mere inward motion lacks. Yet an impulse without a mooring is transient and passes away in the tumult of desire. This is why the imagery of sinking our impulses like a bolt strikes me as profound. It calls us to secure our convictions in the same way that one secures a structural beam out of the desire to secure the future of the house. Yet, anyone who has sunk a bolt into wood knows that it is destructive to under or over-tighten a bolt— likewise, one must also sink their impulses with a fine-tuned sensibility of the necessary force. Every impulse is a call to commitment, a call to sink and strengthen our unfolding sense of what must be secured in ourselves. Heaney’s call for us to commit to the full reality of our experience culminates in his final meditations on language. “Secure/The bastion of sensation./Do not waver/Into language. Do not waver in it.” He likens sensation to a kind of fortification, drawing forth the thought that we must secure our trust in our sensations. Perhaps Heaney is causing us to recognize that the sum of our experience—which arises both inwardly from impulses, and outwardly from sensation—is all we’ve got, and so we must commit our trust to it. With language too, although it is perhaps the greatest weakness of human beings, it is also our greatest strength. When Heaney says, “Do not waver/Into language. Do not waver in it,” perhaps he means this: Do not allow the structures of language to sway you from the inimitable intricacies of your impulses and sensations, but when the time does come to commit to speech—and it inevitably will come—commit fully. Like the restoration explored earlier, if absolute care and a fine-tuned awareness of the force necessary for ensuring the strength of the house is not present, the house will not stand. Thus, there is a strong sense of quality and security required in building. Likewise, in regards to language, Heaney asks us to consider how important it is that we approach our speech with these same sensibilities: we must not waver in the ideas we deem worthy of being secured. As the house must be made strong for its inhabitants, so our language must be made to stand strong and unwavering in the whirlwind of our ever-confused experience. Our speech must be an intentional and forceful action— the action of placing our trust in the security of our language-house. I would like to end with an open consideration of language that this poem has lately stirred in my mind. Reading Genesis and Job again for my preceptorial, I was struck by the difference of the creation story as told in both. In the former, God’s creative force is embedded in his identity as a speaker, whereas in the latter, the same force comes from his identity as a builder. We are all familiar with the opening lines of Genesis: God’s use of language seems to draw things into being from the watery darkness of the pre-light cosmos: “When God began to create heaven and earth, and the earth then was water and waste and darkness over the deep and God’s breath hovering over the waters, God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light.” I have always regarded these lines as a sort of paradigm of absolute speech: in Heaney’s words, perhaps we could say unwavering speech. Now compare those lines of Genesis with God’s speech to Job about the same creation: Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations? Do you know who fixed its dimensions Or who measured it with a line? Onto what were its bases sunk? Who set its cornerstone When the morning stars sang together And all the divine beings shouted for joy? (38:4-7) It is striking how Heaney’s poem seems to so closely echo these lines from Job. God relays to Job the Genesis moment as if He was but a house builder all along: God laid the foundation stone, measured the straightness with a line, and sunk the base through His creative language. God secured what was worthy of battening down, sinking the impulses most worthy of enduring through the chaos. Perhaps God’s first speech was the very first house. the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 15 �The Subversion of Identity Sibyl Kushnir Within our current political climate, the question of how to ground queer politics is more urgent than ever. The political climate looks dire in this country, and to speak personally, the future is scary from here. I’ve been trying to think through what is necessary to ground a queer politics for a while. For whatever I say here, I’m mostly a scared girl who’s read a few too many books and wants to share. I’ve read the following authors in the hope of answering my own questions, and I hope that by showing you through some prior critiques of earlier attempts at queer politics, I can provide something of use, or of interest. At the very least, this isn’t a recent question as far as our history goes: it’s been the focus of both Foucault’s History of Sexuality Volume 1, and Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble. In past movements for the queer liberation, the issues they identify are frequently in orbit of the related concepts: intelligibility and identity. The movement of sexual politics in Foucault’s time was largely a reaction to a perceived prior repression. In the Nude Wrestling Women, Leonhard Kern 16 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 Victorian age, it is said, we hid the truth of our sexual desires from ourselves. Only recently have we allowed them to come to light in speech. This speech must be multiplied, and our understanding of our sex must be clarified—although its truth (the “truth of sex” as he puts it) will always remain a secret we cannot fully grasp. Thus, we must continue our investigation indefinitely. It’s with this paradox that Foucault starts his investigation: despite sex (and the desire it entails) being positioned as a secret we can never fully uncover, ever more numerous modes of inquiry are being brought to bear on it. It is hypothesized that during the Victorian age, a sort of puritan cultural law had descended and repressed any sexuality other than the married, heterosexual norm. This is referred to by him as the repressive hypothesis—the idea that cultural norms around sexuality took the form of a law of prohibition. That is, everything abnormal was prohibited, or driven out of view. Most importantly: sexuality was excluded from speech; it was not something that could be asked about nor could it answer. Our sexualities were hidden, made unreadable, their truth obscured. In order to bring them back into intelligibility, to understand ourselves, it was necessary to speak constantly of sex. Upon further examination, however, it becomes apparent that during the Victorian age there was not so much a repression of sexuality. Instead, we can find the roots of the same search for a “truth of sex” that we see in Foucault’s time. During the Victorian age, sex seemed omnipresent. It was of great medical and psychiatric concern (sex was introduced as a potential cause or cure of illnesses), there was an ongoing campaign against masturbation (and methods to stop it), social dynamics in families were structured around unspoken, but present, sexuality. All this of course being part of a questioning of sex, an attempt to make sex speak— in a different tone, certainly! But nevertheless, dating back to the Victorian age there can be traced an apparatus with a purpose of producing truths about sex. What Foucault is tracing is the genesis of a scientia sexualis—attempting to make scientific inquiry of sex, producing (rather than discovering) truths of it that are ordered and intelligible. These truths often were truths about us—that is, the fact of one’s sexual desires and habits were constituted as a part of one’s very person. Think of how �the descriptor “gay” conjures a certain image when thought about, how it is reveals something seemingly essential to the person it is applied to. As much as it tells you what it is, it also excludes what it is not—both the heterosexual, but also those who are not gay “correctly.” This makes more sense when applied to something like transition: my masculine style of dress does not suggest I am putting a whole lot of effort towards “becoming a woman,” despite the implications of my identity. In a certain way, I’m doing something wrong—I am here, but I am a logical defect, somehow or another excluded from the term meant to encompass me. With those examples we have grabbed the roots of what “intelligibility” is. Inquiries into sexuality in search of a “truth of sex” are seeking out truths that can correlate ideas to people – the idea of a trans woman is used to identify a set of people in the world and exclude those who don’t fit the idea. One “passes” or not based on the actions one takes—nobody is looking at me for some kind of eternal womanly essence, just checking to see how I look and act. So, to be intelligible then: this is to act in such a way that accords with the classification-idea one identifies as. The issues with forming a politics around intelligible identity may be already clear: intelligibility is predicated on the exclusion of the unintelligible. A political movement which constitutes itself around a certain identity has locked itself in: this identity cannot change and develop to reflect the actions taken by the members, nor can it work to the benefit of anyone who does not fit the standards it sets. Throughout the 1900s, feminist movements were divided over the question of whether or not trans women were part of the same struggle, or even oppressed at all. Though it would seem all involved were women, the way womanhood had been made intelligible was in such a way that could exclude trans women. The intelligibility of identities is founded on a relationship between an ideal and the actions one takes. One’s actions, to remain intelligible, must remain in agreement with that idea. I am not that idea, though – none of us are– whatever idea I may be compared against as a defective mode, it is my actions that are being compared, my actions that reflect backwards and constitute who I am. Identity was never the original: as Foucault understood, its genesis was predicated on an inquiry into and categorization of actions. What is primarily me is my actions, whether they correctly reflect what my identity should be or not. The alternative to a politics based on identity is a politics based around actions. Identity is a limiter: in order to remain intelligible under an organized framework of sexual identities, I lock myself out of certain actions, and I lock myself out of developing—my identity cannot change. But queerness and politics both seem to be places where change is essential—to lock myself down like that would be untenable. By organizing ourselves around shared actions, rather than shared identities, identity itself can be set free to flourish and change with the free play of forms of life. So, while we don’t have much of a choice about being categorized, we seem to be always under the sign of one identity or another. Paradoxically, our way forward is a kind of a non-action: refusing to be determined by the marks of one’s identity, making it consistently unclear through one’s actions the “truth” of one’s identity. In not actively striving to “be,” we may find a way to disrupt the apparatus of our classification. Émilie, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 17 �Joy, Beauty, and Terror Luke Briner There are many times when I’m overwhelmed, at the experience or even the prospect of joy, by a suffocating, allconsuming terror; crushed by the awareness of the beauty of life whenever I turn my attention to it. When I'm pained by the very existence of anything with the innocent sheen of childhood, not because I think it’s bad, but exactly because I think it’s too good—because the very idea of being present to it is too heartbreaking to me. When I feel that simply living in the world is something impossibly heavy to bear, not insofar as it’s ugly, but insofar as it’s beautiful. When real beauty presents itself to me as something so inconceivably vast and terrible that to give myself up to it would be to cripple myself beyond recovery. When the bright, happy sky open wide above me, or the autumn leaves blowing gently in the ambrosial gold of the late afternoon sun, or the sweet innocence of a children’s book where nothing truly bad ever happens and where there’s always a happy ending, or the simple, unconditional love of my family, knocks the wind right out of me—skewers me with such a violent, crippling sadness that the only thing I’m able to do is skulk away to my dorm, put down the blinds, and sit there alone in the dark, trying to distance myself from what I’m feeling and from what made me feel. But why this terror? Why, when I experience things I recognize clearly as joy and beauty, am I consumed with melancholy and dread? If it’s true, as Plotinus observes and as I believe, that the Good is “the desired of every Soul” (Enneads, I.6.7), then what account can I give to myself for my apparent aversion to that very Good, to the very things that I actually value above all else? Since I’ve had these feelings my whole life, I’ve had my whole life to investigate them. In fact, the very attempt to work out the psychological and spiritual mechanics of them has become a common way for me to distract myself from the pain of actually feeling them. What I’m confident enough to say about them here and now is that they arise not from joy or beauty in themselves, but from an inability to dissociate them from evil, their contrary. This occurs to me in three forms: the evil within myself, the evil within others, and the evil of the world itself. By “evil” I mean not just immorality, but whatever desecrates or destroys beauty and joy. By “beauty” I mean anything I understand 18 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 to be truly Good, and by “joy” I mean both the present experience of beauty, and the oblivious, happy innocence which can accompany it. Now by “the evil within myself,” I mean the everlooming threat of my own ignorance or moral deficiency threatening to ruin any kind of true joy I come into contact with, provided I ever allow myself to be fully open and present to it. The reality of this threat is confirmed to me by a consistent series of actions and consequences throughout my life. Whenever I’ve really given myself permission to be immersed in the joy of any given moment or situation, it’s resulted in shame, rejection, and regret. And each instance of this throughout my life has appeared to me as a polluting stain, irremovable and degrading my very value as a human being, as that Scottish Lady with virile ambition so unchecked and “soul so potent in crime” (Baudelaire, “L’Idéal”) found out. What’s especially disturbing to me is that it doesn't even have to be something conscious—actually, it rarely ever is. I live in constant dread of becoming like that fate-blighted Theban, undone by inescapable ignorance in spite of the best intentions. The fact that I’ll always end up doing something wrong when I give myself any leeway to be present with joy fills me with a deep reluctance to engage with it at all. To do so would necessarily be to let my vigilance over myself slacken, and so would risk ruining that joy by the smallest misstep, which I would be bound to make. Innocence, then, is so crushing to me because it reminds me that I feel I’ve lost my own. By “the evil within others,” I mean something very similar to what I’ve just said about myself, only extended to human nature as a whole. I know that great capacity for evil I so clearly see within myself is equally present in others, and I’m fully aware of the sordid, abysmal depths that we can and do sink to if we permit ourselves to. This makes the world to me not simply a dangerous but profoundly tragic place—one where even the most perfect innocence can be brutally and mercilessly beaten down into nothing at any moment, for any reason, and by anyone. The sadness I feel at joy, then, is in this sense a product not of the joy itself, but of the fact that I’m unable to get the thought of how painful the desecration of that joy would or will be. Human depravity at large, combined with the awareness of my �own unique capacity for, and, indeed, apparent tendency toward that depravity, is why I’m so often uncomfortable around others. I usually can’t shake the feeling that every interaction, no matter how small, is nothing more than an opportunity for sin. And even in the rare cases where that opportunity isn’t actualized, the dread of it being actualized at any moment, for any reason, and by any party, thereby ruining any innocent, wholesome joy there was, always accompanies me. I observe, then, a dialectical instability in joy: its juxtaposition with evil not only causes unbearable melancholy at the very beholding of it, but it also, in its carefreeness, inevitably produces the very evil which it consequently enters into juxtaposition with. The moments when our hearts are absolutely open are exactly the moments when the securing sanction of Conscience loses its sovereign power over it, and so when we hurt others and ourselves the most. Finally, by “the evil of the world itself,” I mean the even more fundamental circumstances of life that naturally and inevitably lead to joy’s negation and pollution. For even if human nature was perfect, my own and that of others, the certainty of death’s hellish dart finding its mark in the end is still just as certain. The world itself, in its inexhaustible vastness and variety, serves both as the foundation for all beauty and as that very beauty’s immutable executioner. This is perhaps the deepest and truest cause of my terror. Here, joy is necessarily something ephemeral, something that, even in its most jubilant Spring, can’t help but foreshadow the abyssal Winter which will inevitably follow. I’d certainly like to believe that there’s another, infinitely greater Spring waiting beyond that Winter, but I’m not sure I’ll ever truly be able to. If I did, then I doubt that I would have most if any of my present terror, given that what I’m terrified of is exactly joy’s ultimate dissolution. I realize that the very ephemerality of joy makes it something even more precious and beautiful; but the more precious and beautiful it becomes, the more painful the consciousness of its ultimate loss becomes. I find myself hopelessly trapped between beauty and death, the one informing and accentuating the other. I fear death, but I fear it because in thinking of it I’m able at the same time to contemplate the utterly overwhelming beauty of life, of which death is a negation. On the other hand, I’m only able to recognize beauty for what it is precisely by my awareness of that ultimate negation. The tragic fragility of the state we find ourselves in is itself the content of its beauty, and that beauty is at the same time what makes that fragility so tragic. All this is what makes me desperately want to be numb to myself, to distract myself from the overbearing presences of joy and beauty—to cut myself off from the world and from my fellow human beings, and, in a perfectly safe and controlled environment, pursue what I think is worth pursuing without ever having to ever truly open my heart up to That which I know is always there. But this is futile, and I know it. I can’t hide or distract myself forever. I know in my heart of hearts that someday, at the end of everything, I’ll have no choice but to face joy and beauty in their absolute fullness alongside evil and death in their own. In that great and terrible and beautiful Moment, when I finally open myself up to it all, I know beyond knowing that I will see the bright, happy sky, and the late afternoon sun, and the children’s books, and my family, and I will weep, and I will understand what I was always meant to understand. Spinario, Antico (Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi) "Longing," Luke Briner May I speak to myself now as to that Husband astrayed, whose tortured, homesick heart Beat ‘gainst his visage artful and complex As savage curls of that Ogygian drink Crashed down upon the crags, with salty mist Commingling with his every bygone tear. Poor vagabond, is that the marriage left To you? I urge you, get you up, and go— Return to your dear Ithaca, who, sat Before the loom, weaves divers shrouds of Love. the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 19 �ξένος, pt. 2 Paz Daniela Ortiz Santa María As my first semester at St. John’s comes to an end, something that I’ve found outrageous is the lack of conversation, even of attempts at starting one, about feminism. Finding myself at the early centuries of the Western canon, I suppose I half-expected that seminar conversations would not touch upon this topic for the sake of sticking to notions present in the texts at hand; what I did not expect, however, was the relief—almost glee—with which any interpretation that could be remotely considered as stemming from a place of feminist criticism was avoided or otherwise immediately shut down. For all the time spent discussing justice, whatever this strange concept means based on what we manage to understand from Platonic dialogues, it seems that Johnnies struggle to connect this notion to the handling of womanhood in the other texts in the Program, happy to attribute any perceived misrepresentation or blatant unfairness to the author’s historical or cultural context and thereby dismiss any further conversation or criticism. Even if we put up with the evasion of debates of this nature, little is done to counter this in extra-academic life, or even in casual conversation. Events like the Pangaea Potluck and Hispanic Heritage Month go on to show that celebrations surrounding diversity only attract Johnnies’ attention because they offer something, whether that be food or entertainment. Based on several conversations, first-hand information and attempts at dialogue, it appears that our apathy is undeniable, inescapable, glaring. The rest of the world does not wait for study groups to catch up to what happens in it. The Mahsa Amini protests in Iran are still going on, and human rights groups claim that more than three-hundred people have been killed. As alleged free-thinking adults, shouldn’t there be something we ought to be doing to, at the very least, raise awareness about it? I do not feel familiar enough with the stories of the Irani women taking part in the protests in order to recount their narratives to you at the present time. Instead, I will recount that of certain women from my country with the help of my notebook and pen. With them, I’ve drawn some people whose faces I want to share with you. 20 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 The first woman I’ve drawn is 82 years. He was from Huancavelica, Perú. The 31st of January this year, she was beaten and suffocated to death by her neighbor because she refused to have sexual intercourse with him. Her name was Linda Valentina Condori Huamán. This woman’s name is Sharoom Berusca León Jara. She was 23 years old and from Lima, also in Perú. Her dismembered and burned body was found inside a cave. Her partner killed her on the 20th of March, 2019. The next woman’s name is Sonia Ascate Chumpitaz. She was 39 years old, also from Lima, and eight months pregnant. The 13th of April she was beaten, disfigured, and then killed by her partner. The following woman's name is María Marleny Abad Reyes. She was 34 years old and had four young children. On the 21st of last June she was killed with a machete wielded by her partner in front of her five year old daughter. Further, this woman is Jessenia Rosmery Ramos Perez. Despite being only 23 years old she had three children. On the past 5th of July the father of her children beat her to death because he found out that she had had an abortion. Finally, this woman’s name is Silvia Saavedra Sangama. This past 5th of September, her former partner broke into the place where she worked and shot her in the head in front of her daughter. These are just six victims of the thousands of cases of femicides registered in Perú every year, most of which have been caused by a current or former male romantic partner or other family member. None of these women have obtained justice yet. If I were to draw the faces of the 70 women who have been killed this year alone, I would run out of ink. And if I were to draw the faces of all the women around the world who have suffered from gender violence, the world would run out of paper. Despite the huge advances the fight for gender equality has made, there’s still thousands of cases like the ones I’ve mentioned happening all around the world, not just in my country, but literally everywhere. Being a woman, in spite of your age, sexual orientation, race, religion or occupation means being constantly in danger of being assaulted, hurt, and killed. So we ask ourselves in seminar, “what is justice?” We will turn to different definitions and endless discussions, but if I were to speak from the heart, I’d say that for me, justice—a little of it, at least—can be found in dignified representation. In that arena, we Johnnies have a lot of work to do. For the women who have died victims fighting gender violence, victims of a system designed to violently oppress them, rest in power. We remember them. No justice, no peace. �Original Work by the Author the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 21 �{Free Speech and Justice on Friday Eve- Questioning Questionable Lectures El'ad Nichols-Kaufman Lecturers enjoy an odd position at St. John’s. At a school that likes to frame every learning opportunity as a conversation filled with questions, lecturers are provided the chance to speak, in statements, for an hour of their own specific findings and views. In general, most of them approach this in the same questioning spirit, and the atmosphere of question and answer period provides that same ability to examine their lecture from different people’s points of view. Still, lecturers hold a larger platform than any one tutor or student, and thus have an unusual position of power granted to them by the college as an institution. When the college recognizes someone with the honor of giving a lecture, it is in some way recognizing something special about their thoughts, questions and beliefs. To some extent we recognize the power of a lecture slot as a place of respect or honor, like when we recognize the dean for the first lecture of the year, but as students, we largely fail to question the choice of Scholars at a Lecture, William Hogarth 22 the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 who the college chooses to honor in this way. I was prompted to examine the granting of this power by a recent lecturer. His lecture itself was not the problem—it was rather unremarkable—but rather his wider views on the world posed a challenge to my understanding of the power granted by a lecture slot. This lecturer has a past of anti-semitic statements, arguing that the Catholic church was justified to kidnap six year old Edgaro Mortara, a Jewish child, since it was really the “the rescuing of a Christian child from the custody of those who would have defrauded him of the inheritance that he was promised in Baptism by teaching him to deny Christ,” or that the holocaust was really an attack on the Christian God, as if for him the racial hatred of Jews was not cause enough to condemn it morally. As a Jewish student, this made me uncomfortable, but as a Johnnie, I wondered whether I was in some way obligated to ignore, or at least put aside, these statements. After all, are we not meant to confront difficult ideas from difficult thinkers at this college, and address arguments of writers in good faith regardless of what their writers might have said in other contexts ? This thinking , which allows us to examine texts that we may find problematic, is deeply ingrained in St. John’s culture. This is not only a concession necessary for the function of the program; it lies at the center of the very concept of a Great Books education. The texts on the program are not great because we like them or agree with them. Any kind of growth we experience through discussing and analyzing them should not, indeed cannot, come simply from the strength of our affinity to their authors. The question at stake regarding lecturers, however, is not whether we should be willing to grapple with their difficult ideas. There are people who believe things that I find repulsive, and it doesn’t do any good to pretend they don’t exist. Rather, the question that perplexes me is how our willingness to approach difficult and even morally abhorrent views comes into play with the power inherent in the Friday night lecture. From �We Have the Exhibition to Examine, William Heath the lecturer’s unusual position of honor comes a connection of the lecturer’s thinking to the college itself. It is not that the college is actually endorsing their opinions, but it is endorsing their intellect in some way, saying that their thoughts are worth engaging with, and that they are worth listening to with the greater attention provided by the lecture format By receiving a lecture slot, the lecturer is also receiving an endorsement by the college of their authority as a thinker. This brings us to something which may be obvious, but I think is important to state: it is vital that we hear and examine thoughts we disagree with. However, that does not mean that we should automatically accept the intellectual authority of those who think these thoughts. We should be able to examine these two concepts separately, and be able to agree with someone’s ideas without recognizing their authority as a thinker, while also being able to disagree with someone’s ideas while recognizing their intellect. With this, the college’s responsibility in selecting a lecturer still remains uncertain for me. If the college really is granting this power and recognition to lecturers, the choice of lecturer is an incredibly important, and delicate one. If the college recognizes someone whose thoughts have led them to hold repulsive opinions, it is in some way recognizing those repulsive opinions as legitimate, if not necessarily as correct, through its authority as an institution. These opinions may be acceptable to examine on their own, but if the college as an institution recognizes them, it jeopardizes its own mission as an institution. As a Jewish student, if I sense the college endorses thinking that leads to personal attacks against me and my community, that damages the credibility of the college and the program itself. I do not feel like I am absolutely qualified to judge what thought is worthy of being recognized by the college, but neither do I feel that there is any one person in the administration who is so qualified. I see no easy way to absolutely determine what is worthy of being honored by a lecture. Maybe it is easy for me to declare that a lecturer should not be honored when I feel personally insulted, but even there my own personal feelings may be getting in the way of the kind of detailed meditation necessary to determine whether or not the speaker should be invited. The best I can do now is hope for further examination and consideration of this issue, and encourage the rest of the polity to think about it with me. As a community which is constantly concerned with virtue, it is collectively our responsibility to look at who we honor, and what kind of thinking we see as worthy of our own consideration. Man and Woman in Attitudes of Distress, Henry Tresham the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 23 �{Black Box Reviews} Amsterdam: Are Big Names Enough? Ranger Kasdorf I refuse to believe that David O. Russell’s latest film—or at least this version of it—was ever actually pitched. I can certainly believe that somebody at some point long ago pitched a movie about the Smedley Butler affair, a strange and obscure little piece of American history ripe for dramatization, and I can even believe that part of that pitch involved casting Robert de Niro as Smedley Butler. But Amsterdam—the 134-minute ensemble-periodpiece-cum-celebrity-orgy with more top-billed actors than letters in its title—is the kind of film that can only be the result of a long, long roll down the side of a mountain of Hollywood cynicism, accumulating more and more A-listers, money, and delusion before finally barreling into theaters with a soft thud. This kind of writing is admittedly outside of my comfort zone. Each of my previous film reviews for the Gadfly have been earnest analyses of films which— flawed though they are—I view as respectable works of art whose ideas deserve some sort of good-faith engagement. But if Amsterdam has any ideas worth engaging with, they are certainly not the ones the filmmakers had intended. This is not a film about undying friendship or prevailing justice or any of the other themes which it so desperately wants to be about; what Amsterdam is really about is clout. It’s about a director taking a mediocre, unpretentious script and stuffing it with stars until it chokes to death on glitter. 24 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 The marketing for Amsterdam shamelessly uses the film’s cast as a major selling point. Indeed, it would seem to be the only point worth selling : I saw the trailer countless times in the months leading up to the film’s premier, and yet when I invited friends to see it with me I could only tell them I was pretty sure it was a murder mystery, and, based on the use of Ten Years After’s “I’d Love To Change The World” in the trailer, that it was set in the ‘70s. But though the basic premise of the film eluded me, I could say, without any uncertainty, who was in it. The remarkable thing about Amsterdam’s cast is not merely that it has a lot of stars; it’s that they are stars with completely different backgrounds, amounts of experience, and—let’s be blunt here—levels of talent. Long-established and widely-respected legends like Robert de Niro and Christian Bale are given equal billing with fresher faces like Rami Malek and Anya Taylor-Joy, as well as off-genre wildcards like Chris Rock and—most bafflingly—Taylor Swift. The result of this names-drawn-from-a-hat approach to casting is an ensemble which is much less than the sum of its parts. Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and Anya Taylor-Joy are all thrilling here—Bale especially— and even Rami Malek and Chris Rock provide some memorable moments. But these performances, strong though they are when taken individually, clash hideously when taken together. Although it’s the aim of an actor to make the �audience see them not as themselves, but as their character, the truth is that audience members have a knee-jerk response to seeing an actor they recognize, and the way they process the action of a scene will inevitably be affected by how familiar they already are with the actors involved. A skilled director can use this effect to their advantage; Steve McQueen’s excellent Twelve Years A Slave wisely cast the beloved Brad Pitt as Canadian abolitionist Samuel Bass, making the audience trust him automatically even before they find out that he wants to help free Solomon Northup from slavery. But in Amsterdam, there is no such intent. To borrow an observation from a friend who accompanied me to the film’s premier, it very often feels like an amateur theater production in which the director keeps bringing people onstage but forgets to have them exit. Director David O. Russell just doesn’t seem to know what to do with his actors much of the time; every scene is just a hazy mess of recognizable faces, all pulling focus from one another and ultimately making the viewing experience incredibly dull. Amsterdam’s box office performance appears to have borne out my criticisms; the film cleared a piddling $28 million at the box office compared with its $80 million budget, a considerable amount of which I imagine went towards securing its cast. Certainly, Amsterdam is far from the first film to lean on its A-list stars, but it’s hard to think of another recent film that did it so flagrantly and was punished so severely for it. 20th Century Studios seems to have overplayed their hand here, perhaps assuming that Amsterdam was too big to fail and sinking an embarrassing amount of money into it, only to be met with a round rejection from the movie-going public. There is a lesson to be learned here, and it’s one I hope Hollywood takes note of: if you want to get butts in seats, you need more than just a long list of famous people on your poster. If a film does well, it will be because it had something to say, because it pushed boundaries, because it captivated people—not just because it had Taylor Swift in it. {Tutor Submission} Onyx Moon J.H. Beall He died “East of here under an Onyx Moon” in an older time. We have not seen his like since. This is a letter from the Dark Ages, of a place and time it is better not to know. What is the wind coming to? Or from? Which is the orb that rises North of a convergence of tracks, dark rails shining, seeming to have their own light. We know in our minds these thin strings, barely luminous, do not meet. But what does the mind know, really? It is the heart that teaches us dread. There is a mist in the sky in place of stars. What compass can tell us, we do not believe: the false convergence of tracks, the true convergence of meridians, the pale skin of a girl we knew once, becoming flame. the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 25 �Good Hill Haunting Shirley Jackson, As It Turns Out, Has Written Things Other Than The Lottery. Who Would’ve Guessed? Emily Caswell The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, and adapted for the stage by F. Andrew Leslie, hides the horror from you as long as it can. Right as it’s too late to save her, we realize Eleanor Vance (Ranna Kisswani) is the real force haunting the play and that the house has already gripped her. This realization is the thrust of Director Megli Micek’s production. Once it happens, the audience remembers back to her strange moments earlier passed off as character quirks. The terror of Eleanor is snuck into the play, and it is terrible when it arrives. Ranna Kisswani’s performance is the most gripping, most chilling in the play, and she delivers it without holding anything back. Compared to the surreal way she talks in the latter half, and the intensity of her screams, her delivery in the beginning feels regrettable. All the actors suffer from what I call “actor-voice” at the start of the play, Ms. Kisswani being no exception. She warms up as her character gets closer to the brink, but I would’ve liked to see her speaking more naturally with Theodora (Sarah Lieberman) who is implied to be a love interest (more on that below). The main four characters, Eleanor Vance, Dr. John Montague (Wyatt Sweeney), Theodora, and Luke Sanderson (Griffin Kearney) are shown to quickly develop a cheerful, joking way of talking with each other. But the actors carried their conversations without real laughter or fluidity, and the lack made some scenes feel wooden. There were moments, though, where the characters interrupted each other, and those moments felt like genuine people having a genuine conversation. Ms. Kisswani nailed the 26 the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 delivery of Elanor’s most tragic moment when she asks to go home with Theodora. Theodora’s initial warmth has been growing colder throughout the play and at this moment we see Eleanor open up. “I’m serious, Theodora.” These words carry real weight, and later I thought back to that scene and wished that Eleanor could have gotten her escape. Theodora, however, at first rejects it as a silly joke and then just walls herself off completely. Sarah Lieberman excellently portrays that responding chill. She does however continue to speak in a similar tone throughout the play, giving the performance a slightly artificial feel. Griffin Kearney does a similar thing. His character is constantly cracking jokes, but they are almost all told in the same voice regardless of the scenario. While the audience member suspects the jokes are meant to come off as confident and suave (Mr. Kearney’s fine sweater vest points in this direction), the surprising similarity between his tone and Arthur Parker’s (whose character is more of a joke than not) makes this hard to realize. A more relaxed, sarcastic tone would have helped make his character stand out. Wyatt Sweeney’s performance was more dynamic, but I think his portrayal could have been weirder. Dr. Montague often has lines at the end of scenes, often ones with troubling implications. When Mr. Sweeney says these lines, he speaks like a character thinking aloud, which would best suit the character’s eccentricity if it carried through to all the rest of his lines. Well, almost all—there are several parts where the character is on autopilot, interacting with Mrs. Montague (Rachel Schuman)—and increasing the eccentricity when he’s earnest would only magnify his deep hatred. We would learn that his absent-minded philosophical way of speaking is more honest, and that he enjoys being around these three relative strangers more than his own wife. Rachel Schuman and Mirek Jungr are very funny, and provide an excellent adversary for us to side with against the cast’s main four. They don’t do very much except be annoying, but they entertain and provide a certain variety that makes the next scare scarier. Ms. Schuman speaks in the style of high-theater, but it works with her character. She exuded false confidence, which is just who �Ms. Montague is supposed to be. Mirek Jungr is much the same. These characters make me wish the other actors were in contrast to them even more—more natural and dynamic. Mrs. Dudley (Aviel Honey, Avery Laur) is also very funny, her extreme, over-the-top seriousness gives an opportunity for the main characters to bond and have something to laugh at. Mrs. Dudley is actually giving us fair warning of the house’s dangers, but the absurd way she tells us is funny enough that we can look past it (as the characters do themselves). The scares throughout the play are fairly well done, but only once did they really make me jump. A door slam behind me was surprising and unsettling, and I think the production could have utilized the boathouse balcony. They did use the attic space well to make the whole building shake, which was very effective. The music was excellent when present, and in fact could have been even more present without being too much. There were some issues, like the lighting cutting in and out for some reason. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but its effect was more distracting than eerie. Aside from this flickering, the lights did have some clearly intentional, good moments. Overall, The Haunting of Hill House delivered an interesting portrayal of loneliness. If the actors had been able to be a bit less like actors, I think this portrayal could have been even more convincing than it was. Nonetheless, the intense conclusion of the play shined through despite this, and the bleakness—the evil of the house—was felt throughout the boathouse. Cast of the Haunting of Hill House Back: Aviel Honey, Rachel Schuman, Silas Pilsbury, Joseph Bennett, Mirek Jungr Front: Griffin Kearney, Sarah Lieberman, Ranna Kisswani, Wyatt Sweeney the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 27 �{Fiction} The Crane Lee Tague Yesterday evening I thought about my reasons to go on living. I thought about those reasons because I was thinking about my reasons not to. My body had become accustomed to the subtly wearing jolt one feels when walking along a set stone path. My mind no longer took in the clip clop of my cracked faux leather shoes. I was supposed to carry on. I was supposed to just stay on a path. A path that would supposedly take me to a place I was supposed to go. For some reason, I left that path and my body followed with me. That constant shock wave disappeared, replaced by a blanket of unnumbered blades of grass embracing my every step. Before my eyes lay a small field, at its end was a series of small buildings made of once deep red bricks now washed away by the flood tide of countless Sun-filled days. Not a soul around. Behind me, near that path, a rush of automobiles came in a scattered cascade of sound, growing quieter with each step. To my right a thin tree line nestled itself against a hill and faded along its crest; I directed myself towards its edge. Sunset was drawing near, and needles of light pierced the wave of broad green leaves swaying in the air up above. The calming sight inspired me. I felt able to breathe. I kept moving forward. In the failing warmth of the day, my body felt comfortable, warmed but not hot, it was enjoying the light exhale of wind against its cheek. I was off in my thoughts. The tree line came upon me faster than I had expected, and my feet were confronted by a rather steep but not unnavigable hill which led to a river. Going downhill, I thought about my reasons for living, because I was still thinking about my reasons not to. My feet reached the bottom, and they weren’t so sure where to go next. So, they just kept churning forward; they took turns: up, down, up, down, but always forward. Until, I noticed a little dock tucked between a thick collection of cattails, willow trees, and an assortment of water grass. My feet took me out onto the bleached gray wood. The dock’s dead boards reminded me of home for some reason. Such ugliness in that lumber. The familiar feeling of walking on wooden planks made me comfortable. 28 the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 My eyes looked out on the quiet river, a brilliant fire burning on its surface; its model, the Sun, hung up above. My eyes moved slowly from detail to detail. I took in the whole of my view, but I was still. I was still in my mind. I was still mulling over my reasons to not live, so my mind wandered over my reasons not to do that. For some reason, my head turned to the right; with my head turned my eyes, and with my eyes I saw something that brought me back from my reasons not to anymore and my reasons not to do that. On another dock, made of those bleached planks, the form of a slender Water Crane stood still, basking in the final rays of the Sun. I didn’t think about much, aside from my days of fishing as a boy and the hatred we had for such birds. You see, a Crane hungers, and that hunger drives them forward at a constant rate. In that hunger a Crane can deplete an entire pond or small lake of life. Cranes are constant, steady, efficient fishermen and stark competition can build hatred. That was the boy me; the me of now, at least of yesterday, wasn’t concerned with the comings and goings of a Crane. I thought the Crane was beautiful, in an ugly sort of way. My head turned back to the water, carrying my eyes onto the calm scene. I thought more about my reasons. They were good reasons, I thought. So, the Crane and I stood still there for a long time. I wondered what the Crane was thinking about. My suspicions came true. The corner of my eye caught motion. Turning my head and eyes, I took in a strange dance. In a sudden leap, a flutter of wings, and a splendid circular motion, that for some reason I desired to have gone on and on, the Crane demonstrated masterful its grace. Flying forth from the water, plucked from its world, a silver form reflecting the light of the Sun was torn from its once tranquil reality and thrown onto those dry planks. It felt like a long dance, but it wasn’t. Time just slowed down. I was focused on them. I know the nature of animals well. I feel that nature in my self. I know the hunger to take. I’ve taken life, just like the Crane, just like this flopping silver form. Regardless of what I knew, the scene was unpleasant to watch, but once you witness the �start of such a thing it demands to be seen through to the end, one way or another. The silver form had little hope. It rested in the center of the dock. Its shining body slowly drying out under the beating of the setting Sun. Its sides working up and down in a frantic and shocked motion, unsure why it could no longer feel the reassuring breath of life. The silver form, for all its struggling, went nowhere. The nature of its situation was coming into view: The silver form would shake and flip, then cease; in its ceasing the Crane would pluck it from the dock testing its resolve, testing its reasons. The silver form would struggle inside the mouth of the Crane until it was dropped back to the planks. Standing over it, the Crane would let it go still and when all the silver form’s motion was gone, the Crane would lunge, piercing its body with its grotesque slender beak. Then nothing. The scene would pause. The Crane constant, the silver form still. Then the frantic motion. Back to the mouth. Back to the planks. Piercing. Pause. Over and again. But with time the silver form seemed to forget some of its reasons. The shaking became weak, the flipping ceased entirely. Back to the beak. Into the air. Towards the Sun up above. The nature of the silver form’s situation beamed down on its now still body, reflected into my sight. My head turned back to the water, it was growing dark, the Sun was gone, only a burning horizon lingered. I thought about my reasons. They all seemed good at the time. Young Man on a Riverbank, Umberto Boccioni the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 29 �{Lost in Translation} Henry's Homer's Odyssey Henry David Hills Hello, I am one of your Greek assistants this year. Although I know the other Greek assistants to be very qualified persons worthy of their positions, I am the only one named Henry. You do the math. Translating is a sad work, especially when it’s poetry being translated. It’s an impossible job to capture the feel of the original language—its sounds, its rhythms— which influences us on a level deeper than many think. Add to this so many words lost in translation, and you’ve got yourself a doozy. In truth, I can’t give you Homer’s Odyssey. Only Homer can do that. I can only offer you what little I know of it from my limited and brief exposure to it: Henry’s Homer’s Odyssey. So, here’s how translating a line goes for me. Take the first one of book ix, “τὸν δ ̓ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς” which I’ve rendered as “And in response, Odysseus much-shrewd:”. I always tell my Greek assistance clients to start with the subject, then to go to the verb. Simple. Ὀδυσσεύς—“Odysseus”. προσέφη— “answered” (literally something like “toward-spoke”). “Odysseus answered.” And we go from there. τὸν is a masculine singular accusative definite article—we call it “the.” Homer uses “the” substantively very often, so it could also be taken to mean “him” in this instance. “Odysseus answered him.” δ ̓ is short for δέ, a particle which connects thoughts together. It could mean “and,” “but,” or even go untranslated. I used “and.” “And Odysseus answered him.” “Homer” “wrote” in dactylic hexameter. And since I regard anybody who translates poetry into prose as someone making a grievous mistake, if not an outright moron (and this goes for J.R.R. Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf. Sorry, Tolkien.) I decided to use the dactylic hexameter of the English-speaking world: iambic pentameter. That’s how I ended up with “And in response, Odysseus much-shrewd:”. I had to cut out some words to fit the meter, of course. My translation doesn’t stress Odysseus’s act of responding as much as the original, nor does it preserve the original word order, nor does it specify to whom Odysseus responds. Homer meant for these small details to be included, otherwise they wouldn’t’ve been written. So, I’ve butchered his hard work and danced on his grave just to bring you a chip of the grand work he made. You’re welcome. So that’s how I translate a line of Homer. Rinse and repeat five-hundred-and-sixty-five times over, and you’ll have the entirety of book ix, which I hope to have completed sooner than later. In the meantime, please enjoy the provided 28 lines (although it’s technically 27.5 lines if I’m being honest). 30 the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 “Oh lord Alkínoös, renowned by all, a noble thing to listen to such bards as this, his voice as though it were of gods. For deem I no end gratifying more than when a fest may hold secure the realm, and meal-guests listen to a bard and sit on benches, tables full of bread and meats among the host, and the wine-man, drawing drink from mixing-bowls, bears wine and fills the cups. This looks to my wit a thing most beautiful. But your heart is bent to beg my pitiable cares, that I yet, lamenting, groan the more. In that case, what tell o’er I the first? What last? The sky-realm gods have giv’n me many cares. But now will I reveal my name, that you may know, and when I flee the ruthless day, I’ll be your guest-friend, though my house lies far off. Laërtēs’ son Odysseus am I, well-known by all for craft; my fame to heaven goes. I dwell in shining Ithaka; there’s a mountain, leaf-shaking Néritos, jutting out; around are many islands close together, Doulíkhon, Sámē, tree-full Zákynthos. Mine isle lies low and far into the sea toward western-gloom – the others far toward east and sun – a jaggèd place, but good as a nurse. Oh, I can’t see a sweeter land... Still Life, Georg Fiegel �{Notes From The Hermit} Bubble Boy Paolo Medelius “Bubbles” constrain their members to specific, collective experiences while reinforcing the attraction of such experiences, and the common negative connotation of bubbles comes from the fact that those in one tend to become isolated from certain beneficial experiences outside their bubble. I live in a bubble and have since soon after I first arrived here. Mine is a version of the St. John’s College bubble, and many of us live in our own version of this bubble. Our small campus provides not only for the simple needs of the so-called Room Johnnie, but also for the more extensive needs many of us have as well. It is a powerful and compelling form of solipsism, and therefore it is worth investigating. There are two main questions I’d like to pursue: 1.) How fulfilled can we be inside this bubble? And 2.) To what extent does being inside this physical bubble isolate us from certain non-physical experiences? As a mode of investigation, I’ll describe my own bubble. My bubble first includes the essential destinations on campus: my dorm in Humphreys, the dining hall, my classrooms, and the most direct paths between these places. Slightly less often, my bubble includes the gym for exercise and jiu-jitsu, the Chasement for unspecified extracurriculars, and McDowell for swing dancing. It allows me to “touch grass” so to speak, usually through gardening, playing soccer, or sunbathing. I am probably on the more active and involved side when compared with most Johnnies, but there are still many parts of campus that I rarely frequent. For example, my bubble includes the path in front of McDowell only once a week when I walk to the BBC for Gadfly meetings, and it includes the coffee shop only when I’m there to meet with someone. While my bubble provides for most of my general interests to some extent, the virtue of it lies in something other than what I actively pursue. While I enjoy many of the activities that I’m involved in on campus, and while I appreciate my bubble for supplying me with the means to take part in them, it is not any of these extracurricular activities which really satisfy and fulfill me. Even in the moments when my general interests are entirely satisfied, I find that the majority of my fulfillment depends on effectively pursuing those interests that I explicitly came here to pursue: the St. John’s program and my own education within it. This, I think, is the real concave limit of my bubble to me. Looking at it this way, I begin to love my bubble. Not only does it provide for my “extra” needs in a way that’s for the most part satisfactory, it also reminds me of the limited fulfillment my “extra” needs can provide in comparison to what I’m truly here for. Further, I do not feel isolated from or that I’m missing any beneficial experiences that may exist outside of my bubble. I assume that if those experiences did exist within the bubble, they would still pale in comparison to the curriculum and the experience of seriously engaging with it. Putting aside my flight of academic passion, I do still require other sorts of fulfillment. Often this involves some form of socializing, but I think this is best done on campus anyhow, perhaps because others spend so much time here in their own bubbles as well. Again, I find that I love my bubble not only for what it does for me but also for what it does for others. Perhaps this love, along with my low evaluation of extracurricular interests, makes me into something of a Room Johnnie. It feels like that may be the way my progress is leading me. Even if this is so, though, it is a life that I’m choosing for myself, and one which the bubble in its extracurricular provisions always challenges. There are always extracurricular activities and satisfactions available on campus, and how far one goes in indulging in them determines something about the breadth of one’s bubble. Whatever choice each of us make, however, it is my assertion that it is always a voluntary one: we may all be bubble boys, but we are also boys within a bubble of our own choosing. I believe this voluntary decision is the virtue of the St. John’s College bubble. The path to dedication to the Great Books and perhaps even to becoming a Room Johnnie is a just one, with constant opportunities to reevaluate one’s interests. At the time of my writing, I have not stepped foot off campus in four weeks, and this decision feels most free, just, and fulfilling. I am a bubble boy, and I smile at that fact. Bubble Boy, Max Anthon the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 31 �THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish a professional, informative, and thought provoking newsmagazine. Works Cited for Finds From the Archives in order of apperance: Unknown, “Students Building Peace Corps Huts by College Creek and the Beneficial Hodson Boathouse, Annapolis, Maryland,” St. John's College Digital Archives, accessed October 21, 2022, https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/ show/5122. Unknown, “Students Working with Peace Corps Volunteers, Students Seated at Seminar Table, and Students Eating in the Randall Hall Dining Room,” St. John's College Digital Archives, accessed October 21, 2022, https://digitalarchives.sjc. edu/items/show/5134. 32 the Gadfly / Sept 22, 2022 Submissions sent to the Gadfly should either be in Google Docs or JPEG format. The deadline for submissions is the Friday prior to publication. For more information, contact us via email at sjca .g adfly@gmail.com 6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 32 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XLIV, Issue 5 Description An account of the resource Volume XLIV, Issue 5 of The Gadfly. Published November 21, 2022. The volume number is misprinted as XLV on the front cover. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Koch, Craig (Editor-in-Chief) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2022-11-21 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource College students' writings--Periodicals College student newspapers and periodicals St. John's College--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly Vol XLIV issue 5 Gadfly Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/fefbfe98f9ca40724fdadb4a6f593e66.pdf 5d8116dacd4c84d954108bbb713b0338 PDF Text Text St. John’s College Vol. XLIV, Issue 4 the Gadfly Annapolis, Maryland Nov 3, 2022 �CONTENTS From the Editor’s Desk: Dear Polity, Logos Updates From the Newsroom Dispatches From the Boat Show Bed Bugs Hop to It! Halloween Photo Spread Symposium The Part and the Whole The Pursuit of Selfless Learning To Those Who Have Suffered Thoughts on the St. John's Class Defenestrate Your Time Pieces ξένος, pt. 1 3 4 8 9 10 Guide to Local Second Hand Stores Review of Acqua Al 2 Monthly Horoscopes 22 24 26 Polis 12 14 16 18 20 21 The Gadfly is looking to increase its staff! If you're interested in editing, design, or simply helping to do the work that makes the Gadfly run, please reach out to me at cekoch@sjc.edu. We are especially looking to increase the staff for Logos and design. That announcement aside, there are three notable facts about this issue: (1) Finds From the Archives has been interpolated into the Symposium section, (2) the Symposium section is themed around the nature of our academic program and students' experience with it, and (3) there is a contest on the back cover drawn by Cassie Desmond. Submissions for the next issue will be due on the 18th so that we can get an issue out before Thanksgiving break. Hope you enjoy the issue! Sincerely, Craig Koch THE STRUCTURE Logos typically holds news reports and narratives of immediate relevance to the Polity. The purpose here is to develop a shared reservoir of information relating to campus life and the community. The Managing Editor for Logos is El'ad Nichols-Kaufman. His email is eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu Symposium offers the opportunity for our readers to thoughtfully consider contrasting opinions regarding a particular topic. The Managing Editor for Symposium is Luke Briner. His email is lbriner@sjc.edu Polis serves as a platform for elevating voices in our community. Here we find letters to the editor, columns, cartoons, and submitted pieces. The Managing Editor for Polis is Daniel Nathan. His email is djnathan@sjc.edu THE COVER Photo of Polis Editor Daniel Nathan, taken by Craig Koch 2 the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 THE STAFF Audrey Fox Cooper Ussery Craig Koch Daniel Nathan El'ad Nichols-Kaufman Helen Wagner Isa Kiedrowski Jenna Lee Liz Dowdy Luke Briner Meliha Anthony Bridget Mace Paolo Medelius Helen Felbek SUBMISSIONS Madame T Nalini Venugopal Paz Daniela Ortiz Santa María �{student life} Updates From the Newsroom by El'ad Nichols-Kaufman '25 pangea hosts global potluck: eating around the globe The quad was thriving on Friday, October 21st, with a plethora of flags criss-crossing it over crowds of Johnnies busy eating new foods, arguing over the identification of national banners, and standing in line for even more food. This was no mere Friday on the quad, but a special potluck hosted by Pangea, our campus international student organization, to help students share their culture through the universal language of food. “I would like Johnnies to broaden their view through this and learn different cultures so that we can be more understanding of each other and be respectful,” explained Hyojeong Lee, Pangea archon. “The theme of this event was language. For some people, English is not their first language, so they make mistakes, or mispronounce some words. I want polity to recognize that there are diverse cultures and languages and be more understanding of each other. I hope through these kinds of events, we would learn to respect each other's different cultural backgrounds.” Pies made glory won: Baking club holds a pie off Pastry baking may be a knack according to Plato, but the combined baking forces of St. John’s proved that at very least pie making may be an art. A variety of delectable pies were served up to a panel of distinguished judges including our own dean and assistant dean on October 14th, ranging from traditional apple pie to creative varieties with spices and peppers. A dessert consisting of homemade apple compote, ricotta, apples and puff pastry by Regean Yang, A ‘25, won first place. “I just made a pie that people liked,” explained Yang, “and it made me happy that people liked it.” Bed Bugs Invade: A Learning Opprotunity Bed bugs recenetly attempted a seige on Pinkney. Signs point to their defeat. Read more on page 8. Delegate council passes budget At the meeting on Tuesday, October 18th, after weeks of budget hearings, the Delegate Council approved the Budget Omnibus Bill for club spending in the Fall 2022 semester, funding 28 clubs for a total of $36,369.96. This was substantially less than the Spring 2022 budget of $58,474.82, but spread more across more clubs. The average budget for this semester was $1,298.93, and the median budget was $841.35. Waltz Committee: $4000 Energeia: $3908.38 King William Players: $3659.69 Polo: $3510 Reality: $2587.81 The Gadfly: $2050 Platonic Players: $1805 Prank: $1500 Gardening Club $1400 Jiu Jitsu: $1400 Sewing and Mending: $1257.87 Film Club: $1150 Yearbook: 978.36 Insect Club: $975 HEMA: $721.7 Tea Eater Association: $682.40 Project Polity: $534 Alexander Hamilton Society: $515 3D printing Club: $500 Board Game Club: $486.38 Sinfonia: $452.48 Purls of Wisdom: $451 Orthodox Catholic Fellowship: $430 Gaming Club: $370 Baking Club: $344.99 Shammai: $319.9 Storytellers Guild: $300 Pangea: $80 the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 3 �{Gonzo Journalism} Some Captains Don't Even Need the Water A Dispatch from the Boatshow by Daniel Nathan '24 It was just past noon on Saturday, October 8th, and the skies were mostly clear as the sun peeked through just enough to warm the crisp autumn chill. Hurricane Ian had made landfall about a week and a half prior, devastating much of the Florida coast, while higher than usual winds and a steady onslaught of cool rain blanketed much of the eastern seaboard for days on end. After nearly a week of cruel, oppressive weather, the sky had finally opened up just in time for opening day at the 50th annual United States Powerboat Show. My editor Craig Koch and I made it down to the docks and bought our tickets, running us $25 apiece. There were very few of the typical uppercrust, boat shoes and white-sweatertied-around-the-neck, Republican Party donor WASPs that you would expect to find at an event centered around a hobby strictly for the affluent, or at the very least, well-off. Exasperated parents with alcohol in hand (almost every adult in attendance is already drinking by half past noon) were followed by their children. Some younger parents, including an inordinate amount of blonde men, had noticeably more energy and life in their eyes, and brought along tantrumprone toddlers—who screamed at the top of their lungs or violently cried while their guardians ignored them without a care in the world. Meanwhile the more seasoned parenting vets, including a crazy majority of bald guys with beer guts, slight limps, and thousand yard stares, brought along their obviously forced-to-go, extremely bored-looking teenagers, ranging from obvious lacrosse players to kids in Dickies carrying skateboards 4 and wearing Bladee sweatshirts. Staring out into the tranquil harbor, at around an hour past noon, Craig pointed out an out-of-water powerboat to me, maybe a twenty or thirty footer, sitting atop a parked trailer. Towering ten feet or so off the ground, a bearded, heavyset man in sunglasses wistfully sat near the cockpit of the boat. His face had the raw determination of a man in control of his own destiny: solemn, upright, stoic, and proud. Craig turned to me and out of a brief silence, said to me “I guess some captains don’t even need the water” in a soft deadpan. His comment, banal as it may have been, was striking at the core—at the nerve center—of the subconscious of those submerged in the deep blue American middle and their reliance on the aspirational fantasies of leisure and luxury. It shot through, piercing the symbols and trappings, the status that came along with the storied, mythic ethos of the boating lifestyle, “Come for the show and leave with a lifestyle,” a slogan of the show goes. As we headed back through the main drag of the grounds, we cut our way back towards the tents. At one of these tents, two middle-aged blonde women sipped coffee from Yeti brand mugs. They’re suntanned and have big aggressively white, dentist’s office smiles painted on their faces. Studying the pair, their salesmanship is an art of seduction—subtle and friendly and without a hint of the usual loan officer’s sleaze and shiftiness. From the outside looking in, the success of their approach seems to be predicated by the fact that they present themselves as peers to the “Boat People” i.e., wellmannered, educated, and wealthy. I the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 couldn’t help but see yoga moms with deep pockets who wanted to dive back into the workforce after a messy divorce, whose choices for their new career path were between either multilevel-marketing Keto diet supplements or this. They were eager to talk to anybody who had any degree of that unmistakable, impossible to describe look of disposable income in their eyes. That is to say, they did not wave, nor smile, nor acknowledge in any way our presence as we approached. Craig and myself were not, it seems, visibly “Boat People,” to say the least. We had each tried to dress relatively sharply to blend in to the Boat Show crowd, but I still ended up with muddy Nikes, a ratty sweatshirt, and wind-tossed hair. Feeling adventurous, and somewhat slighted by not being waved at, I wanted to antagonize these almost-definitely predatory lenders. I approached the two bank representatives and asked them “C’mon, how many people ruin their financial status by financing a boat?” They looked up and one of the two ladies replied flatly “Not very many, no.” in a deep, almost southernsounding, Marylander accent, her lips �puckered almost all the way shut to enunciate the tightness of the long ‘o’ sound like ‘oowh.’ “You have to be pretty financially set to even get approved. And it really is such a great investment,” the lender continued. Even through her polite tone, I sensed her indifference. I thought she’d at least scowl at me; I mean, I was leading her on. I wanted her to tell me to “screw off,” or at least sigh and roll her eyes in annoyance. But no, she was cheerful and direct as was her professional, public-facing duty. Caught off guard in my failure to properly incite mischief, I found myself suddenly feigning genuine interest and experience in boating to her as I replied “Oh, so they have to vet you then?” The lender responded in the affirmative, somewhat unenthused, and it became apparent that talking to the marine lending ladies wasn’t gonna be as much fun as I’d hoped it’d be. No “gotcha” journalism here, only “unwarranted antagonism and compulsive lying” stuff around here. After that, we found ourselves in the tents again, ticket holders and vendors blurring together, all of them vaguely and uncomfortably smiling. The customers and salespeople at the booths swayed awkwardly, their knees locked and their arms crossed at their chests, their shoulders hunched and stiff, and their eyes nervously darting around the hostile, dimly-lit fluorescents of the FEMA-relief-styled canopy. It felt cramped but vacuous, and the looming shadow of the vaulted ceiling looked like the sky does in Montana. Everyday household necessities and appliances were being sold as ways to improve your boating hobby, like the way toy train enthusiasts “ooh” and “ahh” at tiny, scale model replicas of windmills. The tents were selling the sort of merchandise one would expect to find at any large big-box store: attachable back massagers for the back of your captain’s chair, hightech electric grills, air conditioning units (do boats not have central AC?), humidifiers, supply kits of emergency rations filled with non-perishable canned foods and freeze-dried, military-style MREs (Meals, ready to eat), Roku-capable smart TVs, toilets and holding tank systems, closet organizers, Irish wool blankets, themed wallpaper, hand-crafted faucets, door knobs, and cabinet handles, etc., et al. What was promised here seemed to be a home away from home: a place or, more accurately, a “thing” that you enjoyed predominantly because it wasn’t home. It was somewhere where all the comforts of the suburbs met all the thrills of the sea; a place where you could finally drink and drive. One of the more boat-centric booths belonged to a business called Nauticalite, which advertised “steel backlit, BlueTooth controlled signs & custom lighting solutions to yacht owners,” according to their webpage. I asked the man standing by the booth if there was anything he wouldn’t print for a customer and he told me that as long as they paid him, he’d make whatever the customer wanted. Now, to answer your question, the dirtiest boat names the company’s owner had ever been requested to make signage for were “Wet Dream” and “Dirty Oar.” Unimpressed with the vibe in the tents thus far, Craig and I decided to make our way across the gangway to the other side of the City Docks, where the porta-potties and food and drink options were outside Pusser’s Caribbean Grille and the Fleet Reserve Club. Plastic tables and chairs outside the restaurants were filled with an energy unlike what was happening back at the tents on the main drag. Older couples, obviously drunk and only questionably in love, leaned on the restaurant’s outer walls and slurped chilled oysters that were doused with hot sauce and lemon from paper plates. The smell of smoked beef filled the air as patrons buzzed and shouldered their way through the thickening crowds. Showgoers traded in their cash for draft beers and Painkillers, Pusser’s signature three-level cocktail. Craig and I walked up to the bar and ordered two level threes: two drinks, with three shots each. Craig got the orange crush, and I got the Painkiller. The bartender looked us up and down suspiciously as we handed our IDs over—just another instance of our visibly not belonging at the Boat Show. With drinks in hand, we headed away from the restaurants and towards the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 5 �the back lot of the show. Along the way, we spotted another tent, this one comparatively busy and seemingly well-visited. This was the tasting tent: holy house of free samples, boutique liquors, and wines. Inside, they offered tasting from a handful of start-up brands, including a small batch gin from California that “didn’t taste like a christmas tree,” as one fellow showgoer noted; a chardonnay, pinot noir, and a rose petal-flavored rosé from the up and coming winemaker Josh Cellars; and Moscow Mules made with a premium house-distilled vodka. Not all too ripped, but getting there, we left and walked past the cigar truck, which seemed to be already shuttered for the day, and finally, tucked all the way in the back, Craig I stopped at yet another large tent. A first for the Boat Show, the Fishing Spot which sold poles, lures, reels, aquatic-styled art prints, and marine life-themed drifit shirts (which are abundantly and unfailingly sold in every vendor tent at the Boat Show). Just why people would want oversized, lifelike fish 6 posing in action shots printed on their SPF t-shirts and outerwear beats me. Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” was playing softly from the speakers overhead as we approached a man smoking a cigarette. Craig mentioned something to him about how this was the only fishing-related part of the show, and how he’d thought fishing would be a more featured part of the Boat Show. I asked him something about smoking a cigarette. He proceeded to emphatically complain to us about how there’s no more cigarette smoking in hotel rooms even though he’s always smelling pot smoke in them, and about how everyone these days think cigarette smokers are just “deplorables,” his pitch rising, as Craig and I hesitantly nodded our heads and tried to repress our cracking grins. A lively conversation all in all, we expressed to him some not-all-that feigned solidarity and bid him adieu. I was hungry now, so we headed back to the food options to grab a pit beef sandwich. After waiting in a short the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 line, with the good omen of smoked meat being carried through the air, I paid my $12, grabbed a tinfoilwrapped sandwich from the tray, and looked around for an empty table. It was around 2:00 PM now, and the outdoor seating options outside the restaurants were still buzzing—not to mention their patrons buzzed— and there wasn’t a free table in sight. So, finally, after scanning the patio, I caved and asked a lonely, pleasant looking, middle-aged woman in a red polo shirt if I could join her at her table. She told me to help myself and introduced herself to Craig and myself as Christine. We exchanged some thoughts on the size of the crowds—she comes every year due to her job and this was the lowest turnout she’d ever seen. Christine told us her job was with BoatUS, one of the nation’s largest recreational boating advocacy and services group and an annual sponsor of the United States Powerboat Show. I asked her about changes that have happened to the world of boating since the pandemic had started, and Christine said that her employer had actually seen an increase in recreational boaters after Covid hit. On the other side of that increase, she also told us that many of the boats that were purchased during the pandemic had been repossessed soon after, Many new boaters that could no longer pay their leases (or just didn’t care to) didn’t even bother to put up a fight; they knew they couldn’t keep up with their payments, and sometimes even called BoatUS to come repo the boats for them so they could scurr the docking fees. Both Chrisitne and myself were finishing up our sandwiches by this point and her lunch break was almost over, so we decided to head our separate ways. Since the sandwich was less than filling, Craig and I popped outside the Boat Show grounds and over to Chick �& Ruth’s for a quick, more substantial lunch. Back at the show, Craig and I walked along the docks, looking for the perfect mega-yacht to take a tour of, the sun launched high in the midafternoon sky. On the docks, beside each of the dozens of top-of-theline behemoths, was a podium and a velvet rope, where showgoers could line up for a tour of the yachts. Onto the unholy conflagration of affluence, privilege, and time to kill, visitors excitedly waited in line to experience the Leviathans, to imagine themselves casually manning the cockpits and cinematically staring out from the deck into the empty Chesapeake skyline. Many of the boats for sale looked similar, though extravagant: imposing in presence, sleekly designed, sheening white exterior, dark tinted windows, and two story high sails. But one stood out: a brand new 61 foot Sirena 58 luxury yacht with max speed of 30 knots and an asking price $2.4 million. I waited in line with a man named Steve who looked to be in his late forties, early fifties maybe. After no less than five minutes, a family of four with two toddlers descended down a narrow flight of stairs and hopped off. Steve and I kicked off our shoes and the sales rep led us aboard. We headed up to the cockpit, and Steve regaled me with the superiority of Volvo boat engines— the one the Sirena had—and its builtin Dynamic Positioning Systems. I had zero clue about boat engines or boats altogether, and tried to say as much, but Steve carried on with his spiel, admiring the thrusters, joysticks, Garmin electronic Fishfinder, and navigational displays. Deciding I’d keep following Steve, my guide kept on, eyes wide—a cross between a rural, one-room museum curator and a kid in a candy shop. We went to the front of the yacht, where Steve tested the tactile security of some ropes and opened storage hatches, assuring me that they seemed airtight and that he was overall impressed with the Sirena but not all that blown away. Down two flights of stairs, we checked out her interior cabin. The inside was tight but immaculate down to each detail, a sort of modern, minimalist luxury micro-hotel room you’d expect to find in Hong Kong or Helsinki. Stylish teak lined the cabin walls, and two chic, off-white sofas and a pear-shaped faux wood coffee table centered the room’s feng shui. Off from the main living room were two bedrooms, one with a master bed and the other with double fold out twin beds, both with dimmable LED strip lighting. Tucked into a corner was a washer dryer unit, and one of the Sirena’s three (!) bathrooms. While Steve and I were jumping on the king-size master bed to test the springs, I asked him how he knew so much about boats. He stopped jumping, climbed down from the bed. He pulled out his phone, and after a long, awkward minute of scrolling through his camera roll, he showed me a picture of his very own boat. It was his baby, he said, flipping through carefully lit shots like a proud dad showing pictures of his son in a little league baseball uniform. She was 30 feet long, he said, and he had bought her for just under a million dollars a little over 10 years ago. It was his baby indeed; a source of pride and care and hard work paying off. Steve didn’t seem like some entitled, wealthy CEO-type at all; he was humble and proud and he spoke of his boat like it was a trophy—a trophy he’d earned. I congratulated him on his beautiful boat and we headed back upstairs to the main deck. As we lept off the yacht and back onto the dock, I wished him all the best and told him to enjoy the rest of his Boat Show As much as I had wanted to knock the boaters for all their excessive materialism, environmental indifference, and their posturing and status-seeking, I couldn’t find it in me to knock Steve. Steve wasn’t one of these people, I told myself. Steve was different. Maybe, even, more of the boaters at the show were different; maybe they all were. Around 5:00 PM, as the sun was hunkering down, and the Painkillers had nearly killed all the pain, Craig and I walked away from the tents in the main drag, through the gates, and away from the Boat Show—comfortable, at least, if that’s all I could say. I may not ever be a captain on the water, but I will be the master of my domain. What I realized, then, after leaving, was that the boating lifestyle was really more of an idea here, rather than a true product. Ads here show, they don’t tell. The boats themselves are a blank slate; a sturdy, white hull nearly devoid of real substance. A boat, then, was nothing more than just another place where something akin to relaxation can take place, a symbol of status that tells us you A.) own a house, and B.) also own a much smaller, floating house that also moves. But it makes sense that after nearly two years of watching our lives play out before us on zoom and our smartphone screens, people seem to be content now more than ever with simple voyeurism. Spending tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on an unnecessary expense, like a boat (not including upkeep and accessories) is a swing big enough to financially ruin you if the markets don’t tip your way, and the sense is that people are just increasingly not up for the risk. Craig and I, like many others it seems, came for the show, and left with the lifestyle we already had. the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 7 �{campus Security} Bed Bugs What are those? by Louis Rosenberg '25 What’s the difference between Cimex lectularius and a vampire? There’s no vampires at St. John’s! On Oct. 24, a smattering of students from across floors 2, 3, and 4 of Pinkney Hall received an ominous email from Jennifer Cline, the Coordinator of Student Services: “Important Notice! Please Read.” In it, Cline explained that a professional service was being hired to treat rooms affected, or at risk of being affected, by bed bugs. Students were informed that they would have to launder all of their fabric items on high heat — using a provided 50 dollar balance to their OneCards, which would be sufficient for 20 loads of laundry — and then stay out of their rooms from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 26 as Home Paramount Pest Control treated the rooms. The Conference Room in Mellon Hall was reserved for affected students, with snacks and drinks also provided. Although the infestation is an unfortunate occurrence, it does provide the polity with an excellent starting point for learning about bed bugs. It is first important to establish that the common name “bed bugs” technically describes not any one species, but rather all bugs in the family Cimicidae. All bed bugs are wingless and have a flattened, oval body shape; as hemipterans, they are also known as true bugs. They are considered ectoparasites, meaning that they harm the organism they rely on for survival but dwell outside their host. Of the over 100 known Cimicidae species, which fall into 24 different genera, most do not use humans as their primary host, instead feeding off of birds or bats. Indeed, only two species routinely use humans as their 8 hosts: C. hemipterus (the tropical bed bug) and C. lectularius, the most likely candidate for the Pinkney infestation and the species most laymen mean when they talk about bed bugs . Obviously, for a group of insects to become a true infestation (as has developed on our very own campus), they must reproduce. Cimicids are interesting in this way, for they all reproduce by way of “traumatic insemination,” an uncommon form of copulation that has nonetheless evolved independently in a variety of invertebrates, though it has been most extensively studied in C. lectularius and related species. In traumatic insemination, rather than impregnating the female directly via her genital tract, the male pierces her body cavity using his hypodermicstyle genitalia. Female cimicids have developed a spermalege to make this approach more successful — that is to say, their abdominal wall has evolved to redirect the males’ sperm from their body cavity back to their genital tract. Even though the spermalege reduces the risk the insects face during copulation, traumatic insemination inherently comes with danger, and thus C. lectularius females have been observed to travel away from groups including a disproportionate number of adult males, leading to (assuming an ample food supply) the expansion of the bugs’ range. Thus, in part due to this strange way in which they reproduce, bed bugs and their offspring can create major infestations, especially in close quarters. Due to their distaste for heat, the bugs usually spread via fabric items which are carried from room to room, rather than traveling on human clothes the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 or bodies. And as the unfortunate St. John's students who reside above and below the affected rooms were informed, the bugs are apparently also able to navigate between floorboards to avoid extermination efforts. Indeed, getting rid of bed bugs is no simple task. “Bug bombs” (devices used to fill a room with a fog of insecticides to control an infestation) are usually ineffective for bed bugs, and the bugs themselves can survive for multiple months without food. Thankfully, professional exterminators — like those being called in by the administration — do have several effective techniques for getting rid of bed bugs, such as heating surfaces to at least 120°F and applying insecticides on a smaller scale. Though it might be just a small comfort to the affected Pinkney residents, bed bugs are considered neither dangerous (barring an uncommonly severe allergic reaction to their bites) nor a vector of disease. And, if all goes well following the extermination, the infestation on our campus will finally be controlled, and all members of the polity can rest easy at last. Sources: https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/ bedbugs/faqs.html https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/55.4.244 https://entomolog y.ca.uky.edu/ ef636 Insect Biodiversity: Science and Society, Volume 1 by Robert G. Foottit and Peter H. Adler https://www.scientificamerican.com/ article/top-10-myths-about-bedbugs/ https://www.biolog yonline.com/ dictionary/ectoparasite “Important Notice! Please Read” email by Jennifer Cline �{Campus Sockhop} Hop to It! photos by Liz Dowdy '23 the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 22, 2022 9 �10 the Gadfly / Sept 22, 2022 �photos by Liz Dowdy the Gadfly / Sept 22, 2022 11 �The Part and the Whole: Conversation for Connection Nalini Venugopal In his “Notes on Dialogue,” Stringfellow Barr makes the bold assertion that “the most relevant sort of dialogue, though perhaps the most difficult, for twentieth century men to achieve and especially for Americans to achieve is the Socratic.” Conversation is an integral part of the day to day interactions of human life, and in a way that has only become more true since Barr first penned these notes about St. John’s College. It feels as though our generation has been oversaturated with discourse—growing up with the internet means finding an answer to a question simply by typing it into a search engine. But just as I’ve found reading physical books to be whole and comforting and real in a way that reading online never could be, I’ve been touched by the beauty of undistracted physical conversation in the classroom. There’s something powerful in face-to-face communication. But the problem is, classes haven’t been as wholly satisfying and freeing to my mind as I expected them to be based on my thoughts on conversation. That’s partly due to the fact that Socrates is a high standard to be holding anyone to for conversation, but there’s another aspect to it that also puzzles me. Most of the time the conversation seems to a hold a tension within it that confused me, but I found that Barr illuminated it best in his comparison of Thrasymachus and Socrates in the Republic. He frames them both as making “a choice of weapon appropriate to his purpose.” Thrasymachus brings “the rising voice, the personal accusation, the withering scorn, the crushing sarcasm, the panic at the possibility of being out-maneuvered, the sweating, the unaccustomed blush of a normally unblushing champion sophist, the volubility that tries to shore up a crumbling argument and to ward off the disgrace of refutation, the love of one's own opinions precisely because they are one's own, [and]the vanity that replaces love of truth with love for victory,” while Socrates brings “courtesy” to Thrasymachus. This laying down of weapons in the name of of a common aim is an admirable one, but one hard to realize when faced with what can easily be seen as blatant sophistry. 12 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 He highlights the importance of experience in improving our conversational skills, writing that “experience brings a sixth sense” to Socratic dialogues as the “will of selfinsistence gives way to the will to learn.” To truly be able to engage well in conversation, we have to focus on it rather than only on ourselves. To me, one of the most poignant things Barr advises us to let go of is the “subconscious suspicion that we are really saying precisely nothing, and that this nothing will stand up as conversation only if we say it elaborately.” We need to trust that what we have to say is valuable, and likewise treat others like what they have to say is valuable. Barr says in one of his rules that students must learn to be good listeners for each other,and that if we do so we are likely to “attain a level of friendship that not many men attain to.” This is a friendship based on mutual respect, on the idea that everyone’s ideas are equally worth hearing. When we come to the classroom, we are united by a shared goal of truth, and conversation is a beautiful means towards that end. But then each individual is called on to do the hard work of becoming good at dialogue, an experience we’re all having together. Barr highlights the need for the “will for self-insistence give way to “the will to learn. Learning is the goal that we share, and when we walk into a classroom not only do we have to embrace the shared goal of learning, we have to release ourselves from the desire to be right or to know more than the people around us. One of the easiest lies to believe is that intelligence is a measurable trait, especially if one grew up in the typical educational system - grades and comments and feedback from the teacher are everywhere, and it can be really easy to slip into a competitive mindset. Here, though, at least on paper, there’s no curve to be graded on—everyone is equal in class, and all of a sudden we’re being graded on skills like confidence and eloquence. But listening is more than just passively letting other people talk while you formulate your next thought or flip through the book. It is an act of friendship, of philía,, or love (specifically among friends). What does it mean to listen from a place of love? �In his book The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis meditates on philía and identifies it with a moment of connection, “when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden).” This, to me, is the beauty of Philosophy. I still find pieces of my soul reflected in words written by people who are long dead who looked nothing like me, people who, if they knew me, would be shocked and upset at the idea of me having opinions on their work. But ideas and words can transcend perceptible differences like race and sex, and I can have rich conversations with the text in spite of the fact that I live in a different cultural context than them. Reading the Great Books is already a practice in looking at the ideas of the past, the ideas that shaped Western culture as it is today. But as an American with a hyphenated identity, I find that there are Indian parts of me that don’t fit with Western culture, and that when I look at the history of the West and America I see it differently because I see the ideas that were used to justify the oppression of women and people of color, and sometimes engaging with these texts seriously feels like a disrespect to the people who fought for my right to be in the classroom. I have to learn how to hold the ideas separate from how I feel about them to be able to engage with them seriously to a degree that makes it really clear. But that’s true for everyone to some degree - even if you are privileged, the program covers enough topics that there will be topics that make you feel things strongly - whether it’s an author validating a belief you already hold or challenging something you thought to be true - our emotions will be part of the process of conversation, and that’s ok. But when it comes to the classroom, each of us brings our own personal conversation with the text to a room where we team up with fellow thinkers to seek truth and answers and beauty and knowledge for the sake of itself, and that’s a powerful thing, because we each have a wealth of different experiences that have impact the way that we think and interact with texts. But how do we keep ourselves from that self-insistence that Barr speaks of ? How do we keep our feelings from inhibiting our search for truth. I believe we must begin with earnest self-reflection. If we are to free ourselves from self-insistence so that we can be free to engage with delight with learning, we must remove competition and comparison. That frees us to listen to others more effectively and openly, because rather than focusing on the judgements we’re making of their points, we can focus on how their points contribute in their own unique way to the shared destination we’re traveling towards. At the end of the day, the things we say in class should only matter as stepping stones towards a goal. They are not merely reflections of us or our intellectual abilities. Tutors are there simply as sharers in the same goal who have more familiarity with the ideas than us, so they have more wisdom in guiding the conversation. There’s something scary about learning as an active process after the rote “knowledge in, knowledge out” experience of academia that many of us had. We are being asked to engage with ourselves, the text, and other people, to learn through experience and reflection rather than showing up with our finest work to be judged. Academic validation was really important to me growing up. On top of the fact that I simply wanted to do well, many people just assumed my intelligence because I was Indian rather than lauding it the way they did with my peers of other races. I see that on countless levels, just in the field of academia. As a woman, when I expressed my intelligence assertively, it was discouraged by teachers who were holding me to higher standards of kindness than the boys in my class simply because girls are expected to be kinder than boys. My little brother is nine years old and tells me stories of how he talks to his teachers in school that shock me, both in his audacity in saying what he says and the positivity of the teacher’s response. I have to unlearn the complex image of myself that I have in the classroom, and because I’m a woman of color I have a lot of social lenses I can examine that through. But it’s dangerous to think that if you have been more privileged in the classroom that exempts you from these issues. Everyone comes into the classroom with baggage, simply by nature of living and learning for any amount of years before joining higher education. It’s hard work to leave that baggage at the door and simply engage, but it’s vital if the class is to be truly unified in pursuit of truth. Students Performing an Experiment with Suspended Weights; n.d. the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 13 �The Pursuit of Selfless Learning Catherine E. Greer It is easy to mistake the St. John’s education as a thing founded upon the acquisition of book-knowledge. More often it is something so much more than that: a thing founded upon human knowledge. It is not that this book knowledge, our reading and examination of the Great Books, is any less significant or integral to our program. But our collective drive to build a truly meaningful relationship with and understanding of these texts is only possible alongside a desire to understand those who came before us, those who are around us, and those who will come after us. We must strive not only to study a text well, but through studying it to also study other people: how we live together, and learn together, and grow together. Without this simultaneous sensitivity to those around us our education at St. John’s would, effectively, be meaningless. When we sit down together around a table, whether it be in seminar or lab or music, we are committing to learning as a group. We are no longer individuals pursuing knowledge Students Building Peace Corps Huts and the Beneficial Hodson Boathouse; 1965 14 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 out of self-interest. We take on the responsibility of being present and engaged for the whole class, tutors and students alike—and our search for knowledge must not seek only to propel our own selves forwards but to be an offering for all else who desire to learn. To remain self-concerned and apathetic towards the learning of our peers cripples the very core of our program, the method of discussionbased learning that is meant to dissolve the barrier between learning and teaching and unite them as a common pursuit. This way of learning and engaging with others is a skill that can only be strengthened through genuine effort to understand how best to learn alongside others. Much of our program confronts questions about human nature and human interactions. These questions must not remain cold and removed from us, merely words on paper to be discussed with superficial interest. They are questions that could push us to better understand the people around us, to continuously question and reform how we treat others and understand the human mind and spirit. It is through this pursuit of understanding human beings that we can learn to listen rather than simply to speak, to become open to differing perspectives, to gain patience and compassion for those who have fallen behind or those who have not yet learned to bring others along with them. The focus on learning together rather than individually is vital to the spirit of the program, but also the most challenging to practice. Each of us upon entering St. John’s has some goal that propels us forwards and sets us apart from other students. It is easy to become consumed by the self-interest of knowledge, to desire your own growth and expansion more strongly than you desire the same for others. Even more dangerously are we plagued by competitiveness, to not only be motivated by self-growth but by a drive to become better than those around you, to become the best. But these motivations are a hindrance to true learning and engagement with our program. We must focus on prioritizing the success of each student sitting with us around the table. Their learning becomes our learning, just as much as ours becomes theirs. �In our classes, and in seminar especially, there is a necessity for selflessness in a way that many other methods of learning do not ever demand. We must come to understand that our presence in class, our careful reading of the texts and the conversations we conduct on them, are not for our own sake alone. Each time we speak in class it is to further the understanding and knowledge of every person present in the room: and we must present our ideas selflessly, with the hope that we might build upon not our own knowledge but the collective knowledge that forms when people seek to learn together. There must be an egodeath of sorts: the “I” dissolves and is replaced by the “we”, represented by the class itself as a living subject and a single force of knowledge-seeking. It no longer matters whether it is you who asks a certain question or makes a significant point—it becomes important only that it was said, not that it was said by you or by another. And in this relinquishment of a selfish pursuit of learning, we become infinitely more open to growing in our understanding of those around us. It is only in this mindset that a seminar can truly create a depth of knowledge that is collective and inclusive rather than individualistic and exclusionary. We have a unique opportunity here to focus our learning on far more than the acquisition of knowledge or the improvement of skills. Our learning encompasses human things as well. As we read the Great Books and engage with these texts and our peers simultaneously, we must seek to strengthen our knowledge of human beings so that we might better live and learn alongside one another and work collectively towards positive growth and mutual understanding. The pursuit of this human knowledge is a companion to the selflessness required of seminar. One grows from the other, and together they strengthen not only our study of the Great Books but our personal spirits as well, building a foundation of compassion and sensitivity to human beings. Students Pulling Other Students in Wagons on Back Campus during the First Real Olympics; 1951 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 15 �To Those Who Have Suffered a Crisis of Meaning Dolan Polgaze It is difficult to explicate the full meaning of what I am about to say without divulging the story of my own personal life over the past three years here. Yet, because such a story would be both too immense and too personal, I will simply begin by saying this: I have suffered from, and most likely will again suffer a crisis of meaning during my time at the college. There are various reasons why one will inevitably come to find themselves, at least once, in front of the formidable face of utter un-inspiration. I confess that when I found myself at such a moment, it was terrifying, in the fullest sense of the word. For, somewhere in the course of pursuing my deepest questions, I exhaustedly ground to a halt, only to look around and become aware that the horizon before me was entirely devoid of meaning. It felt as if the innumerable questions I had been pursuing— questions of goodness, evil, bodies, and God—had only led me to despair. The events of my own life which brought on this crisis of meaning were most likely different from the events of your life which have perhaps stirred in you the same intellectual and emotional apathy. The Program, I’ve come to realize, is a complete mirror of who you are at any specific moment in your life. The more earnestly you engage with the books, the more clearly you are reflected back—not only because of the content of a reading, but also because of the sheer difficulty of the work. For from difficulty of any kind arises an invitation for one to behold themself exactly as they are, not as who they imagined they had become. Thus, if one day you look in the mirror of these books and the image that looks back at you is one of personal despair, where do you turn? I ask this question with utmost sincerity, for I believe this is something seldom discussed here. Yet, crisis or no crisis, the world at the college goes on. And so, when I found myself confronted with this crisis of meaning, I knew, however painful, that it was a calling for me to change my thinking. In an attempt to regain inspiration, I spent months circling in vain around this question: can one really make themselves interested when there is no will to be interested? I say that this was asked 16 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 in vain because I realized far later that this question was pointing me in the wrong direction. I believed then and still believe now that the act of true interest—of focusing one’s attention completely—is a spiritual activity. Yet, I had somewhere gone amiss in how I was defining interest. To explain, let me take you back to my senior year of highschool: then, I was overjoyed with the prospect of coming to St. John’s because I had a love of community and earnest conversation. However, the driving idea which inspired my coming to the college was a faraway notion that I was somehow going to become a better human being by being here; I had lofty ideas of the self I wanted to attain. A Student Reading in McDowell Hall by a Portrait of Jacob Klein; n.d. �And throughout my first two years here, these ideas still inhabited my convictions. The aspiration of wanting to be a better person by being here is not itself unadmirable, but I realize now that such ideals are wholly incomplete. If one is only guided by a vague expectation of becoming a better human being by studying Euclid, or Leibniz, or reading by the Bible, or by singing Palestrina, I will venture to say that such a transformation of self will never come about. I am realizing now that the way to be changed by the program is to fiercely and fully take interest in the particulars at hand, and for now, to leave aside expectations of bettering oneself. In the aftermath of the crisis of meaning which struck me last year, I had nothing to hold onto, because I had never let myself be completely vulnerable in the face of the particulars. The universal idea of becoming a better person is not a substantial idea, and in times of despair, you won’t be able to hold onto it. Yet, if you truly take interest in the work for the sake of itself, eventually and without even noticing it, you will be changed, but only because you relinquished the very hope and expectation of being changed. I am not trying to merely draw a pedantic distinction by encouraging the act of turning one’s attention onto the particulars in order to find inspiration. Perhaps this is the effect of Junior year on me, but I realized recently that if I don’t have the courage to be vulnerable with the details, I will drown in the vastness of my ideals. But what does it mean, for example, to be vulnerable with mathematical particulars? I am thinking of Leibniz’s calculus and the fact that we are asked to suspend our imagination of all that we know in favor of considering the endeavor of a single point. If we are to follow Leibniz’s prompting, we have to think of the point as having a primary desire, a want to move in a certain straight line. In order to turn my attention to such inconceivables, I must surrender myself wholly to the particulars at hand: faraway ideas of who I want to become won’t help anymore. Likewise, the same applies to God: it is not that God is simply found in the particulars, but rather, that if you surrender to the particulars, you are as likely to sense the Divine in Genesis as you are to sense him in the endeavor of a point. This nakedness of mind and heart, which I call vulnerability, is the courage to let go of your hope of becoming a better person in favor of a much truer striving: the striving to care, with all the depth you can muster, about the specifics of this world. I am not trying to claim that this is a complete antidote to a crisis of meaning, for nothing is ever easy, and life always gets in the way. I am only writing this to share what I have learned through my own encounters with despair: you will, with grace, become stronger if you take the time to turn your attention off yourself and towards what is small in the immensity of experience. Emily Martin (Kutler) and Three Female Students Studying in A Dorm Room in Campbell Hall; circa 1954 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 17 �Thoughts on the St. John’s Class Luke Briner What’s the nature of the St. John’s class, and what attitude should we, as members of the St. John’s community, take toward it? These two questions are points of great dissent among students and faculty alike, and the way in which each person answers has radical effects on how they behave in their classes and what they intend to get out of them. Recognizing this, I’ve felt the desire to formally work through both of them, looking to the philosophy of the College itself as well as the firsthand experience of myself and others. I hope that by setting out on this inquiry, and by attempting to shed light on the principles upon which our classes seem to be based as well as their natural consequences for our own behavior, I can help the Polity come to a clearer and more beneficial understanding of them, or at the very least deepen the discourse surrounding them. I take the first and ultimate principle of the Program to be “the liberation of the human intellect.”1 This liberation is not simply freedom from previous ignorance or bias, but is, more profoundly, the achievement of a self-consciousness, mental autonomy, and intellectual virtue through the sincere application of one’s mind to what’s most essential and worthy within itself. Our method for achieving this ultimate kind of liberation is the study of Great Books. Since these books, as Buchanan observes, “communicate with great skill ideas that human experience has taught us are important,”2 and thereby allow us to “tune in on the Great Conversation that we call civilization,”3 The hope of the program is that their sincere and sustained study will produce in the student the eminent qualities of “an educated man—that is, one who has learned to read, to use his mind imaginatively and rigorously.”4 I take the second principle of the Program to be that this liberation is to be pursued communally. “Liberal learning,” as Brann observes, “is by its nature conversational….the student is not the passive recipient of knowledge but an active participant in a common search.”5 By participating in this search, we do more than simply “tune in” to the Great Conversation the each text is a part of; instead, we actually simulate our own conversation around the 18 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 Books themselves, and thereby give our ourselves a the opportunity to exercise our minds in a way that surpasses the limitations of solitary thought. Since classes thus centered around dialogue and intellectual community can “reach insights far beyond the views of any of its members,”6 the Program makes them the sole vehicle of our education; our colleagues are made our very means of liberation, and we’re made theirs. Accepting these principles, the ideal nature of the St. John’s class seems to me to take a clear shape, as does that of each individual student. Recognizing that their ultimate objective is the liberation of their own minds and that communal dialogue centered around Great Books is the way to achieve this, the ideal student will work as hard as they can to promote the health of that dialogue. They’ll understand that the conversational Whole is greater than themselves and that their good is to be found only within the Whole, and will therefore always act in accordance with what’s best for that Whole. If each student submits themselves to this responsibility, the class becomes its own organism: a living, breathing order where insights spring forth as naturally as water from a font, and where “harmony is actual and immediate, and where its sustenance and growth seem possible.”7 Such is the ideal of every class, and each student should recognize working toward the realization of that ideal as their highest responsibility. However, by virtue of the very communal and voluntary nature of our classes, many if not most classes will fall short of this ideal. Nevertheless, if liberation remains our ultimate end, and if communal inquiry around Great Books is our only means to achieving that end, then the fact that this very achievement is rare and unreliable puts our entire education into jeopardy. An understanding of the natural fragility of communal learning seems to be the foundation for the Programs’ reasoning behind the institution of tutors. Just as a polyphony, in order to achieve the supreme interpersonal and suprapersonal Beauty it’s so capable of, requires a conductor to keep each part in its place and preserve the nómos of the whole, so too the intellectual �polyphony of the St. John’s class requires an authoritative presence capable of setting and enforcing its own necessary nómos. If this is right, then it seems to me that the identity of the tutor as a laissez-faire facilitator is usually greatly overemphasized. Tutors should not, as Luchene notes, “merely facilitate conversations.”8 Rather, they should “guide the conversation, sometimes steering it in a particular direction, sometimes listening and letting it take its own course, and occasionally, steering it around an unpromising detour.”9 If tutors were merely facilitators or democratic participants, then they would be just another student; but the tutor should be an authoritative figure capable of acting outside the specific context of the conversation in order to always steer it in the right direction. If they aren’t, then the intellectual chorus of the class will lack a true conductor, and will therefore be exposed to the danger of falling into anarchic cacophony without any clear direction or correction. We should, then, resist the temptation to interpret the Statement’s assertion that “the primary role of the leaders [tutors] is not to give information, nor is it to produce the ‘right’ opinion or interpretation” (p. 5) as claiming that tutors simply shouldn’t assert anything in class, but instead carefully distinguish between the two modes of assertion that the tutor is capable of operating within. While tutors should of course avoid dogmatic assertions about the text insofar as they are simply another participant in the conversation, they should actually at the same time quite dogmatically assert the bounds within which that very conversation must take place, e.g., keeping it “cooperative and respectful, not competitive,”10 and ensuring that no one person takes away from everyone else’s education by their obstinacy or negligence. I want to add to this my conviction that students who participate too much in class are worse than those who participate too little. While both cases do a disservice to the class, the nature and intensity of the two are entirely different. For while silent students harm the class passively by withholding contributions they might have improved the conversation with, the student who dominates conversations actively derails and often outright destroys the very communal cohesion and equity which a successful class requires. If this is true, then I can’t help but question why many tutors and the College itself tend to review and grade silent students more harshly than toward students that refuse to ever be silent, given that the latter is farther from being a good citizen in an intellectual pólis than the former. The “sons of pride”11 in our classes should be humbled, not enabled. On the same principles, we should view with skepticism Barr’s suggestion that interrupting colleagues in conversation can be acceptable or even beneficial.12 Perhaps in some exceptional cases a few quick interjections might really be a “point of order”13 in dialogue; but this is a dangerous precedent to set generally. Internalizing the idea that interruption is acceptable will inevitably lead most of us to feel bolder in crudely interrupting others, which only causes disorder, and resentment. Likewise, we should be very careful about how we take Kalkavages’ exhortation to “not despair”14 when conversational degeneration occurs, since, he claims, it’s a part of the way in which “we learn the art of using our freedom.”15 While certainly some space should be given in which classes may do better or worse, since openness and spontaneity is the lifeblood of dialogue, this must be kept firmly within the realm of genuine dialectic rather than allowed to degenerate into eristic. Our freedom, our liberation consists not in the ever-looming threat of devolving into anarchical bickering, but precisely in the sustained and enforced existence of a real pólis between ourselves and our colleagues. What I want to communicate through all of this, and above all to myself, is the necessity of taking responsibility for our own education. What we give to the Program is what the Program will give back to us, and if we wish to have better classes, we must begin by holding ourselves to the supreme and universal standard of academic and conversational excellence. Let me, and let us all, then, aspire to this standard, and to more liberating classes for everyone. notes (1) Statement of the Program, p. 3. (2) “Now and to Come: Liberal Education: A Common Adventure,” The Antioch Review, Autumn, 1955, Vol. 15, No. 3, p. 302. (3) Ibid. (4) Ibid, p. 304. (5) A Manifesto for Liberal Education, 2015. (6) Statement of the Program, p. 5. (7) Luchene, Beginnings of Community, 1999, p. 4. (8) Learning Through Conversation at St. John’s College, 2015. (9) Ibid. (10) Ibid. (11) Job 41.34. (12) Notes on Dialogue, pp. 3-4. (13) Ibid, p. 4 (14) “Winged Words: On the Importance of Reading and Discussing Great Books,” 2003, p. 15. (15) Ibid. the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 19 �Defenestrate Your Timepieces: An Invitation to the Present Moment Helen Wagner Any observant (i.e. good) Johnnie is aware of the absence of clocks in College classrooms—perhaps painfully aware, during long moments of morning lab; perhaps blissfully, when an exhilarating seminar runs overtime. Maybe you’ve also given some thought to the value (or lack thereof ) of this practice. For my part, I think it’s wonderful. The lack of timepieces during class allows us to be fully present to our work, without the distraction of checking the clock — in other words, without the distraction of the future. But the mere practice of clockless classrooms is not enough. It’s too easy to surreptitiously check your watch during seminar, or to disengage from your tutorial as you wait for the 11:30 bell. If we truly want to embrace a clockless academic experience, we need to change the way we think about time. That is, we need to think less about it. Perhaps an awareness of time is actually antithetical to doing good work. We can all agree that we do our best work when we are most focused. We must be free of distraction—and the future is one such distraction. If we want to enjoy the present (the only real time in which we exist), we must think of the future as little as possible. In fact, this was the topic of a recent Saturday morning seminar hosted by Professor Patrick Deneen. The reading was an essay by Wendell Berry called “Leaving the Future Behind.” Berry argues more eloquently than I. “Actual work that is actually good,” he writes, “requires us to give our minds entirely to the present… to be distracted by the thought even of finishing the work, or by the thought of the clock or a deadline, is to work badly, and often to be in danger.” Good work requires presence in the present moment. This timelessness should extend beyond our classrooms and into our personal studies. Although we have deadlines, we will actually work better and more efficiently if we give up all thought of reaching them. J.D. Salinger would agree: in his novel Franny and Zooey, he quotes the Bhagavad 20 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 Gita, saying, “[w]ork done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender…They who work selfishly for results are miserable.” It’s counterintuitive: to achieve our goal, we must forget about it. We must make our work more about the process than about the results. We all know how it feels to lose track of time. Since we’re Johnnies, it was probably thanks to a good novel or a particularly thrilling geometric proof. Maybe it was a two-hour phone call with a friend that felt like 20 minutes. Maybe it was such an exciting intramural game that you were surprised to hear the whistle for halftime. Whatever it was, though, you were fully engaged in the activity in front of you—that’s why you never thought about the clock. It feels good, doesn’t it? Forgetting time also seems to come along with a sort of refreshing self-forgetfulness: your eyes are open to the living world around you, and you look outward instead of in. Wendell Berry puts it this way: “To be dead to oneself is to be alive to the work. It is to be alive in the present, the only time we are alive, and to continue to live there, so long as we don’t look at the clock.” Consider this article an exhortation to forget about the clock. Embrace the empty space on the classroom walls. Take off your watch for seminar. When you read, put your phone across the room from you. If you need to stop at a certain time, set an alarm and forget about it until it goes off— allow yourself to get lost in the book. Trust that your morning lab will end at its appointed moment, then banish the thought from your mind. You are here, now, with work in front of you and thinking to do. Strive, then, to forget the future. Do not let it steal you away from the present. �ξένος, pt. 1 Paz Daniela Ortiz Santa María Seemingly endless F-1 VISA documentation. An airplane flight that can last anywhere between four and thirty-six hours. The first footstep into uncharted land that quickly morphs into a new life. Ask any international student and they will have different answers to the question: “when did you first begin to feel like an outsider?” Although officially our student VISAs would label us as non-immigrants, we are aware of our status as such—I am, at least. During my time here I have been called an immigrant, an expat, a displaced; all of these used to point out the foreignness they perceive in me. An outsider, a ξένος. Yet, I wonder, what lies underneath this notion of “the other”? Is there intellectual curiosity, perhaps? Or is there a need for validation that the unknown is unknown for a reason? The current political climate in the United States makes this discussion more relevant than ever due to the presence of previously silenced voices and perspectives. Social justice causes such as anti-racism, intersectional feminism, indigenous environmentalism, heavily rooted in philosophical and political theory, are finally occupying the space they deserve at the at the center of the conversation. What does that mean for a “talking college” such as ours? Coming to St. John’s, I was aware of the richness of its curriculum as well as the extent of its limitations. It is not novel to point out the lack of BIPOC, non-cis male perspectives in the reading list. Nonetheless, when a large block of the college’s brochure is the percentage of the student body that is made up of international, non-white, or non-cis/heterosexual students, I believe that administration and the student body itself should make more efforts to counter the non-diverse perspective of the curriculum. Curiosity should be the center of any education, and especially of a Great Books education. Curiosity for what is presented, yes, but also—and more importantly—for what is not. It requires curiosity for the hidden, the purposefully not-shown. The absence of historically silenced and underprivileged voices needs to be seen as an opportunity to amplify those voices in the present time, to create spaces for them to be heard in our community, to celebrate the diversity of our student body. Social notions such as race, gender, class (among others) aren’t contemporary. They have always been present because the notion of “the other” has always been present, and they deserve a place during class discussions and seminars. Being critical about the way these notions are portrayed and handled by the authors of great classics, in my opinion, has for too long been seen as taboo, or wrongly perceived as a violation of the rule of not bringing any outside knowledge into the conversation. We are a school with one major taught to all students in the same way for several decades. The grandness of the experience lies in the unique twist one can give to a debate. And it mustn't end there. As an international student, and having spoken to many of my international peers, I can say with certainty that there is infinite passion to be found in us when it comes to the places we grew up in, our cultures, what we call home. Dare to be the guests for a change, if not physically, then in conversation, and ask questions about that which you don’t know. We are all someone else's other. What that means and whether it is a pleasant experience for either party involved depends entirely on you. Students Sending Messages by Morse Code; n.d. the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 22, 2022 21 �{Trash or Treasure?} An Incomplete Guide to Local Second Hand Stores Helen Felbek The seasons are changing and perhaps you are looking for a new fall wardrobe. Or you realized that a themed event is just around the corner and have to come up with a creative costume. Before you rush to order something on Amazon with the hope of receiving it the next day due to their prime delivery services, you should consider buying second-hand. The environment and your wallet as well as B&G are going to thank you. While the most affordable and sustainable option would be to just re-wear clothing, this is not always an option (particularly when an event calls for items that are more likely to be used once than they are to become closet staples). Of course, you could try to come up with a so-called “closet costume” that doesn’t require you to buy additional costume pieces (that you might never wear again) but if you can’t or don’t want to do this, you can refer to this (incomplete) guide to local second hand stores. The most affordable options in Annapolis are most likely the LMS Compassion Place on West Street and the Goodwill Superstore (also on West Street). LMS is located 0.7 miles away from campus while Goodwill is farther away (1.6 miles). Goodwill carries everything that you would expect from a big thrift store of its kind meaning a big variety of women’s, men’s, and kid’s clothing. They also carry decoration and furniture (which might not be too relevant unless you want to dress up as Lumière from Beauty and the Beast). Goodwill also carries bedsheets in case you want to just go as a ghost or maybe sew your own costume. They are however lacking in the accessories department. Also, note that there are no changing rooms anymore. LMS is significantly smaller and has a more limited range of clothing. Their assortment also changes less often. They do, however, have a wide variety of interesting ties and lots of shoes that are often in a better condition than at Goodwill. They also often have a nice variety of formal wear. But shoppers beware: LMS has quite limited opening hours and usually closes at 4 pm. They also seem to lack a changing room. Note, that they have rather limited opening hours (it usually closes at 4 pm), and they apparently lack a changing room.. To my knowledge, they also do not have a changing room. If you have a bigger budget, you could consider some other second hand consignment stores in the area. In and around Annapolis there are three of them: Honeysuckle quality consignment, Return to Oz, and New To You 22 the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 Consignment Shop. Honeysuckle is the farthest away as it is located in Arnold on Governor Richie Highway (4.2 miles from campus) which means that you would need a car to get there. I personally do not think it is worth the hassle as it mostly carries very basic items. They carry quite a variety of items (including bags and shoes as well as outerwear and formal gowns) but given the rather high prices nothing really stands out. They also only carry women’s and children’s clothing. It is probably not the place to shop for an event. Return to Oz on 2011 West Street is still walkable if you are willing to walk 2.6 miles. They sell women’s, men’s, as well as children’s clothing. They sell slightly more ‘higherend’ clothing compared to Goodwill but still at a reasonable price point. The shopping experience is a bit annoying as all of their racks are so full that it is virtually impossible to look at a piece of clothing without something falling off its hanger. They are relatively size-inclusive. Usually, they have interesting jewelry. Note: they close relatively early at 5 pm. Lastly, there is New To You Consignment Shop on 1916 Forest Dr which is like Return to Oz approximately 2.6 miles away from campus. I would say that this store is in terms of price-performance ratio the best option in Annapolis if you are interested in women’s clothing (because they only sell women’s clothing, shoes, accessories, and decoration, and homeware). They have a huge selection of shoes that are in good condition and have very interesting-looking hats. They have a special rack with special deals which do not differ from prices at Goodwill. Out of all the stores I visited, this might be the most size-inclusive one. On the pricier side, we have two consignment stores: Belle me and Muse on Maryland Avenue (0.1 miles from campus) and One Petticoat Lane (0.9 miles from campus) Belle me and Muse resells designer goods like Channel and Dior. Their sizes are very limited (mostly XS and S) but they have a big variety of shoes in pristine condition as well as sunglasses and berets. They only carry women’s clothing. One Petticoat Lane is in West Annapolis (close to Graul’s Market) and is slightly more affordable than Belle me and Muse. Over two stories the store presents women’s clothing as well as accessories like jewelry, bags, and shoes. The owner organizes special events for seasonal changes or holidays. If you are more interested in vintage pieces and are also willing to spend a bit more, I have three vintage stores for �you that also carry clothing. Evergreen Vintage and Treasure vintage are right next to each other on Maryland avenue (0.1 miles from campus). Both of them offer a student discount for St. John’s students. Vintage Treasure does not have an official changing room as of now but if you ask the owner, she will allow you to use her storage room which is obviously a bit messy but does the job. Vintage treasure has a large assortment of women’s headwear as well as jewelry. They do not carry a lot of men’s clothing but usually have some military jackets. The pricing is a bit more affordable than evergreen, however, the pieces are usually not sized at all. Evergreen carries men’s and women’s clothing but the women’s wear selection is bigger. They also carry some shoes and hats as well as gloves and scarves. They have a nice (but smaller than Vintage Treasure’s) collection of jewelry. Evergreen has a changing room, and the sizing is very clear as they write the measurements of each garment on the price tag. The vintage store with the biggest assortment of clothing is clearly All The Rage Vintage on 208 West Street (0.8 miles from the college). They carry women’s and men’s clothing and have a big selection of western boots. It is the most expensive of the three vintage stores. They have a nice selection of belts and jewelry too. Further, they have a nice selection of outerwear as well as kimonos and undergarments. The owners organize special events for seasonal changes or holidays. If you are looking for a place where you can spend a lot of time in and care about the shopping atmosphere this might be ideal for you. On campus, student activities sometimes organize clothing swaps which are a great option too since they are truly circular. They are also the most affordable and the most accessible because you do not even need to leave campus. If you missed the last one, you might think about trying to organize one yourself with friends or people on your floor because: “One man's trash is another man's treasure”. From left to right: Rage Vintage, Return to Oz, Goodwill, and Evergreen Antiques/True Vintage the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 23 �{Review of Acqua Al 2} An Italian Menace Descends on Annapolis Audrey Fox I’ve always been wary of “high dining” Italian restaurants. If it’s not the family run joint on the Main Line—the kind I’ve been to at funeral receptions—I have pretty low expectations. The “family owned” restaurant is a concept lost to the Main Street Annapolis dining scene. No one seems at home in the storefront sprawl of downtown restaurants— none of that Olive Garden “When you’re here, you’re family,” am I right? Jokes aside, what sort of impression does this lack for a welcoming dining experience leave us? Some of you are away from home for the first time ever, trying to find spaces that you feel welcome at and build a new sense of community. For those of us who are seasoned veterans of the Annapolis lifestyle this is an ongoing struggle—I can’t even say I’ve truly found a place to eat here where I truly can forget I’m at a restaurant. Eating together is one of our most important social habits. However, that does not mean that it is always explicitly for pleasure that we eat with each other. Sometimes, an important business meeting will take place over lunch—which does not add pleasure to the eating, but will (hopefully) add pleasure and anticipation to the meeting. Going out to eat can serve a practical purpose, but primarily it is an occasion! It is meant to be fun, to take up a few hours of conversation, and make me forget I’m spending money (to my social, and the restaurant's economic benefit). Stave off Marxists! There is always space for criticizing the restaurant industry, but if it’s here to stay I at least want it to be worth my time. I’m remembering a story: I was going somewhere unimportant while my Uber driver went into detail about how to go crabbing off the campus docks. He told me that when he was younger he would do this all the time, but now they no longer permit such activities. I may have been coming home from a party actually, I think it was dark out. All that I remember is the expressions of his voice, methodically explaining how to tie up a whole raw chicken to lure the crabs. Emphasis on methodical, but with a hint of nostalgia and pleasure. Why am I thinking of this? a difference between going to a restaurant compared to seeking food relying on your own devices. On one hand it seems much more of a practical experience, yet the soft, inward joy in his voice suggests otherwise. Maybe it’s similar 24 the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 to when I would go huckleberry picking and fishing with my family. Oftentimes there would be no huckleberries to pick. We always returned the fish to the water. Why does this feel the same? It is more primary. Not primitive, but primary. There are numerous social levels that contribute to a dining experience, while seeking food on one’s own requires little structure in place for its enabling. But we don’t do it just for nutrition—there is socialization and the pleasure of the food. Food plays a different role during the hunt versus the restaurant, yet it seems to be a primary center for the activity. In other words, the food is not the main aim but rather the common ground we base an activity off of. My apologies to the reader for such high brow tangents! Let me get to what you really are here for, my thoughts on the restaurant. The interior was comfortably crowded as my party arrived there around 9 pm. The lighting was soft and relaxing, and the decor, while very nice, was not overwhelmingly nice. Appropriate for the Annapolis audience in my opinion. We started off with a bottle of San Pellegrino to set the mood and the Strozzapreti Al pomodoro. For those of you unfamiliar with the Italian language, those are fresh ricotta cheese balls with a tomato sauce over them. They were rich yet not overpowering, and went wonderfully with the house made bread. I got the Fusilli Lunghi ai Mascarpone e Funghi–a corkscrew pasta with a mushroom and parmesan sauce- which I think is best described as warm and rustic. The flavor was simple, but simple in the way most amateur cooks could never aspire to. Others at the table got the house made Gnocchi (the Topini Sugo Verde) with a pureed parsley basil rosemary sauce. It was a refreshing sauce paired with the pillowy Gnocchi. Overall the prices were very reasonable for the pasta entrees. Around $16 was the average. The other entrees were more expensive, but the pasta options were vast and definitely more than filling. On the other hand the espresso we got after our meal was $5 each, a little overpriced for just Illy. We ended the meal with tiramisu, which was well made and had the distinct flavors I expect from the dessert. It was a surprisingly homey experience wrapped up in the guise of fine dining. I recommend this place for a special night out (perhaps graduation) or to take visiting family members. �The sign for Acqua Al 2. It (and the restraunt) can be found on Main Street at door 236. the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 25 �{stargazing} THIS MONTH IN HOROSCOPES—SEPT 2022 Madame T ARIES (March 21 - April 19) all means velour, Aries!!! We love to see it! Not only is it a wonderful texture, but the way light is reflected off of it makes you look like a beautiful, exotic fish. Better yet, due to the blue corn moon that is fast approaching this November, all Aries’ are required to have a secret sexy velour day. Wear your velour inside out, no one else deserves to know what you’re wearing. November dictates that it is just you, alone, with the chafe of polyester against your sweaty, naked body. f Nebraska, but your new face as a young philosophy major in Annapolis has thrown everyone off your trail. Where once a full grown, grizzled man with a body count of 19 stood, now stands a 20 year old lad who has much to learn about the nature of things. Isn’t it funny? This Halloween you can be an escaped lunatic dressed as a Johnnie dressed as a gaping minion. F o TAURUS (April 20 - May 20) he weather may be frightful, Taurus but your wardrobe naught be! This season both the position of Mars and the most recent Vogue say that high waisted pants are all the rage. Pair this with a very small shirt, creating a fleshy vortex above your naval. That millimeter of skin is where fashion happens!!!! The mites in your skin are using this strip as a runway for all this season's hottest microscopic fashions. They want to thank you for contributing such a vast and beautiful venue. T GEMINI (May 21 - June 20) Vests are going to look so good on you this fall, Gemini! A humble puffer vest let’s others know that you are hiding many fun and naughty secrets (mostly foreign oil). Let others know that your torso is cold but your big, tough, brawny arms are strong and impervious to cold with a dashing little leather number. CANCER ( June 21 - July 22) ring it on, big boy B 26 the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 LEO ( July 23 - Aug 22) t’s a balmy 60 degrees this November, Leo! Leather is all the rage this season, but you’re a man of principles, a man of ethics. You are haute couture. And what is high dressmaking if not an outfit that is made only for you? Why slaughter a cow? Cows are all so similar, but you’ve never seen two identical people. Authentic leather is a rare commodity but you’ll make it work. This season skin is in! Other peoples, your own, second hand or custom made, the Haus of Bubba Sawyer is QUIVERING. I VIRGO (Aug 23 - Sept 22) he sun sets across the vast, dry wasteland that once was Annapolis. Anything that once lived here is long gone. Except you. In your government issued sweaters and your cutest pair of dungarees you brave the desolate world outside your bunker. The ash burns your skin as you emerge from your den, your gun weighs you down as you set foot outside for the first time in what feels like weeks. It’s warm. It’s unbearably warm. You feel your skin burning, you go to take off the sweater, its woolen weight is crushing you. The burning is intense, you go to retreat to safety, but the bunker is closed. Despite your screams, despite the pounding, they can’t hear you. The heat is overwhelming. Your skin blisters as the ash raining from above burns holes in your clothes. This season, dress for the worst. T LIBRA (Sept 23 - Oct 22) ou’ve been walking these streets so long, Libra. Singing the same old songs, you know every crack in these dirty sidewalks of Broadway, where hustle is the name of the game and nice guys get washed away like snow in the rain. There’s been a lot of compromising on the road to your horizon, but you’re gonna be where the lights are shining on you like a rhinestone cowboy; riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo, receiving cards and letters from fans you don’t even know and offers over the phone. This November is serving Glen Campbell’s 1975 hit country-pop single. Y �SCORPIO (Oct 23 - Nov 21) appy birthday, Scorpio! Here's to another year of raising hell on earth. Another year older means you should try something new. This is the year you feel like an adult. Let's get you some professional clothes, maybe a suit. The orbit of Saturn and also the most recent runway by Moscinio dictate that you should absolutely not buy anything in your size. This month, big is beautiful! When you go for your suit fitting, do not let the haberdasher measure you, instead, pull out the polaroid photograph of David Byrne in ‘stop making sense’ video that all H SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 - Dec 21) all is a time of change, Sag. You’ve been doing a lot of reflecting recently, and you’re starting to finally realize what you really want. No no, not that stupid day dream where you have a loving wife and two beautiful, well behaved children. Not the one where you’ve finally paid off your philosophy major debt, either. You want spice in your life. Stability is for chumps. They say dress for the job you want, and you should take this to heart, Sag. You want to make art! You want to dance! Your fantasy is to live the life of a clown. You want the oversized shoes and the undersized car, you long for the comradery of other silly, goofy jesters. You deserve to commit to this career, Sag. Let’s get you a flower that sprays seltzer water. F CAPRICORN (Dec 22 - Jan 19) ou’re abstract, Capricorn. Just because other people don’t know what they want doesn’t mean that you don’t, and you refuse to slow down for those who won’t catch up to you. Your fall wardrobe should reflect this. This season, jumpsuits are in. Black and white, long sleeved jumpsuits are the most fitting thing for your body type as dictated by the epicycle of Mars in relation to the moon. You also know you can’t dress for success without a statement piece though, which is why this season brings in both capes and masks. A pop of color is also a MUST, try a red tie for that real ‘business bitch’ look. Do not let others tell you you’re dressed like the Hamburglar. You know in your heart they are wrong. I’m lovin’ it. Y AQUARIUS ( Jan 20 - Feb 18) older weather means it is time to finally shoot your shot, Aquarius! You’ve been planning this a very long time, and based on the position of Venus I’ve been told that you are more likely to succeed than you think. You were built for attrition, Aquarius, your battle prowess and bloodthirst guarantee that you’re destined to conquer the residents of Paca. Your past attempts have left many dead and more wounded, but this time the stars are on your side. Dress for the spoils of war, you’re going to want all the loot, wine and women you can carry (cargo pants maybe?) C PISCES (Feb 19 - March 20) his season in couture is giving nature. You are the Gardens of Versailles. You are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Monet himself is moved to tears by your beauty. You are full of so many new and exotic animals, beautiful plants blessed with flowers and strange fruits. You are fertile and there are secret trees that contain so much knowledge within you; but it is a deadly knowledge. You are vines, you are birds, you are the abstract concept of a ‘mother nature’ we have long since abandoned. This month the stars dictate you should wear only strategically placed oak leaves. Adam and Eve are GASPING!!!! T the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 22, 2022 27 �THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the Annapolis campus. Fill in the speech bubbles and send us a picture of your creation to enter the running for a $15 gift card! The winning submission and meaningful runner-ups will be printed in the next issue. Opinions expressed within are the responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish a professional, informative, and thought provoking newsmagazine. Submissions sent to the Gadfly should either be in Google Docs or JPEG format. The deadline for submissions is the Friday prior to publication. For more information, contact us via email at sjca .g adfly@gmail.com 6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401 Excavation by Willem de Kooning 28 the Gadfly / Sept 22, 2022 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 28 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XLIV, Issue 4 Description An account of the resource Volume XLIV, Issue 4 of The Gadfly. Published November 3, 2022. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Koch, Craig (Editor-in-Chief) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2022-11-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource College students' writings--Periodicals College student newspapers and periodicals St. John's College--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly Vol XLIV issue 4 Gadfly Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/928553279f67b5b94155ba700eef2645.pdf 3fb90ba028b65a3a6c8ef4f48cafe428 PDF Text Text the Gadfly St. John’s College Annapolis, Maryland THE NATURE ISSUE February 6th, 2023 Vol. XLIV, Issue 7 �Contents Logos Delegate Council Herald Report Questions With Helen Felbek Dispatches from the Inauguration Symposium Ms. Seeger Reflections on Monet Life, Death, Void, Harmony The Procession of Life Letter rom the Editor 3 5 7 10 12 14 16 Polis Know Thyself Letter from an Anxious Learner " Lines from the Marlboro Trail Before Rain" "A Moment" "The Spider's Narrative" "Nature's Metronome" Horoscope 18 20 21 22 23 24 26 Staff Editor in Chief Managing Editor Daniel Nathan Luke Briner Meliha Anthony Dolan Polglaze Louise Harden Helen Wagner Catherine Greer El'ad Nichols-Kaufman Jackson Wojnowski FEATURING SUBMISSIONS FROM Deesha Arabatti Rylee Bain Madame Quiznos Lainey Rendelman Bridget Mace Nat Martin DEsign Director COVER Felix Tower Behold! 2023’s second issue of the Gadfly is here. Inside these pages you’ll find a host of new and experimental changes to our school paper with regard to our staff, design, and content alike. This is also the first issue in which I have the honor of serving as Editor-in-chief. I invite you all not only to read the thoughts, opinions, and reflections of your peers, but also to engage and interact with what they have to say: stir the polity, create discourse, gossip and talk your shit—take our namesake and truly be a gadfly. Because what’s this paper’s purpose if not just that? This issue’s cover is a way for all of us here at the Gadfly, who tirelessly think, and type, and click, and take pride in our school and our paper, to admit our faults, admit we study philosophy, and, most important of all, continue to admit as much criticism from the polity as you’ll give us. In recent weeks, the Gadfly has been called a foul nest of faux intellectualism, corruption, prentention [sic], and nepotism. Well, if we must commit to nepotism, let it be a nepotism for all. Submit your pieces. Write your stories. Share your opinions and interests. Make yourself known and make your voice heard here in the pages of this publication. For posterity. For your future. For however long it takes people to eventually throw a copy of the Gadfly in the trash—probably two weeks, approximately. I’d also like to take this space to thank our new staff writers who have dove right in and contributed immediately and immensely to the construction of this issue. As you might’ve already noticed, we are also undergoing an exciting and only slightly ongoing redesign. So get the word out: writers, come write. Artists and graphic designers: come do art. Our meetings take place every Sunday at noon in the King Williams Room of the BBC. If you’re interested in submitting your writing or art to the Gadfly, please reach out to me at djnathan@sjc.edu or our Managing Editor Luke Briner at lbriner@sjc.edu. And remember— tyranny, aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, and even democracy all die in darkness. – Daniel Nathan THE STRUCTURE Logos typically holds news reports and narratives of immediate relevance to the Polity. The purpose here is to develop a shared reservoir of information relating to campus life and the community. Symposium offers the opportunity for our readers to thoughtfully consider contrasting opinions regarding a particular topic. Polis serves as a platform for elevating voices in our community. Here we find letters to the editor, columns, cartoons, and submitted pieces. 1 �λόγος the Gadfly February 6, 2023 Delegate Council Herald Report Rylee Bain With the new semester comes a renewed Delegate Council. Gone are the days of the Ni administration and in our first meeting on January 10th, new officers and freshmen delegates were sworn in. They are as follows: President Helen Felbek, Treasurer Grace Jang, Secretary El’ad Nichols-Kaufman, Herald Rylee Bain :), Delegate Lainey Rendelman, Delegate Nicholas Hoo, Delegate Ali Shawamreh, Delegate Millie Ransohoff. Τhis meeting wasn’t all fun though, after the council approved Felbek’s choice for Polity Attorney, junior Ranna Kisswani, we swiftly began the impeachment process for junior delegate Ahan Sagreiya. After enacting executive session Mr. Sagreiya was impeached for absences, with a vote of 11 ayes and 5 abstentions. We also saw the reintroduction of the Constitutional Review Committee, given that the review didn’t pass last semester, and the Institutional Memory Committee, headed by junior Adam Powers. To end the meeting, the freshman delegates made a plea to the council, asking for the repair of the beloved foosball table in the Campbell basement, but with no obvious solutions, the meeting was adjourned.* In our second meeting, we swore in the three sophomore delegates and one junior delegate elected by an Ad Hoc election to fill the seats vacated by the officer elections or impeachment, they are as follows: Delegate Devin Sexton, Delegate Louis Rosenberg, Delegate Maliha Anthony, Delegate Oscar Gonzalez. And just like that, the spring budgeting season was open. After budgets, President Felbek announced the new members of the Constitutional Review Committee: senior Sachin Stanislaus, junior Adam Powers, sophomore Louis Rosenberg, freshman Ali Shawamreh, and of course, yours truly, Herald Rylee Bain. Former DC president Tom Ni joined us via video call in his position as one of the Board of Visitors and Governors Representatives. Mr. Ni proposed a plan to visit the Santa Fe campus within the next week to conduct an undercover report about the state of the campus, having the DC cover all costs, around $1000. Given that this was so last minute and Mr. Ni was planning on going without co-representative Charlotte Greenwaves-captain Nicholas, the plan was voted down and Mr. Ni would have to return to campus and write his senior essay. We will help fund a trip next year when there is actually a BVG meeting and both reps can attend. In our latest meeting, on January 24th, we heard a report from the SCI’s Chair, Ms. Chloe Steer, on their latest forums and the most recent All-College seminar, which unfortunately had lower numbers than 3 �λόγος the Gadfly usual. The SCI charter is also in flux, and will hopefully have an amendment hearing at our next meeting. With that, Ms. Steer was able to leave and I wish she had taken me with her because of the next agenda item, budgets and charters. Yikes. Three new clubs were chartered including FUTSAL, JSPN, and the St. John’s Orchestra, and even more budgets were heard. As your Herald, I look forward to giving you all the hot goss of the DC as well as some truly helpful information. Email me if you have questions @rebain@sjc.edu. *I would like to note that a new foosball table is in the works, a generous parent would like to donate theirs. Things are happening for my freshmen movers and shakers. Council of the Gods, Giocomo Zaboli 4 February 6, 2023 �λόγος the Gadfly (Almost) 20 Questions with DC President Helen Felbek Bennett Scott Q: Who are you? A: I’m an international student from Germany and I’m a sophomore. That’s it. What inspired you to become president? I’ve been on the DC since my first month at SJC. I just felt that the DC was a very powerful institution to impact the college in a positive way through budgets and other ways, but that it wasn’t fulfilling its potential. I was hoping with an officer position to fulfill that more. What are your major goals as president? I hoped that I would be able to shift the DC to be a more welcoming and supportive environment for archons so that they at least are not concerned about coming to delegate meetings and feel comfortable reaching out to the DC. Making sure they feel that it’s not arbitrary what the DC is doing. This can be achieved through a shift in mindset and target actions like publishing criteria for budgeting. That hasn’t been possible this cycle, but I’m hoping to use this for the first term next semester. Less concrete, I’d like to make the DC more visible to help the administration and polity better communicate. We had our first housing forum this past week and I thought it was quite successful. We wrote up post-its and gave them to the admin and they were happy to receive them. What do you see as your role at SJC as president? I hope that my role could be a facilitator because I feel like many students either don’t want to or don’t have time to talk to the admin or don’t feel it’ll lead to anything. So just having an open ear. I think individual students are their own best representatives, but I want to be a dedicated voice for the student body, freshman, my own class, and upperclassmen (if they want to talk to me). How has SJC changed you? It’s hard to talk about causation, [but] I think that the college has made me more thoughtful, more confident to be more involved, take agency, and get things done. But also more stressed. February 6, 2023 What program author would you have dinner with? I would like to have dinner with probably Socrates, but I would also be super annoyed by him. Who needs to get involved with the DC? Really, anyone who has ideas. Just criticizing is a first step, but I think if you have ideas, that’s important. Not even being an officer, just coming to the meetings. We want to bring back the culture of the observers being able to participate in the meetings. Even a half baked idea, like a vision for something, we’d be able to figure [it] out. What are the most important issues for the polity right now? Most immediate is the renovation of Campbell. While there is a lot of potential there, there’s a lot of dangers. It will challenge on campus students a lot and [also] the role of the DC. We should also remember that while this isn’t ideal, it’s important that the college keeps progressing like being more welcoming for people who need ADA accommodations. On a different level, for the first time this year, enrollment in the U.S. has dropped. Admin is doing this all the time, but the student body should be thinking about our identity. What sort of problems should people bring to you? The easiest ones are like the practical ones like starting a new club. I should be the first person you contact, and Woodward Hall Library in the Snow 5 �λόγος the Gadfly I’ll send you an email with the template. With other problems like housing or safety, these are all things the DC can think more about. We can’t offer solutions, but we can be a platform for solutions to tell the admin. What’s the best way to get in contact with you? Email, but I really don’t like emails. Just see me around on campus and tell me. If I have time, we can talk. What is your relationship to the Reform party? Well, I am a member of the Reform party, and their candidate for DC president. I didn’t really understand what they wanted initially–it started off as a joke, right? But I figured that it’s very important that there are people who care about the DC who aren’t on the DC. I felt like in that sense our interests were definitely aligned, even though I don’t agree with everything. What is your bottom priority at SJC? Playing croquet. Who are you most excited to work with? What has been really fulfilling is when people I’ve never talked to, especially freshmen, come up to me and talk to me about things like how to charter a club. It feels pretty great. Do you feel any tension with Nora, seeing as you are both presidents of SJC? I talked to her for the first time this Wednesday about housing. She listened a lot. She’s mostly just observing, 6 February 6, 2023 but she’s very knowledgeable and very good at all she’s doing. Do you have higher political aspirations after this? No. What’s the worst part of being president so far? Because I take my job seriously, I get very worked up and stressed about things. Even though I knew it was a demanding position to hold, it’s still a lot. I think I should turn off my phone [sometimes], but my phone addiction has become worse cause I’m checking my email all the time. Do you tell your family members that you’re the president in the US? When I told my parents, they told me I should not, so we don’t really talk about it. Will you abolish the Gadfly? Well it’s not really up to me. I think that’s a collective DC thing. [Delegate Adam Powers, from across the coffee shop: We’ll do it!] If the DC stopped receiving funding or we got rid of their charter, that would abolish them, but I would veto that. Fun fact? Did you know Nora comes from the same region as the PM of Bavaria? Thank you, Madam President. �λόγος the Gadfly February 6, 2023 Wes Is Moore: Dispatches from the Inauguration Jackson Wojnowski On Wednesday January 18th , around one o’clock, the inauguration ceremony of Wes Moore, Maryland’s 63rd Governor, took place. Moore, who campaigned on the mission-statement “Leave No One Behind,” was sworn in on the Bible that had belonged to Frederick Douglass. The occasion will be known nationally as the inauguration of the USA’s third black governor, ever, and the first for Maryland. These points just-said are some of the meaningful and pertinent facts that permeated the event, though along and intertwined with these, there was much else to be observed. As Moore himself said, “This journey has never been about ‘making history.’ Today is not an indictment of the past; it is a celebration of our future.” Here addressed in the terms of past and future, this broader question of what to focus on and to what degree showed forth throughout the inauguration. For the ceremony, the majority of the public assembled on Bladen St., though there was reserved seating in the Lawyers Mall as well. Men in crisp suits and women in lovely coats, along with those in sweatshirts and favored sweaters, sat in white fold-out chairs on the street and stood on the sidewalks to the sides. A plurality of the crowd, if not a majority, were Black. Many vigorous handshakes were given as individuals and groups exchanged greetings and snapped pictures with each other. State police patrolled around, some with K-9’s. Reporters, like myself but with lanyards and microphones, went around asking attendees what this inauguration meant to them. A media stand had been erected between Lawyers Mall and Bladen St, which prevented those on Bladen from seeing the podium where the Governor and others would give speeches; instead, two large projectors had been set up at the front of the street, along with two more further back. The weather was unseasonably warm. After walking around and observing for a bit, I began to inquire into the thoughts of those assembled. I saw an elderly man who seemed to be particularly sagacious, and so I first interviewed him. Who was he? 7 �λόγος the Gadfly “Hi, my name is Paul Chalmus, and I’m a retired letter carrier, artist, cartoonist… master gardener, paleontologist… I used to fly planes… And believe it or not, I used to be in politics back in the '70s.” Where was he from? Well, his earthly home is Baltimore, and his intergalactic home is “somewhere way out there… there’s no English word to describe where I came from.” What did this inauguration mean to him? “It means a lot. It’s a new day. It gives me hope. All things may be possible, hopefully good things. I feel some positive energies about this one.” Was this ceremony a step in the right direction for American politics? “Well, I’m looking beyond the ceremony actually. We have been taught to praise these ceremonies. My heart starts beating when they get in there and start going to work. They’re gonna have ceremonies, parties, all this kind of stuff celebrating the occasion. I understand all of that. But those same moneys could be used for housing, new roads, this and that…you do what you have to do for this ritual; I’m ready for the action….That same money could feed somebody, or fix somebody’s house….if I were elected right now, right this moment…I’d say, ‘Ok, thank you for electing me, let’s get started. No party or whatever.’” Delores White-Rose, an elderly woman who appeared equally sagely and who had retired from a career as a government auditor, had this to say as regards the significance of the inauguration: “Their things that they’re saying they’re gonna do as you swear them in—people need to pay close attention to the words that’s being read and what they’re saying ‘I will do.’ It’s for the people that voted for them—they make it an open forum for the people to hear… Now you can hold them accountable.” Regarding these promises that she would hear from Governor Moore, Ms. White-Rose had her concerns: “Even with Governor Wes Moore, and I have a high respect for him… He can come, and he can be the governor, but he can only say what we should do; because if these rest of these people who are in office don’t pass it, it’s not gonna get passed, and that’s not 8 February 6, 2023 right, and that’s not fair to the people who quote-onquote they are supposed to be representing.” Mr. Chalmus and Ms. White-Rose had other, more particular worries on their minds as well, which they spoke of in-depth on their own accord. Ms. White-Rose spoke of community violence and how, in her estimate, the removal of dissuasive laws and penalties is dangerous, while Mr. Chalmus had this to say as regards our relationship with the Earth: “And here’s the sad news that you didn’t ask me, and the scientists aren’t jumping on it fast enough. We are rapidly approaching what is called ‘the point of no return,’ and it’s right around the corner… We take so much life here on this planet for granted. And we’re in trouble. We really are… You may have come over here and opened up a can of worms.” With these points in mind, I awaited the governor’s speech. Various musical ensembles, including the Contemporary Polynesian Arts Group, a local high school choir, and a Latin-American music group, performed in front of the State House and through the speakers and projectors. A man and his wife, also on the �λόγος the Gadfly older side, swing-danced to the Latin music, and as the proceedings became delayed, 21 minutes into the afternoon and past when the ceremony was supposed to start, I overheard the remark, “I got a Manchester United game I gotta watch at 3 o’clock!” Eventually, the proceedings began. An invocation to God Almighty was made, thanking Him for Wes Moore’s victory; numerous people in the audience held up their hands to the Lord. Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, introduced by her children, told her story of immigrating from India, weaving in the values of compassion, empathy, and being one’s authentic self. Oprah (yes, Oprah Winfrey) praised the character of Maryland and that of Wes Moore, and retired Lieutenant Governor Jaime Martinez joined in the latter. A Nineteen Gun Salute was performed, along with a flyover by the Air National Guard 104th Fighter Squadron. After all of this, the newly inaugurated Governor spoke. To string some of the major points along: “It is time for our policies to be as bold as our aspirations and to confront the fact that we have been offered false choices. We do not have to choose between a competitive economy and an equitable economy…. We do not have to choose between a safe state and a just state….We do not have to choose between giving our children an excellent education and an equitable one….Those whose shoulders we stand on would ask us to view today not as a celebration—but as an opportunity. An opportunity to lead with love…this is our opportunity to build a state that those who came before us would be proud of, a state that leaves no one behind. That is not a slogan; it is a fulfillment of a hope. It is our mission.” Along with this general rhetoric came specific resolutions, such as a $15 minimum wage (immediately relevant to us Johnnies!); the protection of the Chesapeake Bay and the addressment of air pollution; and putting Maryland on track to generate 100 percent clean energy by 2035. These last two points in particular remind me of Mr. Chalmus’s concerns, as well as Ms. White-Rose’s reservations. I asked some people afterward what they thought about Wes Moore’s ability to accomplish his February 6, 2023 resolutions. “I think he has a very aggressive and a very important agenda, and it’s very ambitious, and I commend him for that, but the bottom line is it has to be paid for…and then without raising taxes, it’s all about prioritizing and reevaluating the funds to be able to make things work. So I wish the man well; I really do,” said Paul Blitz, the chiefof-staff for a Maryland state delegate. He also expressed uncertainty regarding Moore’s clean-energy resolutions. Regarding his confidence in the words of the governor, Colby Price, a fellow member of the media, had this to say: “We [my partner and I] were able to have a sit-down conversation with Wes Moore last week, and from what I got from it, he seemed very genuine…he seems like he’s genuinely a nice person…and that’s what politics needs right now…he cares about the state, and so I think he’s gonna do a great job.” Though the future, which as Mr. Chalmus reminds us will either vindicate or contradict these resolutions, is not yet known, the wholesome jubilation of the ceremony, and the palpable joy and optimism of the crowd, is still in itself worth noting. As another attendee remarked, “We’re just happy to be here to enjoy it with others… It means a lot to all of us here in Maryland. We believe they’re going to be a lot of changes that will affect the broader spectrum here of this state, so that’s why we’re here to support it.” (Photo credit to Meliha Anthony, excepting Oprah) 1 �λόγος the Gadfly February 6, 2023 Personality Profile – Ms. Seeger Meliha Anthony For Ms. Judith Seeger, learning is a lifelong process. Seeger has been part of the St. John’s community since 1989, spending much of that time as a tutor at the Annapolis campus, a couple years teaching at Santa Fe and four years as assistant dean here in Annapolis. She has taught the entirety of our Great Books program through multiple times and speaks with a sense of wonder and curiosity about the texts and subjects that we immerse ourselves in. “I don’t have a lot of difficulty admitting that I don’t know something,” Seeger says. Previously, she worried about becoming too comfortable with the program texts, fearing that she would lose her ability to model the process of learning to students. “It turned out to be something I didn’t need to worry about, because it never happened, never got even close,” she says. “Nobody can be an expert in everything we do here... In that respect, we’re all learning.” Before becoming a tutor at the college, Seeger spent years traveling and living in both Brazil and Spain with her husband, who is an anthropologist. With a doctorate degree in romance languages and literature, and a dissertation on oral traditional ballad, Seeger took the opportunity to engage in interactive field work, collecting and recording stories and ballads while abroad, “[as] sung and told by people there.” She recalls the difficulties of living in the jungles of Brazil and having to adjust to a new culture. Ultimately, she and her husband decided to depart from their lives as expats in Brazil, along with their two young daughters, partly due to their lack of a large, engrained family and a solid community while living in such a family-oriented society. Given her self-proclaimed unconventional academic background, Seeger was surprised when St. John’s College granted her an interview to become a tutor. Even more surprising was their job offer. Prior to her time as a tutor, Seeger had only taken an introductory level philosophy course, and the only program text she had previously been exposed to was Don Quixote—which was, of course, originally written in Spanish. Her lack of exposure to the Great Books program intensified some aspects of her experience as a tutor, and Seeger views continued learning 10 Ms. Seeger, Zeinep Kyzy to be an integral aspect of her job. “This has been a fabulous education,” Seeger exclaimed. “I have learned so much coming here and I really appreciate that. That’s kind of my story.” While debating what it might mean to have a favorite text—“Plato drove me crazy. Does that mean it was my favorite?”—Seeger admitted her deep love for Rabelais, author of Gargantua and Pantagruel, and her disappointment when his work was removed from the program. “We had a wonderful preceptorial. Can you imagine having a preceptorial where you just sit and laugh? Or a class? I mean, we just howled,” Seeger says. Seeger is now retired, but still occasionally teaches classes when asked to. She keeps busy in her summers �λόγος the Gadfly and spare time, spending time with her grandchildren, working at her family’s summer camp, and practicing Tai chi, among other activities. She has also been trying to learn Arabic for some time. The language first sparked her interest while reading Maimonides’ Guide to the Perplexed; and, her daughter’s husband is Palestinian and speaks Arabic. “I thought it would be polite to learn some,” Seeger explains. Seeger recounts one final story from her tenure as a St. John’s tutor: when she convinced Pete Seeger, her husband’s uncle and the storied folk singer, to come perform at the college. The entire Francis Scott Key auditorium was filled with students, staff, and February 6, 2023 townspeople who came out to see him perform, and given the weakness of his voice at that point in his career, the audience filled in where Pete Seeger couldn’t, collectively singing his iconic songs for him. “It was amazing. I mean, he’s a master, right? He just is,” Seeger said about the singer. Of everything Seeger has learned through her experiences, the common thread seems to be a sense of humility. “Be generous. Listen to people. Hear them, as much as you can,” Seeger says. “We talk here [about] our texts—‘what is justice,’ ‘what is virtue’—one of the things you learn very quickly is you will never know the truth. You just won’t, because there isn’t a single truth.” Scene from "Don Quixote", Mather Brown 11 �συμπόσιον the Gadfly February 6, 2023 Reflections on Monet’s Impressionist Landscapes Catherine E. Greer Often we find ourselves gravitating naturally towards art that depicts the human form above all else. Whether it be depictions of stories, regal portraits, or intimate glimpses into lives we have never known, the human form revealed in art presents an opportunity to see our own selves reflected back to us as a work of created beauty. This reflective nature of art can at times remind us of the simple beauty of living or the endless capability of human spirit, and at other times remind us of the depths of darkness into which we can sink. To view your own form in art reminds you of the persistence of human nature, and brings you closer and closer to recognising the power of the human mind to create and bring beauty into the world. In many ways it is harder to discover that human spark in art devoid of any image of the human body itself. However beautiful and skilled a work of art might be, there is a great difficulty in recognising the reflective nature of art when its image is that of nonhuman things, like objects captured in still-life or sweeping panoramas of mountain ranges and forests. But no art is ever truly devoid of the human, for even without an image of our own bodily forms there is a human hand that labored for many hours over each stroke of the brush or pencil. Recently, I have become fascinated with art that depicts the natural world and reveals the quiet but wondrous serenity of landscapes. The French painter Claude Monet is known by many for his Impressionist depictions of the world around him. Though he worked with the human figure in many of his pieces, he is best known for his unquestionable fascination with, and deep love for, the natural world and its landscapes. He seemed to have no sense of prejudice against any aspect of nature, for he pursued with equal care and sensitivity both thoughtfully cultivated and manicured gardens as well as the wild contours of free and untouched land. Monet was one of the original figures of the Impressionist movement, which brought a particular 12 Landscapes of the Ile Saint-Martin, Claude Monet method of painting to the art world which focuses not on the precise accuracy of detail but instead on capturing the “impression” of its subject. Monet’s landscapes are recognisable for the way in which he utilizes broad and relaxed brushstrokes that carry a sense of movement and continuous evolution, focusing on capturing the prevailing spirit of a scene rather than displaying each aspect in the sort of minute detail that freezes a moment in time. There is something peculiar and unique that comes to light when the world is depicted in such a way—something deeper and more precious than its mere accurate image is revealed. Something far more essentially human is captured in Monet’s Impressionist landscapes, as if the soul of the place itself is opened up to the viewer. �συμπόσιον the Gadfly The landscape is shown as if through the eyes of the artist himself, but not the eyes of the senses in the same way a realistic landscape might reveal the sensory perception of a place. It is a spiritual sight, which perceives the part of nature that is alive and moving and always changing. These paintings become, in a way, reflective, as if they contain not only the soul of the place but also the soul of the artist who was driven to capture the particular sense of wonder that only the beauty of nature can evoke in mankind. When I stand in front of Monet’s paintings of the earth, I feel his own reverence shining through in every wide and visible stroke of the brush. It seems to me as if Nature herself spoke to him, and thereby found her way into the imaginative vibrancy of these soft and ever-shifting scenes. February 6, 2023 I think we often struggle as human beings to recognise spirit in things which are not also human. We see depth most clearly in those who move and think and feel as we do, because that is where it is easiest to see ourselves reflected. But the world around us is not devoid of spirit: Nature, too, has soul, and if only we knew how to look for it, we could see that we are far more deeply connected to it than we might think. Perhaps by looking to art, where another has already seen that spirit of nature and sought to capture it for others, we can learn to look with deeper care and sensitivity to the natural world and discover for ourselves a kinship with the quiet yet prevailing soul of the earth. Landscapes of Vernon, Claude Monet 13 �συμπόσιον the Gadfly February 6, 2023 LIFE, DEATH, VOID, HARMONY D o l a n Po l g l a z e T he theme of this issue is centered around questions of nature, and so, in considering what to present, I want to share some thoughts which arose from last week’s All College Seminar. We read and discussed the first of Rilke’s Duino Elegies, which, as a whole, is a ten part poetic examination of human despair: its origins and its comforts. In my mind, the elegies are connected intimately with questions of nature and life, and the sorrow into which human beings are born. The elegies take the form of a lament, which although gives life to despair, never fully plunges the reader into its darkness. Rather, the elegies are a full and clear picture of how and where we might seek belonging. I do not wish to give a full exposition of the first elegy, instead I would like to piece together some thoughts that were born in the seminar in order to share them in writing. Our seminar began right where the poem begins: the first line asks, “Who, if I screamed out, would hear me among the hierarchies of angels?” In response, the opening question asked: why does the poet scream out? What is his lament? The beginning lines are subsequently filled in as Rilke goes on to say that as human beings, we are stranded, uncomforted, in a cosmic picture that is not always kind or welcoming of human despair. We cannot turn to angels, he says, for they would crush us with their terrifyingly greater being, and we cannot turn to other humans, or even animals, for they “note that we’re not very securely at home in the interpreted world.” From this beginning, the question of the elegy begins to take shape: where do human beings turn in their time of need? Where do we find true comfort in times of lamentation? We observed in the poem that Rilke seems to think that our constant expectation of finding a beloved is not a fruitful way to seek the existential comfort that we crave, and even worse, such endeavor distracts us from our greater need, which is also the greater need of the world. He says that by being continually on watch for the arrival of someone whose love might be a comfort, we neglect what needs us in the world. “The springtimes needed you. 14 There were stars counting on you to sense them.” But we don’t give ourselves to the springtimes, and we don’t sense the stars, not fully. Looking for a beloved seems to be the act of removing from ourselves the responsibility of our own despair, hoping that another’s love for us will be great enough to alleviate what is ultimately our own. If we could allow ourselves to be there for the springtimes and stars, we would have to learn to love what cannot love us back in the same way, for nature is not a person who feels and touches as human beings do. "Being left alive and alone in the absence of someone who has departed from our lives is the depth wherein our sorrows may become fruit for future growing." A fter this point in the poem, Rilke makes a transition. Our seminar focused most heavily on what follows. Rilke ceases speaking of the lovers, and quietly implores his heart to listen as the saints of old have listened. Yet we cannot listen to God, not even nearly, he claims. God’s voice would annihilate our being. Yet there is one help left to us: it is the voices of those who have died— the voices of those who he describes as having forsaken “the meaning of a human future,” who must necessarily have cast aside their name “like a broken toy.” Rilke makes it clear that the dead don’t need us; they are in a realm separate from our own. Rather, he leaves us with the question of whether we need them— whether the comfort of the living is entirely contingent on the dead and the spaces they leave in their wake. He ends the poem by telling us that as Linus, the mythical son of the �συμπόσιον the Gadfly ancient musician Amphimarus, passed into the realm of the dead, a void was created. In one version of the myth, Linus was also a musician who was eventually killed by Apollo for claiming to be his rival. Rilke’s invocation of Linus is the synthesis for many of the themes of the first elegy. Rilke ends by saying that in this void left by Linus’s death a harmony was left ringing. This musical vibration is the very thing that now “enraptures, consoles, and helps us.” He seems to want us to see that there is one thing to which human beings can turn to find comfort in despair: the harmony left ringing in the absence of someone now gone. Our seminar spent most of our time focusing on what Rilke means in these final lines—why is it that we must turn to the music of the dead in order to find comfort, especially when our despair arises from the very fact that we are living beings? We considered the possibility that what Rilke says could apply just as well to someone who is not necessarily dead, but has passed from our lives in a significant way. Rilke calls this absence a “deep February 6, 2023 mystery,” and says that we depend upon such mysteries in order to grow at all. Being left alive and alone in the absence of someone who has departed from our lives is the depth wherein our sorrows may become fruit for future growing. We need the dead because, unlike a lover, they don’t need us; the relationship is entirely one-sided. In absence, we must reflect back upon ourselves because we have no one to see us. Rest and comfort can only be found in a departed human being precisely because there lies, in their passing, a beauty that is not terrifying (like that of an angel or of God). The departed are our only way to approach and be enraptured by a bearable and comforting Divinity, and the only way by which our sorrow can be transcended. There is a great comfort in the musical chord that stretches between the one leaving and the one left behind. Elegy, from "Fifteen Etchings Dedicated to Sir Joshua Reynolds" by John Hamilton 15 �συμπόσιον the Gadfly February 6, 2023 THE PROCESSION OF LIFE Luke Briner L ife is war. When I look out at the world around me, I usually see little else but a savage, seething mass of conflict and suffering, in which necessity compels us to crush others in our blind, desperate striving after a chimeric happiness, and in which we will inevitably be crushed by that of others in our turn. I think Voltaire sums up the situation well: "All conscious beings are born under the same law— Our lives are pain and swiftly swallowed by Death’s maw. The vulture savagely assaults its timid prey, Feasts on its claw-gored limbs, the cruel spoils of the fray; All’s well for it, it seems; but soon, an eagle stern Flies forth to tear apart the vulture in its turn; The eagle is unskyed by arms that humans wield, Themselves becoming on the dusty Martian field Blood-spattered, mangled heaps which hurt beyond all words And serve as nought but hideous food for hungry birds. Thus all across the world do Nature’s children cry, For pain conceived and by each other made to die." Excerpt from the “Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne.” My translation. B ut how have we come to this sorry state of affairs? What principle underlies this conflict that dominates Nature, and how did life as we know it proceed from that principle? It seems to me that we can understand this turbulent procession of life as being a natural consequence of the unity of every being’s desire, and the unity of the object of that desire itself. In the first place, if we assume that “[e] very art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and 16 pursuit, is thought to aim at some good,”1 and that “no one wants what is bad,”2 then every being naturally strives toward the highest happiness that they can perceive and tries to avoid whatever would deprive them of that happiness. The ultimate realization of this striving would then consist in the perfect union between that being and the perfect Good in which happiness must consist, such that its desire is entirely fulfilled and thus annulled as long as that union prevails. But the world we inhabit now is bereft of the conditions which Good must necessarily have, and so is incapable of providing us with That which alone could meaningfully or permanently satisfy us. The Good is One,33 but the world is endlessly multiplicious, such that beings are hopelessly separated from each other both by mind and by body, unable to ever truly know each other. The Good is eternal and immutable,4 but the world has only the perpetual restlessness and mutability of disparate moments in endless succession.5 Hence we, while consciously or unconsciously doing nothing but striving for the all-unified Good, are at the same time utterly separated from that very Good by the natural disunity of the world in which we live. We are all Tantaluses, forever reaching out for that which we cannot hold. Thus “all is vanity and a chasing after wind.”6 At the same time, however, it’s this very vanity that has produced and continually sustains Nature. It’s only because “the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing” 7 that living things are compelled to always move from one thing to the next, are always attempting to do or get something which would bring them closer to the state of primal happiness which cannot actually reside in this 1 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, I.1.1094a-97. 2 Plato, Meno, 78b. 3 See Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, III.10.25-27; Anselm, Monologion, ch. 1-2; Plotinus, Enneads, V.1.8-10, VI.9, etc.; Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I, Q. XI, A. 3-4. 4 See Plato, Timaeus, 27D-28B; Boethius, ibid, V.6; Plotinus, ibid, III.7; Aquinas, ibid, I, Q. X. 5 The Oneness of the Good necessitates its eternity and immutability; they’re pulled out specifically here only for effect. 6 Ecclesiastes 1:14. 7 Ibid, 1:8. �συμπόσιον the Gadfly world (since the supreme Good which alone would be capable of providing that happiness is unattainable in it). Hence reproduction, and so also evolution. These are simply the result of the natural tendency of living things to chase sexual gratification and to extend their own sense of being through the begetting of offspring,8 and the consequent struggle between those offspring for survival, with different forms of life emerging and differentiating themselves by virtue of their success in that struggle. February 6, 2023 soul, an identical desire, and we are only different from each other insofar as we have each evolved different means of chasing that desire. Every one of us is a microcosm of all Nature in that we’re identical to and direct descendants of its original principle of striving after the Good. This conclusion is at once beautiful and heartbreaking to me. If we are all the same soul united in the same desire for the same End, then how could the fact that fighting, brutalizing, killing, and devouring each other is the necessary consequence of that very kinship be anything but a tragedy of the grandest scale? Maybe all we can do in response to this, then, is have compassion for our kindred even as we steel ourselves for our inevitable conflict with them. And maybe if we do this with a grave nobility equal to the darkness of that conflict, we might find some way to rise above it at last. Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, by Harriet Goodhue Hosmer If this is true, then we are all alike to each other not only in the simple sense that we share a unified desire for the Good, but in that the exact same desire is literally passed down from one to the other through the endless process of procreation. We are all spiritual kin, animated by the very same longing, and only differentiated from each other by the consequences of the evolutionary procession brought on by that very longing. I am, at my core, exactly the same as any other human being, or a cat, or a tree, or the smallest blade of grass. We are each in possession of an identical 8 Plato, Symposium, 206c. 17 �συμπόσιον the Gadfly February 6, 2023 Know Thyself I guess it was just too complicated for us to wrap our heads around. Instead of feeling confident and prepared when I stepped out on the court, I only felt bewildered. It is incredibly disappointing that a club based around By LAINEY RENDELMAN empowering people who typically do not have a safe Kunai, by its very nature, is the most exclusive club on space to play sports would play into the exact stereotypes our campus. Prohibiting all cis-gendered men, a group it hoped to help avoid. If the point of Kunai is to learn that makes up fifty-three percent of our student body, the rules of the sports which we are going to play together Kunai started as the women’s equivalent of intramurals. Its competitively, then this version of Kunai has failed. creation was made necessary by the segregation of genders in the athletic department. However, today’s intramural program is fully integrated, yet Kunai remains. Given Kunai’s original purpose is superfluous, Kunai is now marketed as a safe and welcoming environment for female and non-cisgendered students to learn how to play the sports we play in intramurals. Sports have been a big part of my life since I was a little girl, and, thus far, the environment at Kunai has been as toxic as any that I have ever had the misfortune of being a part. When I walked through the door, all the stereotypes about being a non-cis-gendered male in athletics were immediately pinned on me in big bright letters. I was expected to be slow, helpless, confused, timid and weak. When it became clear through the way I played that I did not fit those stereotypes, I was criticized for playing too aggressively and “negatively” affecting the culture of Kunai. I used to play varsity volleyball and basketball in high school but quit because of events which made me no Interior of Iglehart Hall Gymnasium longer feel safe to be in the gym. It is also not something which I choose to tell everyone I meet, nor should I have to. An environment in which sports can be played with less These expectations were not all that turned me away from of a focus on winning and more of a focus on having fun Kunai. Frankly the “safe space” did not feel safe at all. In my is something of which I would love to be a part! However, first games at Kunai, I was belittled, shamed, and excluded. the culture at Kunai feels much closer to encouraging The club seemed to serve an insular and unwelcoming incompetence and discouraging learning how to play the group of friends who wanted a place to play sports with sports in question. each other but exclude everyone else. This attitude was As the intramural netball season approached, Kunai exclusive to Kunai; I have never experienced anything like began taking a day each week to play netball and learn the this at intramurals, especially not from a captain. If Kunai is rules. I was excited to be learning and looked forward to a safe space, then why do I and others find ourselves feeling having the opportunity to go into the intramural games so uncomfortable and unwelcome? It was intramurals, not having learned the rules of netball beforehand. That way, Kunai, which created the welcoming and encouraging space I could be confident and well prepared. You can imagine I needed. If Kunai is supposed to be a safe space to express how frustrating it was to discover that the game taught yourself and play sports, that is not the space it has become. at Kunai was completely different from the one we play Cis-gendered men are generally not welcome at Kunai, in intramurals. Why was Kunai netball so different from but recently a curious phenomenon has emerged: The intramural netball? Simple. The rules were dumbed down. athletic director now resorts to using men to bolster the 1 �συμπόσιον the Gadfly ranks of Kunai. At recent Kunai meetings, over 6 different cis-gendered men have joined in order to fill out teams. In addition, the primary ref for Kunai is a cis-gendered man. If no one in Kunai is imperiled by their presence, why have these offers to be included not been made to the rest of the polity? If the purpose of Kunai is to be a safe space for people who want to play sports, then that is what it needs to be, regardless of gender. There are plenty of cis-gendered men who have never played sports or may have an invisible reason for a safe-space, just like me. A cis-gendered man who has never participated in athletics before and wants to learn before going to intramurals should not be robbed of a safe space to do so. No one should be excluded from a safe space unless they are actively doing something to destroy or disrupt the safe space; no space is safe if one feels that they must constantly justify their presence. Why is it that Kunai is guaranteed Friday afternoons in the gym, the most in-demand and desirable court time available? As it stands now, the polity has consistently demonstrated a lack of interest in Kunai. Notably, so have many of its captains. Only four of the seven official Kunai captains regularly attend their own club, and most weeks Kunai is unable to support 5 v 5 basketball. Compare that to pick-up volleyball, which is attended regularly by 20-25 students from 8:30-12:00pm on a school night. Low Kunai attendance proves that the integration of intramurals has worked, and that Kunai is no longer serving its purpose as the safe inclusive league it pretends to be. There is a reason that people must be begged twice a week to come, and that most days there are not enough people to play a game of netball or basketball. I have been attending Kunai for an entire semester, and I can say with confidence that it is the least welcoming group on campus, not just for cisgender men, but for everyone. This op-ed is not my first attempt to broach this issue, and I had no interest in voicing these concerns in such a public forum. Sadly, I have been compelled to do so by necessity. I have raised these concerns numerous times with Ms. Fleming in hopes of opening a dialogue. But there is an unwillingness to discuss any changes to Kunai. Ultimately,  in my opinion, Kunai  is enabling and supporting antifeminist, exclusionary, and gender-based stereotypes that have no place at St. John’s. It is time for a change, whether Kunai realizes it or not.  Male Students Playing Basketball in Iglehart Hall 2 February 6, 2023 �the Gadfly πόλις February 6, 2023 Letter from an Anxious Learner By BENNETT SCOTT Dear friends, dear sophists, dear all those hateful of the world, This institution of ours prides itself on a shared, intensive curriculum. We trade majors for souls and specializations for explaining ourselves to Uncle Bill every Thanksgiving (he nods a little too much when I talk about geocentrism and natural-slaves). Even though some days in the classroom can feel pointless, it’s all meant to feed into some ‘bigger picture’ which we are too blind to see: the ‘Great Books Program’ has been planned for us and we’re along for the cultish ride (no Kool Aid, thank you, we have donuts). We take ourselves so seriously that there is no room for something quite dear to me: absolutely useless courses. Students Pulling Other Students in Wagons 20 Where is the random geology course for English majors? Why is there no Cultural requirement fulfilled by a random jazz class or upper level philosophy courses on post-post-postmodernism? When can I take the allimportant Scientific Thought in South-South European Immigrants to Scottish Communes on March 13th, 1812? (I would take this course.) Where is the joy of nothingness? Nay, we have been too long deprived of true vacuity! In the face of such a useful education, we must reclaim our right to uselessness! How? A second seminar based on my revolutionary new Useless Books Program. Meeting from 10:02 p.m.-12:34 a.m. from Monday into Tuesday (on the opposite side of campus from normal seminar) and Saturday into Sunday (to prevent our heathenish and Godly tendencies in one fell swoop), we shall dive deep into ancient goat-for-wheat exchange documents, the catalog of ships, and Finnegans Wake. Senior year, of course, will be everyone’s favorite: The Perks of Loving a Scoundrel (Seduction Diaries, #3), The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson, Jesus and the New Math: 2+5=5,000. All seminars will begin with an opening exclamation. Grades will be awarded after each point using gymnastics-style score cards (bonus for including outside sources). The annual essay will be balanced with the pseudo-annual (occuring once every 366 days) presentation where students are invited to say as little as possible in 10 minutes (in the tradition of certain French philosophers). No more shall we suffer under the weight of our useful degrees; no more shall we bear the burden of improving ourselves; no more we say, no more! From the ashes of productivity we shall rise into the promised uselessness once more, cloaked in inanity. All interested tutors need not apply. —B.S. �πόλις the Gadfly February 6, 2023 Lines from the Marlboro Trail Before Rain Dig another hole into the muddy dark; coax a grass-limbed green hopper onto a kneaded palm. Granite dust is white without sunlight, electric in its own tiny storm, but the rain holds its breath above us as the leaves turn over. Thunder is my hammer on a rock and the forest breaks open. – HELEN WAGNER 21 �πόλις the Gadfly A Moment As golden Twilight, remnant crone of Dawn, Shines forth her wrinkled, melancholy smile And turns ambrosial the wide, open field Before the creek, as if to kiss goodnight Each of the trees and every blade of grass, And as the age-tinged leaves, learnéd too late Of Autumn’s amber elegy, at last Fall to the earth in gentle, bittersweet Repose, I cannot help but think of how Each of those little lives alike cry out For God, and how each of those little deaths Reflect the very same grief-tainted Love That I know in my heart of hearts I’ll face In those Last Moments that one day must come. How could I claim distinction from the least Of these? How could we possibly not be Alike unhappy atoms cleaved, bereaved Of a primeval Whole forever lost To us, alike enunciations of The same primordial Sigh of desire? Beholding these my fellow-souls, my kin, United in our Love and in our pain, I am undone with care, and suffocate Beneath the desperate need to embrace The All too beautiful for me to bear. – LUKE BRINER 22 February 6, 2023 �πόλις the Gadfly February 6, 2023 The Spider's Narrative I saw a spider in the corner of my room the other day. Sure, I could expel it, but look how delicate her home is. As her web grows, I could hear the careful tapping of a wind chime, Or, is it a vibraphone? No… it’s a kalimba. Her melodies get louder and louder, Rocking me to sleep. Songs sang in the minor key, Like the melancholy echoes of a priest singing in the pews of an empty church. Usually it would make me blue, But today it paints me marigold. As I now have gained a power, A power that weaves melodies of my own. – DEESHA ARABATTI 23 �the Gadfly πόλις February 6, 2023 Nature's Metronome Prose fragments from a summer working in a state park By HELEN WAGNER Never is there a moment twice-lived. Some are halflived, but never twice-lived. — Yesterday at work I spent the afternoon observing the comings and goings of a family of phoebe birds who had I often measure change by summers. No matter what their nest in the tollbooth. When they’re perched, eastern has occurred in the intervening months, Junejulyaugust phoebes have a way of flicking their tails up and down blesses my calendar like a comma in a run-on sentence. I am that looks like the ticking secondhand of a clock. It’s not grateful for this. It is here, in the stillness of the in-between, so regular, though; just once, for a moment, twice again that I take inventory of myself and the movements of my a while later, three times quickly and once slowly. A bird life. The backdrop never varies—Mount Monadnock, the needs no way of telling time. She has no appointments to town of Jaffrey, the trees and the mica and the road to keep. Her tail is less like a metronome and more like the my grandparents’ house. I measure myself against these flutter of leaves, the flash of light on water, the folding of a landmarks and somehow find myself changed. butterfly’s wing. Nature has its rhythms, but some moments are best left unmeasured. The phoebe knows this. — — This summer, I have become a birdwatcher. Nevermind if I only know three species by name. I am not knowledgeable, When I came into work on Saturday, Cindi told me that but I believe I am qualified for the title by this simple fact: the phoebes had lost a hatchling. She must have found it I watch birds. when she opened the tollbooth. I know little about eating habits or migration patterns, “It was dead,” she said, “The mother threw it out of the but I know that the wings of a turkey vulture wobble when nest. See that stick in the ground there? I buried him.” it catches the wind, and that blue jays are vicious dive The stick stands in the dirt beneath the One Way sign bombers. I’ve spent a morning watching a mother build where the phoebe always perches. I wonder if she knows her nest under an eave. I’ve watched young cooper’s hawks where her child has gone. Is she troubled? I can never tell; bathe in puddles in my driveway. I’ve seen phoebes grow her song is always the same. What kind of mother can from hatchlings to fledglings to flyers, and now I watch the watch her child die and let someone else bury it? Maybe place where their nest used to be. I am no ornithologist, she threw it out of the nest to make space for her healthy but I’ve found that observing God’s creatures is good for young. A bird does not sow or reap or gather into barns, but the soul. Call me a birdthinker when the philosophizing death is in her world, too. Death is in her world, but there outweighs the binocularizing—I’ll take any title, so long as is no room for it among the living. She is already so full of it justifies a few of these aimless musings. living—sunshine and beating wings and the wet squirming of beetles in the mud—and death has no place there, so she — must throw it out. Let the dead bury their own. I watch the stick poking unnaturally from the wet earth. Worry, I think, is not for the forest. Birds do not mourn their dead or erect strange monuments in the ground or fear the future. Only people do that. 24 �πόλις the Gadfly I do not write this as an old woman, looking back on a life of wisdom and truth. I am young, full of ambition, often full of that confusing anxiety that, as Wendell Berry says, tells me I should somehow be elsewhere than I am now. The peace I sense on the mountain is not the wisdom and rest attained by a long lifetime. It is a glimpse of some deeper meaning, an inner life which I access only sometimes, a safety net which I hope to grab and take with me into adulthood. Perhaps it is the last few wonderments of childhood bubbling through the hardening skin of life. It is a living memory of security and truth that I want to bottle up and pour over myself, like Bradbury’s dandelion wine, to thaw the ache of adult anxiety. Sometimes, down here at the bottom of the mountain, I February 6, 2023 have the itch to be up in the rocks where the air moves and the land unfolds like a forested atlas below me—up there in the wind, instead of down here in the leafy stillness, staring at the same trees and the empty road for hours at a time. I get tired of waiting for the crush of gravel under someone else’s tires, of handing them maps while they head up into the clouds and I stay here. But then someone walks past on his way down and says, “that looks like the fucking life,” and I look down at the jewelpurple plum in my hand and the novel in my suntanned lap and the wooden rocking chair leaning against a rock and I say, “yeah. It is.” It is. And the phoebe sings her agreement. And it is. Bird, Hakusanjin Hokui 25 �πόλις the Gadfly February 6, 2023 THIS MONTH IN HOROSCOPES ARIES (March 21-April 19) Love is in the air, Aries! Oh Christ, it’s in the air. It is a thick, all encompassing smokescreen that fills your lungs. It’s hard to breathe, the smoke in your eyes makes you cry but the feelings don’t go away. You feel heavy. Your lungs burn as if your organs are being stretched and mangled inside of you. It itches. Your insides itch. You scratch, but it gets worse. Why won’t anyone help you? You scratch. Dear lord, war is hell. You draw blood from your tender stomach, your organs still itch. You scratch deeper and deeper, till finally you can itch your lungs. Your comrades surround you in terror. You’ve disemboweled yourself. Oh the humanity! You live, you continue to scratch. The pain is endless, but the itching moreso. God won’t let you die. There are no atheists in foxholes, Aries. GEMINI (May 21- June 20) You’ve been doing a lot of self reflecting, Gemini. You don’t really even want a relationship, you long for personal freedom.You long for a herd of like-minded individuals but also a strong sense of individuality. You long for the dark carnival. You wish to ravage the streets of the midwest covered in grease paint and smelling faintly of vomit. You and your new found pack of Juggalo homies will provide you with the excitement you so desperately crave in your day to day. You will come to understand things you once thought impossible to grasp, like the Great Milenko, and magnets. Faygo and rhymes flow freely in your close knit squadron of freerange porch clowns. Connection is temporary, but 1989 Detroit based horrorcore group the Insane Clown Posse is forever. Whoop Whoop. VIRGO TAURUS (April 20- May 20) It’s easy to get caught up in the overwhelming loneliness, but the sooner Taurus realizes that community is more beneficial to them than romance, they’ll be unstoppable. Community is hard to find as an adult, though. Sure you have coworkers and maybe even college friends, but that’s temporary. You’ll outgrow each other soon, and you will once again be alone. Is it wrong to outgrow what you once loved? It’s painful to think that a person who once knew you better than you knew yourself will one day be a complete stranger to you. Sometimes you think you understand the curse of immortality. We’re all born alone and we all die alone, you know that, but it doesn’t make it any nicer to hear. The warmth is temporary, but you might as well enjoy it while you can. You could also invest in a weighted blanket, at least simulated touch is better than what you’re getting now. CANCER (June 21- July 22) Cancer, now is the season of plague. You are a destructive force as of late. Cuffing season awakens something dark within you. You deserve this! Slay! Forget anyone you may hurt along the way, it’s high time you go out and get what you want. There is a hunger deep inside you, Cancer. It is constantly growing, an endless gnawing in the pit of your stomach. You’re full of dog teeth. You are ravenous, a long and cold winter has made you cruel. Is it cruel to survive? One must do all they can, self fulfillment is the only fulfillment you can rely on. Looking out for you isn’t bad, it is self preservation, and therefore the most powerful form of rebellion. (Aug 23- Sept 22) Roses and chocolate are always nice, but the Virgo in your life can only be seduced by one thing. In the USNA Archives lies the story of the USS Eldridge. October, 1943 was when everything changed for the Virgo in your life. Half a dozen sailors merged with the ship, limbs akimbo poking out of the walls, melted into military grade steel. When the news broke, it was played off as yet another story of a Veteran who had lost his mind, making up nonsense about aliens for attention. Everyone knows that being honest about your alien encounters makes a social pariah out of you. You hide this dark secret- you hide the truth. You know acknowledging the Philadelphia Experiment will get a target placed on your back. Dear lord, you just want to be seen. Your Virgo wants you to ask them about what they’re hiding, they want assurance that you are not a spook, but rather an empathetic ear. 26 LEO (July 23- Aug 22) You have a secret admirer, Leo. Although having someone confess their unyielding attraction towards you is undoubtedly the ego boost you needed to get through the week, the stars tell me that nothing good will come of this union. The only one to benefit from this relationship would be your divorce lawyer. You may think you’ve met draining people before, but never like this. Every moment spent with this prospective partner feels like an eternity and not in a good way. You didn’t know the sound of someone’s voice could make you truely violent before this. It feels like a Manchurian candidate situation. This person will leave you waking up next to them every morning wishing you were dead. Sometimes the crushing loneliness is better than rushing into something with someone you tolerate at best. You should not relate to The Mountain Goats the way you do. Save yourself years of livable hatred and a cirrhosis diagnosis, reject Capricorn. �the Gadfly πόλις February 6, 2023 February 2023, The Romantic Edition LIBRA (Sept 23- Oct 22) As any Johnnie will tell you with a ghoulish delight, Humphreys used to be a civil war hospital, complete with a morgue in the basement. If you’re ever in Humpreys too long you’ll feel the hands. She’s cold, when she speaks it usually gets dark. The air is thick and still. Her eyes are somehow both empty and full of a thousand dying wishes, like a dead fish. She is the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen. Her teeth are crooked and her hair is neat, you know she’s around because all the hair on the back of your neck stands on end. You’ve never been so intrigued by anyone before. You know she knows how you feel, she knows everything about you, but based on the retrograde of Uranus, now is the time to put your feelings out there. Verbalization is always nice, Libra, I’m sure the Humphreys ghoul will think so too. SCORPIO (Oct 23- Nov 21) Tis the season, Scorpio! Based on the position of Jupiter relative to its distance from the zodiac, you will find your soulmate this month! If February comes and goes and you remain alone and despondent, sucks to be you, I guess #SAD. CAPRICORN (Dec 22- Jan 19) with Madame Quiznos SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22- Dec 21) You don’t miss her, you’re just horny. You’re ready to be hurt again, Capricorn. It’s cliche, but Valentine’s Day makes you sentimental. Maybe you haven’t felt loved in a while, maybe never, but seeing everyone else do it sure does make you at least miss the chase. You need something to work towards- conquest is your middle name. Your eyes have drifted towards a certain Leo in your life. Their self confidence, sense of humor and passion gives you butterflies. As an earth sign, you’re particularly prone to overthinking, which could be catastrophic in this scenario. You need to learn to just go for what you want when you want it. Shoot now, question later. Better yet, really dig your heels into this one. You can make it work. You have to make it work. Anything less is a personal failing on your part. Maybe the goal isn’t happiness, maybe it’s merely knowing that you did the impossible and stuck out till the end. That makes you better than everyone. This month, romance your Leo, till death do you part. AQUARIUS (Jan 20- Feb 18) Happy Birthday, Aquarius! How does it feel being another year older? Look into your own eyes. Are you wiser or just tired? Maybe age doesn’t change everything. At least you have your birthday wish, right? The one time a year where a cold and uncaring god can actually hear you. Another year of pain and hardships is to be cleansed in the fires of a pink, paraffin torch. The smoke that threatens to set off all the alarms in your dorm carry your plea for peace into the heavens. It goes unheard. They all do. But you’re nothing if not persistent. Maybe it’s not that the gods don’t care, maybe they’re just busy. Yeah that feels better. You’re not irrelevant, everyone else is just too busy. You can do no wrong. Enjoy your cake. PISCES (Feb 19- March 20) Forget romance, Valentine’s Day is for the boys, Pisces! You’ve been hard at work down at the factory, but while you’ve been doing overtime, your gang of rowdy boys have been getting themselves into much trouble. There’s a big rumble down at the park tonight, and they instigated it. It’s gonna be a rough one, too. Bottles and chains, all because you were too busy trying to make ends meet to focus on your band of troubled yet well meaning rapscallions. It’s been tough since Pa and Mama died, but you’ll be damned if those kids end up in the system. You can make this work. You have to make this work. You have to do it for Johnny. Make more time for your pals, Pisces, God only knows when they’ll accidentally end up killing a rich kid, ultimately leading to two tragic deaths of those you hold dearest, forever altering your kid brother’s sense of childlike wonder. 27 �THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the responsibility of the author(s). 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Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 28 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XLIV, Issue 7 Description An account of the resource Volume XLIV, Issue 7 of The Gadfly. Published February 6, 2023. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Nathan, Daniel (Editor-in-Chief) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-02-06 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource College students' writings--Periodicals College student newspapers and periodicals St. John's College--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly Vol XLIV issue 7 Gadfly Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/4af851a2e2653797bf79f73195b2d170.pdf 0c2020b1349ac586aa67e15950524e9a PDF Text Text St. John’s College Vol. XLIV, Issue 6 the Gadfly Annapolis, Maryland January 16, 2023 �CONTENTS From the Editor’s Desk: Dear Polity, Logos 3 4 6 7 Polity Communications Linking Communities of Learning How to Lose Your Mind Blister Beetle? Symposium On Time and Eternity An Open Letter to Infinity A Call to Idleness 8 10 12 Hedda Gabler Review The Gadfly Told Me to Do It Some More on Smoking Observing the Wild Beast Translation of Baudelaire's L'Idéal 14 16 19 21 19 Polis THE STRUCTURE Logos typically holds news reports and narratives of immediate relevance to the Polity. The purpose here is to develop a shared reservoir of information relating to campus life and the community. The Managing Editor for Logos is El'ad Nichols-Kaufman. His email is eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu Symposium offers the opportunity for our readers to thoughtfully consider contrasting opinions regarding a particular topic. The Managing Editor for Symposium is Luke Briner. His email is lbriner@sjc.edu Polis serves as a platform for elevating voices in our community. Here we find letters to the editor, columns, cartoons, and submitted pieces. The Managing Editor for Polis is Daniel Nathan. His email is djnathan@sjc.edu. THE COVER Photo of Isa Kiedrowski at the Reform Party Convention, taken by Meliha Anthony 2 the Gadfly / λόγος / January, 2023 This is my last issue as editor-in-chief of the Gadfly, Daniel Nathan (djnathan@sjc.edu) will be taking over after me. It's been a pleasure to read, discuss, and arrange the talented work many of you have contributed to the paper during my tenure. My favorite memories are the ones were something published in the Gadfly led to a discussion outside of it, or when a student with something to say came inquiring about the Gadfly with the happy hope that there was a place for them to say it. I have also especially appreciated the contributions made by Tutors and administrators; it's good when a campus paper is more than just its students. I'm sorry that releases haven't been as consistent as I hoped they would be, and I'm also sorry about the inconsistency of certain features of the paper. I would have liked it if there could have been a song or movie review in every issue, a tutor spotlight at least every other, a consistent listing of the many wonderful lectures related to what students are reading at the moment, and a much busier use of the 'Polity Communications' page. I'm sure you all have your own wishes too. In parting, I'd like to suggest that you puruse them through the Gadfly with verve and vigor--stay robust and questioning, keep the paper from becoming lazy, and remind it by your own efforts whenever it is. Sincerely, Craig Koch THE STAFF Audrey Fox Cooper Ussery Craig Koch Daniel Nathan El'ad Nichols-Kaufman Helen Wagner Isa Kiedrowski Jenna Lee Liz Dowdy Luke Briner Meliha Anthony Bridget Mace Paolo Medelius Helen Felbek SUBMISSIONS Bennett Scott John Teague �Polity Communications L etter from a Concerned Polity Member Dear All Concerned Members of the Polity, As many of you know, Campbell Hall is set to be remodeled this coming year. Truly and honestly, I’m happy for the future freshmen who will get to enjoy these sparkling new facilities. Now, I am a great supporter of the college; I think what we do here is contrarian and classical and liberal arts and St. John’s and maybe even Great Books. But I think we, as a collective polity, should take a moment and ask ourselves: Are these the changes we want to make? This college is representative of tradition, of the great learning of old (est. 1696 1784 1937). What traditions will remain for us after such renovations? What mice will scratch in the walls? What fire hazards will remain? What Civil War ghosts will be accidentally summoned on 8/18/2027 at 2 a.m. to the third floor bathroom in a ritual between five Febbies, a copy of Euclid, and a knife? Let me tell you: none. They shall gut these halls and they shall gut us too! This education is not just about what happens in the classroom, what happens in the books, what happens in the Great Hall; it’s about what happens in the dorms, in the dining hall, in the bathtub rooms. Those are the places we weep and bleed together, those are the places where we educate the entire person. If we allow ourselves the luxury of renovated dorms, we shall become like Thucydides’s Persians without the desert: soft, weak, unable to maintain our empire against the seafarers next door. To suffer through a freshman dorm is to grow one’s soul to face the challenges ahead: Junior lab, Senior math, the acute urge to go to the University of Chicago. If we let these renovations occur, freshmen will grow up with proper heating, functional windows, equal access, no mold in the walls. They will live like human beings! You know where I had to live my freshman year? Santa Fe. Boycott the Campbell renovations (and Mellon too). In your best interests, Bennett Scott (B.S.) the Gadfly / πόλις / January, 2023 3 �{campus life} Linking Communities of Learning BLAST Provides Seminars, Connections between Anne Arundel Community College and SJC by El'ad Nichols-Kaufman Like most Johnnies, I had never given much thought to Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), our neighbor in Arnold. Certainly, I knew it existed, I had passed through it on the bus to Baltimore many times, but I never gave it any particular thought. That is, until Mr. Haflidson, who was my seminar tutor my Freshman year, reached out to me about covering a partnership between St. John’s and AACC funded by a grant from National Endowment for the Humanities, or NEH, that had been going on since 2019. He told me that there would be two seminars hosted for students from both colleges, to bring together AACC students who already had experience with liberal arts seminars through the program at their school with Johnnies. This intrigued me, since I have often been concerned by the way that St. John’s creates a barrier to a great books education that is inherent in the structure of a private, expensive liberal arts school, and the idea that the college has been participating in a program looking to expand the reach of this style of education in our own Annapolis community was quite exciting. I knew I had to attend one of these seminars, and share as much as I could about the program while also learning from the other attendees. A little bit of snooping, and a few recommendations from Mr. Haflidson, pointed me in the right direction, and I began to trace the story of this program. In 2019, our Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, Emily Langston, and the Dean of AACC’s school for Liberal Arts, got together and applied for an NEH grant, and received $100,000 over the course of 4 three years. “The seminar came about because I and others read a piece in Inside Higher Ed that drew attention to the possibility of NEH grants for collaborations between community colleges and four-year institutions,” explained Langston. “St. John’s already had some connections to AACC, primarily through alumni teaching there. I asked a recent GI graduate who was teaching there to introduce me to the Dean of Liberal Arts, Dr. Alicia Morse. She and I started a conversation and it quickly became clear that interest in developing a closer relationship between our two institutions was strong on both sides – so the two of us got to work on developing the program and applying for the grant.” The money went towards bringing faculty from AACC to St. John’s for three twoweek summer sessions to participate in seminars and learn from Johnnie faculty about how our program works. After this, the AACC faculty would return to teach great books versions of their classes, creating a small great books program embedded within the community college. The program was called BLAST, or Bridge to the Liberal Arts through Primary Source Texts, and also provided AACC students a tuition discount of $4,000 a year if they wanted to transfer to St. John’s. Erica Beall, a tutor at St. John’s who participated in these trainings, explained how the program works at AACC. “AACC faculty who participate in the grant use their experience in the joint seminars with tutors to develop great books seminarbased versions of the classes that they teach, most of them in the humanities, as a kind of miniature great books the Gadfly / λόγος / January, 2023 program embedded in the AACC degree program. Students who take these classes receive the same credit for those courses that they would for those same courses offered in a more traditional format (generally lecturebased, or a combination of lectures, discussions, and group work).” At the seminar I attended, which was on the short story Love by Clarice Lispector, I got to meet many of the students who’ve had a chance to participate in these courses, almost all of whom were very enthusiastic about participating in a great books seminar. Once the seminar took off, the AACC students displayed a Johnnie-like energy in their discussion. Margaret Kirby, a tutor at St. John’s who led one of these seminars and participated in the summer sessions, noted this as well. “I often didn’t know whether the student who was speaking was a St. John’s or an AACC student.” This kind of commonality, the bond formed by meeting other students of the liberal arts in a great books program, was truly something special, and it was quite exciting to see it shared with another college in the Annapolis community. Beall explained that in many ways building this connection is groundbreaking. “The aim here was to make a robust liberal arts program available in the setting of a community college, which is in some ways a really revolutionary idea… Our understanding of liberal education is that it's for all human beings, so we're rejecting the notion that certain students and certain institutions simply can't engage in the kind of intellectual activity that we do at St. John's. Instead, there are two basic assumptions behind the NEH �grant: first, that there are community college students who would want exactly the kind of learning we do at St. John's, if made available to them; second, that there is nothing about the community college setting that is inherently incompatible with learning through discussion of great texts. Thus far, the results at AACC would suggest that our assumptions were well grounded.” The program is ending this year, but it has left an infrastructure of great books education at AACC, and the beginning of a closer relationship between the colleges. “I hope we can foster the connection that’s been established between our two campuses,” said Kirby. “The AACC BLAST faculty have been wonderful collocutors in our summer seminars... I’d like to see whether we could sponsor further seminars or study groups involving students from the two campuses. The St. John’s students who participated made the AACC students feel welcome and contributed enormously to the success of the seminars and the visits as a whole. I thought our students created an atmosphere and set a tone that made it easy for us all to work together fruitfully. It’s easy to become a bit insular, and this kind of activity reminds us that we’re part of a larger land.” Untitled, Clarice Lispector the Gadfly / λόγος / January, 2023 5 �{Club Spotlight} How to Lose your Mind An Interview with Kai Gyorki (A25) and Owen Healy (A25) by Daniel Nathan '24 DN: The club is called How To Lose Your Mind: A comprehensive guide to narrative insanity. What exactly…is it that you do at the club? KG & OH: We do a warm up of writing and Taylor Swift. When the chanting starts, the words move like the thick molasses flood of 1919. DN: Is narrative insanity the objective of the club or is it just an accidental by-product of what y’all do? KG & OH: Absolutely objective. Don’t know if we’ve gotten there vector orange left. DN: How many members/regular participants does the club have? KG & OH: Owen and I are there, mostly. DN: Would you like more people 6 to show up for meetings? If so, what will you threaten if attendance does not increase? KG & OH: Neutral on new members. However, we have very strong ties with the administration, so disenablement is on the table. DN: What do you hope people will get out of their experience at How To Lose Your Mind? Corollary: What are you getting out of your experience thus far? KG & OH: We want them to feel purity moving through their heart, once again like the great molasses flood of 1919. I’ve been getting a lot of information about the great molasses flood of 1919; we think it's both the solution and the problem of our current times. the Gadfly / λόγος / January, 2023 DN: When and where do y’all meet? How can people get involved if they are interested? KG & OH: Mellon 212, Wednesdays 7:30. Unless the weather is bad or either of us have an essay due, or we are not there. DN: In your heart of hearts, when all is said and done, and the encumbering trappings of alienation and modern life are torn away, when the world has ended but life still goes on, when the birds cease to chirp, and all that you’ve got left to prove you’re truly alive is the steady beeping of the heart monitor: Are ya having fun? KG & OH: We find this question offensive and unnecessary. �{the entomology beat[le]} Blister [beetle]? I hardly know her [beetle]! by Louis Rosenberg Shortly before the first frost of the season, I was headed towards the boathouse when I spotted a large beetle meandering across the sidewalk. It was an odd-looking bug, with its thorax and head tiny compared to its bulbous abdomen — the strange proportions paired with its undersized elytra made it look as if its bottom half had accidentally overgrown the rest of its exoskeleton. It was, however, a beautiful incandescent black, and its bumpy antennae were moniliform, resembling strings of beads. I recognized it immediately as a blister beetle (a member of the family Meloidae), specifically an oil beetle (of the genus Meloe), and thus resisted my eternal desire to pick her up. (Because of the specimen’s large size and the uniformity of its antennae segments, it was most likely a female — males are typically smaller in size and have a distinctive “C” shape partway down each antenna.) Meloe is one of the best-studied genera within Meloidae, but even so specific information on the differences between species within the genus is hard to come by. Clearly, however, though these beetles lack hind wings and have small elytra that overlap at the base, they are far from defenseless. They can secrete hemolymph containing cantharidin, a chemical which can cause serious damage to tissues it contacts. Humans can die from consuming a dose of less than 5 mg/kg, earning it a “super toxic” classification by the EPA. (Animals are at risk, too, particularly farm animals that might accidentally consume whole beetles in their feed.) Cantharidin has historically been used not just as a poison but also as a purported aphrodisiac. Though there is no evidence that the chemical works in that manner for humans, males of some other beetle species will consume it after being secreted by blister beetles; the cantharidin transfers to the female during copulation, and the eggs she lays will thus be coated in it for protection. While defense mechanisms like these are certainly oil beetles’ main claim to fame, this genus also possesses many other fascinating features throughout their lifecycle. Most notably, these beetles are hypermetamorphic — they go through more distinct stages in their metamorphosis than the usual complete metamorphosis. While the larval instars of other beetles might differ mostly because of their sizes, larvae of Meloe species are markedly different between instars. In their first instar, they are known as triungulins; they are quick-moving and capable of secreting chemicals that mimic female bee pheromones. After a male bee arrives, drawn in by the pheromones, the triungulins cling on to him until he finds an actual mate, at which point they climb onto the female bee and follow her back to her nest. The larvae then feed on the bee’s eggs and honey, becoming progressively less mobile with each molt until they finally become active — if still clumsy — beetles. Adult beetles feed solely on plant matter. A few days after I first spotted the Meloe specimen on the sidewalk, I saw her again, this time with dangerous hemolymph oozing out of her joints: she had been crushed, probably just by someone passing by. Thus ended the life of the first oil beetle I ever saw in person — her refined defenses sadly no match for a human boot. Sources: https://bugguide.net/node/ view/303 https://bugguide.net/node/ view/181 https://www.biodiversitylibrary. org/item/105984 Insect Biodiversity: Science and Society, Volume 1 by Robert G. Foottit and Peter H. Adler https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/compound/Cantharidin http://digital.outdoornebraska. gov/nebraskaland-magazine/don-tmess-with-oil-beetles ht tp s : / / b u g g u i d e . n e t / n o d e / view/149682 the Gadfly / λόγος / January, 2023 7 �On Time and Eternity Luke Briner I’ve been thinking recently about how the human condition prevents the fulfillment of human desire in any lasting way. When I withdraw into myself and look, I see at my very core a ceaseless, desperate, all-consuming yearning for something that does not and cannot exist in this life— for a Wholeness, a Unity, a Perfection which the dustbeladen crucible of a world that we inhabit, fettered as it is by the disunion of individual moments, couldn’t possibly allow for. I long ultimately for Beauty, but am only strung along from one instance of Beauty, one beautiful thing, to another, forever unsatisfied, if only because I know there’ll always be other beautiful things which this or that current one doesn’t already contain within itself. I long for Peace, but this life promises nothing but an endless and futile toil. Here, all strive for the same End and are set against each other in exactly that striving, with the very fact that this End is in reality unachievable being the guarantee of the perpetuation of that same struggle ad infinitum. Considering all of this, I’ve come to hold always before me the idea of some other, higher Life—one in which these unhappy limitations are transcended, and all is at last wrapped up in the perfect, loving Totality which alone could ever truly fulfill the soul. This Totality that I have in mind is the same one Plotinus does as he explains his view of Eternity in Ennead III.7. He understands Eternity not as a simple going-on without end, but rather as a perfectly self-concentrated Unity: a single, absolute Moment, an “Ever-Being” (III.7.4) which already encompasses within itself everything that can be encompassed. Mere perpetuity, or the indefinite goingon of something, isn’t Eternity, since the very fact that in perpetuity a thing moves into something—the future— from something else—the past—implies not Unity but only restless movement from one ephemerality to another. Such movement belongs to things of Becoming and not Being, since it necessarily involves a “continuous process of acquisition” (ibid), whereas to truly be “comports never lacking existence and never knowing variety in the mode of existence” (III.7.6). Being can never acquire anything because it never lacks anything, and, by virtue of its Unity, is “self-identical throughout, and…is one undistinguishable thing” (ibid). Eternity, then, as consubstantial with this Unified-Being, is “a life limitless in the full sense of being all the life there is and a life which, knowing nothing 8 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / January, 2023 of past or future to shatter its completeness, possesses itself intact forever” (III.7.5). “To the notion of a Life… all-comprehensive,” he tells us, “add that it never spends itself, and we have the statement of a Life instantaneously infinite” (ibid). As ceaseless perpetuity in the realm of Time produces an infinite set of infinitely small yet disparate moments, Eternity, contrarily, sums all of those moments in one fell swoop, resolving the entire indeterminate infinity, and everything that could possibly be contained therein, into one immutable, indissoluble Whole. Eternity is the ∫ of the All. Having its identity in the “archetypal world” (V.1.4) of Authentic Being, Eternity is held in “the true Golden Age, age of Kronos…the place of every soul” (ibid), of which Time is nothing but an imitation. I understand “the place of every soul” here as denoting that world as the supreme télos of all things which find themselves here below. There, and only There, may the true Repose which my heart yearns for so desperately reside. Only There may the Tantalean struggle born of a shattered, degenerate life at last melt away into the all-embracing Love that I can’t help but feel is where we’ve come from and where we must at last return to. But if Eternity is the “Repose-There” (III.7.2), then how did we get here, to this reposeless, Time-afflicted world? How did it come to be that Time, Eternity’s “representation in image” (III.7.1), proceeded from its Parent in the first place, and what is its nature having thus proceeded? Plotinus argues that we can’t define Time as movement, whether in the sense of a single definite movement or movement in general, since it “in either sense…takes place in Time” (III.7.8) and therefore can’t be Time’s essential characteristic. Nor can we accept the Aristotelian account of Time as a measure of movement (see Physics, IV.12), since this would require the measure of the measuring magnitude itself, “because only when the standard shows such an extension can the degree of movement be appraised” (III.7.9). This would lead to a situation in which movement is measured not by a definite magnitude but only by the abstract numerical value estimating it; but “it is difficult to see how an abstract figure can perform the act of measuring” (ibid). Further, even if such a figure could measure movement, it doesn’t get us any closer to a meaningful understanding of what Time actually is, since “no measurement by anything is necessary for its existence; �measured or not, it has the full extent of its being” (III.7.10). The measurement of a thing by some arbitrary value has nothing to do with the essence of the thing in itself, and the thing would go on existing in the same way without such measurement. Time, rather than movement itself or the measure of that movement, is to Plotinus “the Life of the Soul in movement as it passes on from one stage of act or experience to another” (III.7.11). Before the emergence of Time, there was only the serene Eternity of Authentic Being, the Divine, reposing in its contemplation of The One from which it itself proceeded. But since “all existences, as long as they retain their character, produce…some necessary, outwardfacing hypostasis [metaphysical substance] continually attached to them and representing in image the engendering archetypes” (V.1.6), this Being, even in its own peace and upward-facing contemplation, had also within itself “an active principle…one set on governing itself and realizing itself ” (III.7.11). This principle, in its ambition, sprung forth from its Parent and became Soul, the third and final hypostasis. Soul, so self-differentiated, in its own turn had “an unquiet faculty, always desirous of translating elsewhere what it saw in the Authentic Realm, and it could not bear to retain within itself all the dense fullness of its possession” (ibid). In order to release this self-concentrated fullness, and in order to make for itself an external representation of that Realm, it created the universe that we currently inhabit, having “laid aside its eternity and clothed itself with Time” (ibid) to do so. In doing this, however, Soul lost its endemic Unity, and condemned itself forever after to a struggle to once again attain it, thus creating endless succession and action. Time, therefore, is simply the product of the Soul of the universe “seeking to draw Being to itself by a perpetual variety of production and action and…circling in a sort of ambition after Essential Existence” (III.7.4). I share, as we all do and as the All does, in Time, and so also in its wistful, struggling nature. I can’t help but feel like I’m only a lost, scared child, bereft of my Mother and desperately trying to do anything that I think might help me get back to her. I don’t know if I ever will. But in any case, let me at least come to terms with my own longing— let me, if the God-shaped hole inside of me will never be filled, at least work out its dimensions, and recognize at last that if there was ever anything that could fill it, it would be in Eternity. "Time" Luke Briner Unhappy moment when became all moments disparate, We since then damned to termless toil, bereft of native Whole, The consequence of that most tragic act of primal Soul, Whose extern appetite produced new world degenerate. O Dido of more Cosmic enterprise, All-claiming Queen Who sallied from Eternity, endeav’ring to impose In lower Sphere similitude to that supreme Repose, Thus spawning Time, coeval with the Universal scene, Yet now a conqueress no more but exile self-imposed, Who in perpetual Disunity is kept enclosed And sits despondent by that restless stream of her design: Dear Mother, let me sit beside you there; don’t scorn my love; And if you find a way to make return to Rest above, Give me the grace to rise then with you, your hand holding mine. By the Waters of Bablyon, Arthur Hacker the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / January, 2023 9 �An Open Letter to Infinity Dolan Polglaze Dearest —— , Given the time that’s elapsed between our parting, my intent in writing to you isn’t even clear to myself. In advance, I only ask your forgiveness for the clumsiness of my language, and for my reliance on my own temporality as the unit of my emotional experience. Knowing how to make these new beginnings is always difficult, especially since no beginning is ever truly new, and the person I feel myself to be now is probably just the compounded clutter of failed epiphanies and dusty revelations. Even now, I’ve already begun to speak in words that you probably don’t understand. What do you know of beginnings? What do you know of endings? Do you understand how nails grow and hearts break from the pressure of closeness? These are the afflictions of temporal beings, not infinite ones. But nevertheless, I don’t know any other words to use: the certainty of my own beginning and ending prevents you and me from ever entirely speaking in the same terms. You know this is the fault of my communication, and always has been: that I don’t know how to speak straight-up and in ways you’d understand. Why? Because I have no choice but to fear the closeness of communication, the true nakedness it requires. Nakedness has always scared me, even though I pretend it doesn’t. And why shouldn’t it? It’s the first thing we lost when we gained time. When something’s lost, I really don’t think that it can be recovered in the same way. That’s probably why we started calling nakedness “vulnerability,” and why we say vulnerability when really we just mean love, plain and simple. A thought about love: Now and then I spend my nights recalling my final moments of infinity before I was born— really, I’m just trying to grab onto something that I could recognize in this temporal form I now hold. It has occurred to me that love might be a holdover from the before-times, even though the only “truths” I know about love are what I’ve read in college, and even these various descriptions don’t seem to cohere into a singular idea or experience. I am frustrated that Socrates told me that philosophy is an erotic ascent (towards what?) because I am a twenty-year-old man, and everyone telling me that book-reading is erotic has either forgotten what it feels like to be held, or they’re barking up the wrong tree. “I’m not putting all my eggs in one basket,” a friend told me yesterday in a conversation 10 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / January, 2023 about his lover, and that struck me as good advice. But these promoters of erotic philosophy keep demanding I put all my eggs in one basket—their basket—and I’m really getting sick of it! I know that you understand love better than I ever did, and I burn up in that thought. You have the advantage of being infinite, and I have the advantage of dying one day, which, although a meaningful fate, still offers me no clarity on love. It seems this has become a letter on my feelings about love. That wasn’t my intent. In many ways, though, it makes sense, since love and time are born of the same mother. You, infinity, are that mother. And the father too, probably. Perhaps I’m wrong to assume you know nothing of temporal existence, but if I am wrong, I’m wrong in the same way a child is wrong in assuming his parents cannot understand him, even though both originator and offspring are made of the same stuff. And if you and I are irreconcilable to each other, truthfully, I know that it is not because of lack of sight on your end, but because of the simple fact that I cannot, for the life of me, remember what happened before I was born. I am a being born entirely of my beginning, a being defined constantly by the flicker of my walking shadow. This is not an excuse for my clumsiness in trying to reach you all these years—I only mean to tell you that I have never given up hope of trying to reach you again, despite the infinite déroulement between me and you. How could I give up? Even when estranged, a child’s desire to find belonging in their parent is never fully extinguished. I seek you—we seek you—not from a desire to cast our minds forever into the darkness which springs from separation, but rather from the impulse of our contrary being. I will never understand why we cling to the things that are so opposite our existence, those things which we can never really hold. I cannot hold you, my friend, even though you are somewhere deep, deep within me. Perhaps I spoke too harshly earlier about love— it’s only that sometimes I feel angered by those who claim to have found you in philosophy. Sometimes I fleetingly glimpse you there, but mostly I find you in myself, and in the way that I don’t make any sense to myself. Pascal thinks my humanity is delicately caught between magnanimity and utter baseness, and that recognition of this fact will �lead me back to union with the Divine. But I don’t know if he’s right about this. Infinity, I am led to you—in the dark hours of the night and in the gallery halls—by the surging I feel in my breast when I think about how my ribcage, my teeth, and my skin are products of some infinite voice at the beginning of time. Then how can I not love you when such is my origin! I feel rapture at this thought. Rapture and rejoicing at my finitude which has the courage to write you this letter, even now. You have done me a great kindness in keeping me suspended between finitude and yourself. It is in this distance that I think love is born. I see it between human beings too—we fall in love with each because we see, in the other, the longing for the infinity that each contains. Sometimes there is sorrow in this tension, but mostly there is beauty. I fear that this letter has become more for my own sake than for yours, so I will leave it here, for now. I will write to you again, maybe in a decade. Yours always, ——— . Pair-Case automation watch, Peter Mounier Time, Enea Vico Casement to Infinity, Arthur Hacker the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / January, 2023 11 �A Call to Idleness, or Nihil Facere Aude Helen Wagner Hey! You! Yes, you, the one with three half-finished nonProgram books on your nightstand. Or you, reading poetry in the lunch line. You, there, with headphones in for the two-minute walk between Humphreys and the dining hall. You, watching YouTube on your phone while you brush your teeth. Even you, solving differential equations in your free time. Whoever you may be, I have a request. It’s quite a simple one, really. Only this: STOP THINKING. Easier said than done! you tell me, and I would agree. How often do you even allow yourself silence? How long can you go without doing something, making something, intaking some sort of information, before you feel guilty and unproductive? (And while we’re at it, why is unproductive a dirty word?) It seems, especially in an intellectually rigorous community like our own, that we must always be using or improving our brains. Philosophy, concentration, and conversation are the highest of virtues, while lollygagging, daydreaming, and general lying around are deadly sins. But I believe it’s important, maybe even vital, to rest our minds. Just like a physical workout, a mental workout requires resting time in order to be effective. And that’s what we are doing in the Program—hardcore intellectual crossfit. We can only spend so many hours in a row cogitating the definition of life. Giving our maximum concentration to Leibniz for an entire afternoon at 49 West will burn us out if we don’t stop to order a cup of tomato soup and look out the window for a few minutes. The other day, a friend told me that she’d read 90 pages of Augustine in one sitting. I opened my mouth to congratulate her on a fruitful study session, but she went on to say, “It felt wrong. I don’t think you should read that much at once of something so meditative.” I realized she was right. A book like the Confessions is so contemplative and rich that it must be taken in small doses if we really want to get something out of it. We are working our brains so hard most of the time that we often don’t seem to realize this: just because we aren’t physically fatigued doesn’t mean we don’t need a break. By “break,” though, I don’t just mean picking up a novel for the afternoon, solving a crossword puzzle, calling a friend, listening to a poetry podcast, watching TV, or playing 12 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / January, 2023 sudoku on your phone between Greek exercises. These things are wonderful, and much of our free time ought to be dedicated to such lighthearted activities. But they are still activities. There must also be moments when we’re simply doing nothing. How often do you lay on your bed and stare at the ceiling? Not enough, I’d venture. Cognitive rest can be just as important as sleep: when you do something that doesn’t require full mental attention (like staring at the ceiling), your brain’s Default Mode Network (DMN) is active. The DMN is associated with introspection, memory processing, and even creativity—if you’ve ever thought of a solution to a problem seemingly out of the blue, or been struck with inspiration while zoning out in the shower, that was probably your DMN at work. It’s not good for you to strive for total concentration all the time; this part of your brain does its job best when you are daydreaming. We also must remember that we cannot fill an overfull mind. When I was younger, my piano teacher used to stop lessons early when she thought she had given the class enough information. “The cup is full now,” she’d say, “and we don’t want it overflowing.” She knew that our brains could only process so much new material before it started falling out of our ears. Our minds are like sponges in this sense: if oversaturated, they will not accept anything more. We need time to internalize knowledge with the help of the DMN (which also handles information storage). This is why we need mental downtime. Erwin Straus writes in “The Upright Posture,” “Indeed, only the empty hand, like the beggar’s hand, can receive. Emptiness is the condition by which our hands can be filled.”1 Perhaps the mind is similar: it must be empty in order to be filled. This summer, excited to make the most of my free and empty days, I read too many novels in too short a time and suddenly found myself sick of reading. All I wanted to do was lay in the sun with my eyes closed. “I’m tired of thinking,” I remember saying to myself. I realized then that I could not always be consuming information—even literature, even for fun—if I never gave myself time to zone out. Words become worthless if gobbled up for their own 1 Erwin W. Straus, translated by Erling Eng, “The Upright Posture,” Phenomenological Psychology, SJC Freshman Lab Manual 2022. �sake—it must be some form of literary gluttony. I’d had an overdose of reading, and I had to remedy it. I learned that even little things like eating a meal in silence, taking a trip without bringing a book, splashing into a cold lake and suddenly laughing—these are good medicine for too much thinking. You must remember that you can float on your back in a swimming pool without having any particularly edifying purpose other than cooling off and watching the clouds. You can walk in silence without your headphones. You can lay stretched on the couch staring into the fireplace for two hours after dinner, achieving absolutely nothing at all, not even finishing your book. Walt Whitman expresses this soothing of intellectual fatigue in one of my favorite poems, “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer.” When I heard the learn’d astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.2 How soon, unaccountable, we become tired and sick! How weary we sometimes grow of contemplation! Let us follow Whitman’s quiet footsteps into the stillness. Let us rest our minds. As I write this, the new year approaches. Resolutions accumulate in well-intentioned piles in the corners of my mind. Promises of fresh starts and renewed productivity beckon alluringly from my blank calendar. New lists of goals and dreams spiral out of my ears. But I pause for a moment to ask this question: will I give myself space to breathe this year? I ask you the same thing. Will you continue working your mind, filling it with books and movies and conversation? Or will you stop thinking for a moment? Will you dare to do nothing? Let your mind marinate. Vegetate. Roam. Space out. Leave room for boredom. Stare through a window. Take a solitary walk. Sit for a while and be a living being. Nothing more. "Recovering from Ontology," Helen Wagner I am wracked with words, whispering wraiths and shades that jibber Being into emptiness. Substance, Material, Potential, Form flit to and fro; Entelechy tumbles past and dissolves into pieces against Death’s windshield. Actuality and Potentiality —locked in carnal embrace— pay me no mind, while Existence gives Essence a wily glance and darts away, scattering like dust in the late afternoon sun which pours through Reality’s kitchen window. The Immaterial thumbs her nose at Matter and flounces off into thin air, leaving me (a thinking body) nauseous and reeling with ontological vertigo until I step outside, blinking, on a winter afternoon. I feel cold snap at ears and nose, watch sun on cobblestones, walk into the wind, and steady myself with the touch of the living world. 2 Walt Whitman, “When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer,” Poetry Foundation, accessed December 8, 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/ poems/45479/when-i-heard-the-learnd-astronomer. the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / January, 2023 13 �{Hedda Gabler Review} Sympathy for the Devil, But Make it Feminism Lysithia Page Hedda Gabler is a difficult character to play. Hedda is a clever young woman recently married to a bumbling academic. She is disgusted with her new situation in life. The source of her strife is some cocktail of money problems, ennui, and domestic claustrophobia. Most of all, Hedda’s circle of associates is akin to a psychological isolation chamber. None of her fellows— three male consorts and a frenemy from her school days— understand her. This “angel in the house” wants to burn it all down. It’s easy to write Hedda off as either a malignant person or a victim of her circumstances. She is, of course, both. How do we understand people who respond to their sufferings by carrying out horrific acts? To what extent should we condemn them? Hedda Gabler reignites ageold questions about justice and mercy, gussied-up for Ibsen’s Victorian audience with the portrait of a lioness strangled in whalebone. (If you, reader, have any insight into these matters, I exhort you to flag me down on the quad and share your remarks.) Sophomore Magnolia Vandiver’s Hedda was equal parts cutesy and sinister—wiggling her eyebrows, nuzzling her companions with about as much warmth as a boa constrictor, beholding the destruction she has engineered with a prim upturned pucker. At one point, she let out an abrupt chuckle at an unnaturally insistent octave. Imagine a church bell co-opted by gremlins. The hair on the backs of my arms stood up. Vandiver’s performance called to mind that unfortunate subgenre of horror films in which porcelain dolls come to life and chop their owners into bits. My favorite scenes of the production were ones in which Hedda toyed with meek Thea Elvsted, played by freshman Quinlyn Bright. Their dynamic was right out of any Animal Planet documentary detailing confrontations between predators and prey. Especially effective was Vandiver’s and Bright’s deployment of touch. As Vandiver snaked her arms around Bright’s back and curled her hands in Bright’s hair, the energy in the room tensed in anticipation of what could become the consummation of either a seduction or a hunt. My only request for Bright: speak up! There were a few times when I couldn’t quite 14 the Gadfly / πόλις / January, 2023 catch what she was saying. Director Alayna Raymond (senior) clearly knows her audience. Play-goers could not help but notice the resemblance between Hedda and other conniving antiheroines in the Program who elicit sympathy but spurn redemption (read: Medea, Clytemnestra, Lady Macbeth). At this school, moreover, the caricature of the muddled scholar is comedic catnip; the character Jörgen Tessman, played by Mirek Jungr, did not fail to provide. I wish I had started a count of his huffs and guffaws while I was watching the play. I never knew there were so many ways for someone to clear his throat. Jungr’s fuddy-duddy buffoonery is delightful but not really convincing, and I find that with this character, I don’t care about ‘convincing’ in the slightest. “I sympathize with Jörgen, but I hope I’m not as naive as he,” said freshman Ian Rossamondo, who was seated in the front row. “He doesn’t know what kind of a woman [Hedda] is.” How were the other men? Senior Wyatt Sweeney does Byronic brooding well, but we already knew that. His Eilert Løvborg—a previously “bad boy” aristocrat attempting to put his debauchery behind him—was credible. And, of course, the crown of vines Sweeney wore during the final bows was a sweet nod to both the text of the play and the actor. Sophomore Jack Domanski’s Judge Brack was a marvelous surprise for me. His kindly, reserved presence through most of the play seemed like a paternal equivalent to the warm pleasantries of sophomore Rachel Hauben’s Juliana Tesman and diligence of freshman Eden Kammeyer’s Berta (nice Cockney accent, by the way!). I initially thought that these three characters would serve as beacons of civility and stability in the ensuing catastrophe. In the case of Judge Brack, golly, was I wrong. And for those of you who haven’t yet seen or read Hedda Gabler, that’s all I’ll say about him! After the show, I kept thinking about the particular brand of evil that belongs to beautiful people, i.e. the Ted Bundys of the world, who fully recognize and wield the power of their delicious company, like Kalashnikovs of charisma. Then again—perhaps I, like many people, just romanticize bad decisions, and grand gestures of infamy �are really just expressions of confusion. Generally, with horrific acts, I wonder what happens in the soul of the perpetrator which motivates the perpetration. Could that happen in your soul? My soul? My sense is that Ibsen meant for his title character to be more than an aberration of nature constricted by the feminine ideal, inevitably bound to erupt. It was certainly entertaining to watch this Hedda play, by turns, the puppeteer and the bulldozer; even so, we have to remember she traipses through life like the rest of us mortals, who must pay the penalty for transgressing the rules even before even having learned what the rules are. “I don’t think she has a plan. She’s making it up as she goes along,” senior Birdi Mueller, another audience member, said. For this reason, despite immensely enjoying Vandiver’s flamboyant malevolence, I found myself craving more intimations of Hedda’s humanity. (Yes, I recognize that what I have just stated contradicts my early characterization of Hedda as a lioness of a woman. I contain multitudes.) The real undercurrent of agony that flows through Hedda Gabler is the thought that the protagonist, though she possesses considerable gifts, is still just a person who loses her way and then loses everything. As the magnanimous Robert de Niro once said, “The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.” Somebody get this poor woman a drink. Medea, William Wetmore Story Soap Bubbles Jean Simeon Chardin the Gadfly / πόλις / January, 2023 15 �{We Should Be As Annoying as Socrates} The Gadfly Told Me To Do It Daniel Nathan First off, let me preface this by saying I am definitely not doing a commentary about this newspaper at all. No, the gadfly I’m speaking of is Socrates’ as he stood before the court in Plato’s Apology—although the pages of this paper do offer vital ground and, maybe more importantly, an actual physical space with which to gadfly (v.) - “to provoke and annoy as you go about seeking truth.” That is, to agitate, annoy, and create a stir within the polity, stinging those buzzed on comfortable routines of truth. What is neat is made crooked; what is simple is deliberately complicated. The overall purpose of the gadfly isn’t dissent, but it is the outcome the gadfly aims for in the immediate, practical sense. So, all I ask is that you consider with me dissent as a sign, not of sickness, but of health amongst the polity. But you may object, “Come on, does our polity here at St. John’s really need that?” I don’t know, you decide. Are you satisfied with your pursuit? Are there ways to more effectively foster truth in our community? Is campus culture even that deep? As all students at St. John’s (should) know by now, Socrates spoke before the court in defense of his life. His was not merely an effort to save his life, but also, in a wider sense, his livelihood: the examined life which he advocated for, where one might find those qualities specific to each and every form and the conditions that necessitate and constitute each and every soul, where that tip-of-your-tongue, deep down “thingness” lies, for lack of a better term—that quality which makes Socrates not only a man and a teacher but also a Socrates. In his account, ancient Athens was like a “horse which was somewhat sluggish,” which “needed to be riled up by a sort of gadfly.” (30e). Here, let’s consider a “gadfly” basically as a shorthand for a dissent-monger, and this dissent and the related monger are good, or at least reaching towards the good. But examples from our own not-not-dystopian day and age have proven that the good can be hard to come by, like a ghost whose presence is felt but we all only pretend to see: disruptors in Silicon Valley have racked up quite a laundry list of harm done to the social fabric with their algorithms 16 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / January, 2023 and public trust violations and income inequality; Marxist revolutionaries did some similar stuff too. As did the United States’ effort to “spread democracy” in the Middle East—”spreading” referring to hostile military occupation and the word democracy more accurately meaning “in line with United States’ global economic interests,” in what it saw as the developing world, not to put too fine a point on it. As did those patriots at the Capitol (Don’t let me lose you here) who brought 4chan into the real world, materializing the national mood of paranoid psychosis during the pandemic, which had been merely digital for many up until that point. And some say that those of us who marched in the streets six months prior to that day caused our fair share of harm too. What I mean by this is simply that we all just believe in the truths that we experience as true and we reject out of hand, wholehoggedly, any truth which does not cohere with, nor correspond to our own conceptions of our experiences, built up like scaffolding around some present reality. This thinking is natural though; it is also exactly what Socrates considered to be base. But what I can’t help myself from thinking about though is just how sort of pathetic Socrates’ version of dissent-mongering seems to be according to his own metaphor. The gadfly's function as a silly, disregardable, and easily disposed of provocation artist—like a guy who is impeccably learned in the art of retort and saying “Well, actually”—is not the role Socrates thought the gods assigned it. Not a crackpot in a tinfoil hat, nor an idiot on a soapbox, but rather, on the level of the heart, the gadfly is like a troll basically. A good kind of troll somehow. Not the guy on a college campus who sits at a foldout table with a sign that expresses a controversial hot take, challenging passersby to prove him wrong so he can get a clip of him “owning the libs” and “dunking” on those wayward, naive evil woke sheep. This character is no gadfly, to be clear. These types are too lonely and sad to pursue any truth outside of their page views. Let’s take a more virtuous, charitable depiction though: a gadfly with only good faith to spare, in which the source of the polity’s agita actually offers, �via the pursuit of truth and knowledge, the promise of a meaningful relief from life’s unavoidable ills. Leading the metaphorical horse to the proverbial water or so it goes I guess. It’s a case in which being annoying is the point, demanding full-throated, unapologetic (not a pun) engagement with the public due to just how unbearably irritating and ultimately unavoidable the gadfly’s frequent yet low-frequency stinging really could be. While the simple troll’s pursuits come from a sort of jolly sadism, the gadflys’ is sourced from a place of virtue, however vulgar and tacky its methods may seem on the surface at first. Pursuing truth proved uncomfortable and awkward for the Athenians, even making Thrasymachus blush. And eventually some saw it simpler to just swat the gadfly down and get it over and done with, rather than have to deal with Socrates’ nonsense—to have to take him seriously. The gadfly, to Socrates, is easy to mock because its positions are often easily mockable. Clearly. But in taking the mantle of those positions, Socrates saw a higher, deeper truth lurking, refusing to give way and accept the way the world worked according to the Athenians; he knew there was little to be found in their comfort. Sending back the steak not because it was overcooked but because the plate was empty. What he aimed to persuade others into was an activity, i.e., thinking critically (an inherently annoying thing to have to do) which required participation (which is often undesirable) which meant effort (the worst), thus calling the polity out from their sleep. So then, trying to think about what sort of “sleep” one might find here at St. John’s, why not do our best to heed the old man and break a shibboleth or two? Regarding this “sleep” the gadfly exists to disrupt, could it, in any way, be possible that we at this college find this “sleep” somewhere in the texts of the canon? “What?? B…b…but!!” Even further, do these grand narratives somehow serve as a way in which the polity uniquely makes its bed (with all its—we’ll call them quirks) for which it will later have to lie in? An article in the previous issue of this paper praised the cultural bubble of St. John’s. But can one culture’s truths be commensurate with another’s? Is truth still truth outside the bubble one finds to contain truth? Is that even the right way of thinking about truth? “What is virtue?” you ask the Chick & Ruth’s waitress during her twelfth hour into a sixteen hour double shift. This is annoying, and she will be annoyed, I assure you. But, I ask…is it noble? Well, it’s a really embarrassing thing to do, and I will mock you, and I’d say to you don’t do that—but dammit if I don’t want to say that Socrates would have maybe considered it bordering on gadfly-adjacent territory at the very least. What should being a gadfly really look like? What should it feel like? When everyone in your cultural bubble—all the Great Minds—eat and sleep and read and work and live like you do, must they also necessarily think like you do? I imagine a broad-shouldered Midshipman—a paragon of fitness and health—wearing his dress white uniform, which he says means something, (I can’t prove it does not), while standing next to St. John’s student, looking sickly and unseasonably pale and wearing literally their father’s falling-apart fleece from his college days forty years ago. The key markers and identifiers are there—the “uniforms,” I’ll call them— are clear: the juxtaposition is apparent. We get it. And so I’ll ask then: do both the Midshipman’s and the Johnnie’s “uniforms” mean anything? Do they matter? If they do, then, whose meaning matters more? That is, if we want to say one of them must matter more. Well the question begs itself at this point: who, then, truly matters more—who is more vital—to the functioning of a free and open society? Who should the polity regard themselves with? Those who pursue truth or those who enlist to defend it—the gadfly or the horse? I don’t know. Again, you get to decide. This example is only half serious. I don’t suspect this is the sort of respectable truth that we like to regard ourselves as pursuing. But still, we should concern ourselves with thinking, even when it appears vulgar and tacky. Pressure must be applied to even our conceptions of what seems safely bland and banal, if not normal. Really, why should life be the way it is? Or rather, why do we conceive of life the way we currently do? Should we continue this way of thinking or should we change our approach? Can we muster up the strength to monger us some dissent in a direction towards the good like Socrates taught to? Pastoral visions of perfect the Gadfly / πόλις / January, 2023 17 �postulates won’t do. Reality, even our great books, aren’t so neat as to be inhuman, and neither are we; certainly this article isn’t. But even with basic things that we can assert our autonomy upon and dissent from do exist here in our bubble. Doing this will hopefully create meaningful exchange but also affect material change in however simple and small a way it may; whether it be in choosing what we read, what we could or should think, how we could or should behave and conduct ourselves, and fine…I’ll say it…where we could or should or (if we’re being honest) probably shouldn’t smoke. In the shape of our daily lives at this college, and for those who come here after we’ve gone, maybe we can be more like Socrates’ gadfly; and hopefully in some small ways, we can succeed where Socrates tragically failed—hopefully we are not killed off. All too often the ways things happen to be at the current moment are interpreted as absolute outcomes—with ourselves as mere passive observers and spectators, not much more than ticket-holders—and so we overlook most of what we encounter in life, and treat it all as undeniable—as duh’s—as matters of fact, as just another symptom of life at a small, northeastern-ish liberal arts college. But what we may think is true, as we all (should) know, is neither in fact nor in essence, anything near “truth.” Who do you wanna sting? A literary argument on the second tier, Honore-Vicorin Daumier 18 the Gadfly / πόλις / January, 2023 �{Campus Culture and Its Future} Some More on Smoking John Teague The most surprising thing about the smoking debate at St. John’s College is the emotional hostility that surrounds it. As an infrequent smoker myself, I was shocked to learn that a personal activity could generate so much controversy. Ms. Felbek has recently complained about the hostility around this issue as well, and, in a move towards cooperation, I would like to attempt to reintroduce the spirit of lightness that moves public discourse towards levity and productivity. That spirit of lightness, however, must wait for me to briefly address some of the overblown arguments I’ve heard against smoking. First, one does not walk through ‘clouds of smoke’ as they move through the quad. Even before the new smoking policy was instated, the amount of smoke in public areas of the college has always been moderate. To avoid smoke, one simply has to avoid the people smoking. Secondly, the health risks of infrequently inhaling secondhand smoke outdoors are minimal. Research published regarding secondhand smoke refers to constant, heavy smoking indoors, such as in the home. Merely catching a whiff of smoke does not result in a measurable risk of cancer for any but the sickliest. Thirdly, the smell of tobacco smoke, while subjective, is generally not unpleasant. It smells somewhat similar to a campfire, and everyone likes campfires. Going past all this, while most people’s concerns about smoking rest in its effects on the body, few consider the effects on the soul. After interviewing many people, I have chanced upon this story. After the founding of Kallipolis, there was a group of people whose mixtures of bronze, silver, and gold in their constitutions fluctuated so frequently that a permanent position in the class system would cause disaster for the entire city. They would mill about, unproductively engaging in pointless or even harmful discussions. They were generally too boredom-prone to do hand labor and too wrong to make any important decisions. The philosopher king, even in his infinite wisdom, could not conceive an appropriate place for these people. So, after a few years of these people being a drain on society, he cast them into the wilderness. They fled to the caves, where Nature sheltered them from the elements. Although they could scrounge together a meager existence foraging and sleeping in the caves, their memories of the luxuries of their past life made such a life unbearable to them. They realized they needed to form some sort of society to regain their previous advantages. They held a meeting in one of the caves to establish some sort of constitution. A cacophony ensued as they nitpicked, redirected, and ignored each other’s points. As they attempted to deliberate, they made many gestures as they spoke and often moved their hands to their mouths. As they were losing hope, the dark cave was suddenly illuminated by a bright white light. A silence fell over the room as everyone recognized the divinity in their presence. Instinctively, the whole crowd knelt down to pay respects to God, who, in his infinite charity, came as a bringer of dignity to these creatures. He spoke in a loud, clear voice: “I have provided all of Man with fruit from the earth and fishes from the sea, but not all can be sated from such a simple diet. For you I leave another gift: the tobacco plant. Use it that you may steady your hand and focus your mind.” The bringer of fire and wisdom produced a number of tobacco leaves and placed them on the hearth. As the cave filled with smoke, the people knew calmness and deliberation. The elders sat around a stone table and successfully drafted a constitution for the people of the caves. All were joyous, their troubles had abated. The next morning they raised themselves up out of the cave and into the sunlight. The next few years saw great advancements in the political and logistical infrastructure of the town. Technology improved rapidly, and with it came advancements in the consumption of nicotine. Society developed three different ways to smoke the tobacco leaf: in cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. The three methods reflected three relationships one has with tobacco. One is moved either by his appetite, his want of distinction, or his rationality. It is plain to see how cigarettes correspond the the Gadfly / πόλις / January, 2023 19 �appetitive part of the soul. Cigarette smoke is inhaled, taken into the body like food. Cigarette smokers in particular are struck by nicotine addictions, often going outside to take smoke breaks many times during a workday. The consumption of nicotine for cigarette smokers is analogous to the consumption of food, and must be undertaken at regular intervals, often forming a routine. Cigarettes’ association with sex is also undeniable. The post-coital cigarette has been a part of culture for as long as cigarettes have been around. They are used to heighten the sex appeal of characters in film. A cigarette smoker experiences the craving and sating of his appetite much more intentionally than those who don’t smoke them and therefore must be more wise when it comes to such matters. Cigars, meanwhile, are an extension of the gloryseeking part of the soul. The cigar is more concerned with the external, with the un-inhaled smoke forming into impressive billows. Obviously, the phallic symbolism of the cigar has been well documented as an effective mode of power projection. The cigar smoker creates for himself a visual gravitas, a demand for others’ attention and respect. Cigars are used for celebration, as accompaniment to distinctive accomplishment. As a more expensive way to consume tobacco, one elevates himself above the proles with a more luxurious smoking experience. The cigar smoker enhances class distinction by consuming an imported luxury good, using the problematic nature of cheap third world labor to great effect. For those who prefer to attempt to rationalize their nicotine addiction, pipes are the smoking mode of choice. We associate pipe smoking with wisdom, visualizing it as the pastime of tweed-wearing Oxford men, inducing a necessary occupation of the hands while the smoker’s minds work out the puzzles of the Universe. The pipe’s yonic form clearly imitates the smoker’s relationship to knowledge. The way the pipe takes in tobacco is the same as the way its smoker takes in information, and both tobacco and preliminaries are inflamed by the pipe smoker into something new: a reasoned account. The pipe is truly a wondrous invention for philosophy. With these new implements of smoking discovered, the refugees were able to build a great society. Opposed to the focus on industrial growth of other civilizations, the tobacco smokers were content to live lives characterized by leisure, tradition, and rigorous discourse. They made for themselves a college at which they could exercise their minds studying the formative works of their literary tradition. This is the same college where, thousands of years in the future, we find ourselves at today. Tobacco Pipe with Case, ca. 1740 20 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / January, 2023 �{Thoughts on Johnnie Science} Observing Living Beings The Wild Beast Helen Wagner With the end of the first semester, the freshmen have completed their biological studies in Observing Living Beings, and my first beloved green lab manual is worn and underlined and slightly falling apart. Basking now in the highlight-colored glow of Driesch and Aristotle’s wisdom, I want to take this opportunity to meditate on the nature of how we approach science at St. John’s. It seems to me that studying science is like studying a living being. Perhaps over Christmas dinner you described the college lab curriculum to a curious relative as the “History of Science.” This terminology manages to neatly quell and dissuade any further questions, for example: why do we even learn all this outdated stuff ? What is the value of considering the universe as Ptolemy saw it when the scientific world has moved beyond this perspective? But is “History of Science” really the best way to explain what we do here? The qualifier “History of ” seems redundant when I consider that science, by nature, is a process. Studying its history is inherently wrapped up in studying science itself as it moves and breathes and changes over time. Thus, we must observe it as a biologist observes a living being. As the biologist is to the animal, the St. John’s student must be to science itself. But what exactly does this mean? First, we should understand what it means to study an animal. How does a biologist go about his work? Driesch writes of the unique problem of the biologist: The biologist is almost always in that strange plight in which the physicist would be if he always had to go to volcanoes in order to study the conductivity of heat, or if he had to wait for thunder-storms in order to study electricity. The biologist is dependent on the specificity of living objects as they occur in nature. Studying animals through scientific, ostensibly empirical means is difficult precisely because they are alive. We cannot isolate them from their living existence the way that a physicist can isolate electricity from a thunderstorm, for example. As soon as we interfere or interact whatsoever with a given animal subject, whether by dissection or some other form of experimentation, we are changing—often killing—the very life we hope to understand. Driesch explains that, thanks to this problem, much of biology can be chalked up to simple observation and description. He writes, “We now understand why pure description, in the most simple sense of the word, takes up such an enormous part of every text-book of biological science.” Anyone who’s read Theophrastus and Goethe can attest: pages upon pages describing the intimate workings of plants are tedious but necessary. In order to understand a living being, we must observe it as it lives. We must see how it acts when it is left alone in its natural environment. We must watch it move. Aristotle showed plainly that he understood this by dedicating an entire volume to The Movement and another to The Gait of animals. Many biologists have used vivisection to understand the movement of internal organs— movement which would be unobservable through dissection. Harvey learned much of the information in De Motu Cordis through vivisection: he would not know how the heart worked if he hadn’t seen it pump blood. To understand living things, it is essential that we study them while they are alive. Students of science are in the same predicament regarding scientific inquiry. Like an animal, the body of scientific knowledge changes and grows over time. To understand its development, we must watch it in action—in the wild. This means reading authors whose work has been superseded by new developments. Modern science textbooks would not explicitly agree with Aristotle that creatures whose blood is hot, thin, and clear are “[n]oblest of all” and “suited alike for the development of courage and intelligence.” Nor would they explain the growth of plants in terms of pure and impure fluids, as Goethe does. Even Driesch’s vitalism—the darling of many a Johnnie, myself included—has been considered obsolete by the scientific community since the ‘30s. Modern textbooks would soberly discuss photosynthesis, adenosine triphosphate, enzymes, substrates, red blood cells, and DNA. And they would be right—in terms of current science, at least. But science changes. The prevailing the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / January, 2023 21 �cosmological view among scientists until the 1950s was the Steady-State model—a theory that the universe had no beginning. But you wouldn’t find that in any 21st-century textbook. Now the most widely accepted model is the Big Bang Theory, which states that the universe did begin, approximately 14 billion years ago. So how can we truly go about studying science, this strange chimera that one moment says the universe has no beginning, and the next that it does? We must hold it loosely enough to account for such changes in human knowledge. We must at the very least acknowledge that textbooks cannot teach us how it really works: they are ossified collections of facts which do not reflect the living movement of science itself. Studying science solely through textbooks is like trying to understand an animal with only footprints and photographs. At this college, I would argue, we do not study physics, chemistry, or biology for their own sakes. Instead, through these disciplines, we are studying the process of scientific inquiry itself. If we simply wanted to understand the workings of the world as we know it, we would not spend hours reading scientific theories which have since been replaced or improved upon. Textbooks would suffice to keep us up-to-date on the latest facts. But, if we want to understand how science actually works, textbooks will not do. Current facts and theories are only a snapshot of the great, beautiful, breathing beast of Scientific Inquiry herself. She lumbers through the halls of History searching for knowledge, ears alert, nose to the ground, sometimes drunk on success but nourished primarily by her many failures, which keep her walking in the right direction. Her tail occasionally bumps into an ecclesiastical pedestal and shatters fragile and cherished religious tenets which the Church usually later discovers weren’t too important after all. Her fur is a tangled mess of broken hypotheses and crossed-out equations; her gait meandering and full of questions; her cry a halfarticulated attempt to explain the movement of the heavens. Many have tried and failed to capture her, tying her down across the sterile lab table of absolute truth, only to see her waste away from starvation or wildly break through her bonds, destroying her captors’ conception of truth in the process. She is the enemy of anyone who tries to contain her, but the darling and friend of the true scientist: the one who recognizes her wildness, who gets on hands and knees in the dirt and watches her quietly from behind a tree, no rope or harness in sight. If the scientist truly knows how to approach her, he will walk forward and reach out, feeling her warm breath on his fingers, and perhaps she will even eat from his open hand if in his palm he holds the right morsel: a single, honest question. The Repast of the Lion, Henri Rousseau 22 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / January, 2023 �{Student Translation and Commentary} Translation of Baudelaire's "L'Idéal" Luke Briner It will not ever be these beauties cursory, The shabby children of our late, debaséd time, Dressed up from head to toe in girlish levity, Who will know how to sate a famished heart like mine. To Gavarni, anemia’s bard, do I thus leave His warbling troupe of dolls, on sick, uneven keel, For I will not among those roses pale receive A flower that recalls my sanguine-red Ideal. What my heart truly needs, with great, Tartarean depth, Is she in crime so virile—you, Lady Macbeth, The dream of Aeschylus, in blust’rous climate born, Or you, dread-mistress Night, by salvaged Art composed, Who solemnly contort, in stately strangeness posed, With Titans’ mouths so sculpting your bewitching form! COMMENTARY The two themes I tried to communicate most clearly in this translation are, first, the contrast between the impression of weak superficiality which Baudelaire gets from many of the women around him along with the powerful, dominating spirit of the women he idealizes, and, second, the contrast between the modernity of the former and the antiquity of the latter. The first two quatrains of the poem introduce and subsequently reject the first group while alluding vaguely to the second, with the following two tercets formally introducing examples from it. I generally stayed faithful to the original French with two major exceptions, both made in order to more clearly convey the themes just mentioned. I decided to render line 3, which literally from the French goes something like “these feet with brodequins (high shoes), these fingers with castanets,” as “dressed up from head to toe in girlish levity” in order to focus on, with more universality, the idea of gaudiness and frivolity which Baudelaire aimed to communicate with the specific examples of brodequins and castanets. Likewise, in line 12, literally something like “or you, great Night, daughter of Michelangelo” I decided to replace the reference to Michelangelo with “by salvaged Art composed” in order to universally convey the Renaissance’s spirit of rescuing and reviving the ways of an older— and to Baudelaire, maybe better—time which Michelangelo was an embodiment of. One additional, smaller deviation also worth noting is my decision to replace the French’s “beautés de vignettes,” or “beauties of vignettes,” simply with “beauties cursory,” with the same reasoning as my translation for line 3. I’ve preser ved Baudelaire’s original iambic hexameter and rhyme scheme. the Gadfly / πόλις / January, 2023 23 �THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish a professional, informative, and thought provoking newsmagazine. Submissions sent to the Gadfly should either be in Google Docs or JPEG format. The deadline for submissions is the Friday prior to publication. For more information, contact us via email at sjca .g adfly@gmail.com 6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401 24 the Gadfly / Sept 22, 2022 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 24 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XLIV, Issue 6 Description An account of the resource Volume XLIV, Issue 6 of The Gadfly. Published January 16, 2023. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Koch, Craig (Editor-in-Chief) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-01-16 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource College students' writings--Periodicals College student newspapers and periodicals St. John's College--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly Vol XLIV issue 6 Gadfly Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/d85ee011b1086004960eb1bc6d379de2.pdf 4b5f46dff6f363a71ab5228b115e0d85 PDF Text Text St. John’s College Vol. XLIV, Issue 1 the Gadfly Annapolis, Maryland Sept 5, 2022 �CONTENTS Logos From the Editor's Desk 3 The Johnnies Come Marching Home 4 Finds From the Archives 6 Symposium On Governance 8 What's the Good of Liberal Education?12 Polis Etiquette for Johnnies 14 Smoke Without Mirrors 15 And They Gave Her a Fork 16 When Vineyards are Yearning Again17 Freshmen Bodies, Freshman Souls18 Polity Communications 19 THE STRUCTURE Logos typically holds news reports and narratives of immediate relevance to the Polity. The purpose here is to develop a shared reservoir of information relating to campus life and the community. The Managing Editor for Logos is El'ad Nichols-Kaufman. His email is eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu Symposium offers the opportunity for our readers to thoughtfully consider contrasting opinions regarding a particular topic. The Managing Editor for Symposium is Luke Briner. His email is lbriner@sjc.edu Polis serves as a platform for elevating voices in our community. Here we find letters to the editor, columns, cartoons, and submitted pieces. The Managing Editor for Polis is Daniel Nathan. His email is djnathan@sjc.edu THE COVER Photo of the Achilles Rager, taken by Liz Dowdy 2 the Gadfly / Sept 5, 2022 Contact Us You can contact us by email at sjca.gadfly@gmail. com or you can visit our office in the lower level of the BBC (Room 110). Office hours will be announced in a public email here shortly, though there will always be a submission box outside. Submissions, suggestions, comments, questions and concerns can be sent to us in any manner you please, although we can't promise we'll publish all of them. If you're interested in working for or with us, please reach out to the email above or to our Editor-in-Chief directly at cekoch@sjc.edu. If you live within 5 miles of campus and would like a physical copy of the paper delivered to you, email us! If you live or work on campus and would like a physical copy of the paper delivered to you via campus mail, email us! If you're interested in design, layout, art, photography, writing, thinking, organizing, or decorating, email us! If you're interested in eventually becoming a part of the Johnnie historical record, email us! If you have nothing better to do on the weekend, email us! Otherwise, have a good day, and enjoy our paper. THE STAFF Audrey Fox Cooper Ussery Craig Koch Daniel Nathan El'ad Nichols-Kaufman Isa Kiedrowski Liz Dowdy Luke Briner Meliha Anthony SUBMISSIONS Bryce Jacobsen Michael Jeramaz Robert Abbott �D From the Editor’s Desk: ear Polity, You have found yourself committed to a year of study, community, and, if you’re lucky, illumination. For much of the year, you will be alone—fixed in a chair, laid in bed, or otherwise at rest and restricted. You will be reading great books. In them, you will find the dead leftovers of great minds. When you first try to give life to their markings, you’ll find yourself faced with a picture show of shadows and echoes. It is important that you take these apparitions seriously: you should learn the shape of them, their names, and their order of appearance. You should have a memory for what you read. At the same time, you must hate the memory that is nothing more than succession. You must crave the song itself and the harmony it sings. To this end, you have many advantages over those cave dwellers who are otherwise so ‘like us.’ The movement of dialectic—so terrifying to those who were born bound and still—is perhaps familiar to you, exciting. Since childhood, you have been able to note the movements of your own body, voice, and ear. You may even have recognized your own deficiencies and sought to correct them by forming an account of the error and then rehearsing the position again, seeking new possibilities and new grips. If you have ever done this—if you have ever realized the capacity for confusion that differentiates you from the brutes—it is possible that you also found within yourself a new and surprising interest: λόγος, speech, and what it is others can teach you in conversation. Your ability to discover this love on your own is your greatest advantage over those cave-dwellers who cannot speak but must have speech imputed to them by one who can (515b). Not only can you utter sounds which name something greater than your reference, but you can talk with another and realize what binds you in agreement and what splits you apart. You can hear the song of thought and you can tell when it fails. Your education at St. John’s is an opportunity to practice this ability. For at least some of the time, though, you will find that your body and your voice fail you and that you are no better off than those in the cave who do nothing but sit and watch whatever is thrown in front of them. This is what we call doing the reading. When you find yourself like this, you must have a memory and remember what it is you’ve done all your life: you have moved or been moved and you have sometimes sought to make sense of those movements. In reading, you must do the same. But since the written word is dead and cannot move itself, and since you cannot move the text by the powers of your body or your voice, you must engage the text with your mind and find the song—the νοῦς, the arrangement—that makes the markings musical. Talking with others aloud after attempting this quietly on your own will always help the song become clearer, and your fellow learners will always help you find notes that you’ve missed. Through speech with them, the song itself will become clearer. Or, changing very little: through διάλογος, νοῦς. Working towards this end is the purpose of The Gadfly. We are a paper for you to speak through and to speak with. Please, then, converse with us throughout this year and write us whenever you see something in the magazine that warrants a printed reply, let us know when there is an event you think we ought to cover, submit your opinions or your researches, and generally dare to share and discuss what is shared. In short: treat The Gadfly as a continuation of what is best about St. John’s. Not just an attempt at reporting or distributing, but a project concerned with life and the continual attempt to live it well and with the right amount of color. Sincerely, Craig Koch the Gadfly / Sept 5, 2022 3 �{campus culture} The Johnnies Come Marching Home Again by El'ad Nichols-Kaufman '25 I t is a sight this campus has seen almost 230 times, and remains, in a way, novel at each one of them. The chaos of move in day: from the multitude of baffled freshmen searching for their next orientation session to the scores of upperclassmen trying to lug minifridges up four flights of stairs; followed by the lull between arrival and convocation, and then the frantic energy applied to the waltz, first seminar, and the beginning of classes. This year, too, the sight was familiar, although some changes to the polity still stood out. The most obvious of these are the changes to the physical footprint of campus, which has shifted beneath our feet over the summer. The health center has descended to more expansive quarters below Randall, and administration offices are shifting around from building to building. Parts of Mellon are still turned inside out as a construction site, and at the Board of Visitors and Governors meeting this summer, more substantial renovations to dorms were discussed. Less visible, but even more notable to returning Johnnies, are the new members of the College’s administration. Our new assistant dean is Mr. Abbot, who has long been a member of the polity and has written an article for another section of this issue, and our new athletic director is Rachel Fleming. The contributions of the college’s administrators to the daily life of the average Johnnie may not always be clear, but their impact on campus is unmistakable, and it will be exciting to see our new leader’s footprints. 4 the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 5, 2022 More intangibly, campus life is not quite the same as last year, either. Across the classes, the social and academic mood on campus is positive. “Socially, it feels like St. John’s is back, in a way that it didn’t feel like at the beginning of last year,” explained Peter Boersema, a junior. “I’m on the quad right now, and this is how I remember it last year. These conversations are going to go on for a long time… I’m excited about the year.” Academically, Connor Robinson, a sophomore, concurred with the sentiment. “The first seminar was the best I’ve ever had, and the second one was really good. I'm cautiously optimistic about the year.” Magnolia Vandiver, sophomore, explained further, “Having new tutors helps me see my classmates in a new way.” For the freshmen, of course, the newness of it all comes across rather differently. The simple absurdity of St. John’s is a change more drastic than any of the polity’s internal realignments. “St. John’s is a unique place,” explained Jonathan Teagan, a freshman. “I have never seen more nerds in one area since Comic-Con.” It’s comforting, at least for this sophomore, to know that with all the changes, even if they are all for the better, the Polity’s identity as a place of intellectual curiosity, academic interest and social strangeness still stands strong. The Bull by Franz Marc �{campus events} The First Waltz of the Year photos by Liz Dowdy '23 the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 5, 2022 5 �Finds from the Archives F inds from the Archives is a new addition to the magazine that will run in every issue. The intention of it is to offer the readership an ability to enjoy parts of St. John’s history that they otherwise might have missed while also encouraging us to realize and remember parts of that history as sources of inspiration. All items are from the Greenfield Library’s digital archive and are searchable by the titles given in bold. In the lower right hand corner of the second page, we've included a list of past lectures that relate to what students have recently read or shortly will read. Enjoy! The Perils of St. John's 1965 The Cover Page of The Modern Theatre Group's The Perils of St. Johns. The music was composed by a tutor, Mr. Michael Littleton, while the book and lyrics were written by students. Alex Valk orchestrated. The full text of the play is available online. It looks like it must have been quite the production. 6 the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 5, 2022 Charlotte C. Barham and Ellen M. Swinford Playing Baseball ca. 1981 Two St. John's students enjoying America's past time, with one of them looking to have just scored a run. �The Collegian: Senior Prank Lyrics 1975 The title page of the lyric book for the Senior Prank of 1975 in the normally quite serious Collegian. The songs for Junior and Senior year are particularly amusing. Jacob Klein Leading Tutorial ca. 1960-1970 Boxing Club program 1991 A flyer for a fundraising dance put on by the St. John's Pugilist Society. Included with the item is an essay: Toward a National Championship: The Metaphysics of Boxing. Friday Night Lectures Freshman The Heart of the Program. Annapolis; Joe Sachs; January 17th, 2004. Sophomore Jerusalem and Athens: The Family Drama in the Bible and Greek Thought. Annapolis; Ronna Burger; November 8th, 2019. Junior The Death of Don Quixote. Santa Fe; Cary Stickney; September 21st, 1990. Senior On Not Hating Hegel. Santa Fe; Cary Stickney. Mr. Klein leading a well-dressed class in tutorial. On Reading Hegel Before the Age of Eighty. Santa Fe; Janet Dougherty; October 8th, 2004. Hegel's Logic of Desire. Annapolis; Peter Kalkavage; March 24th, 1995. the Gadfly / λόγος / Sept 5, 2022 7 �On Governance Robert Abbott I have been thinking about the work of the Assistant Dean, and more broadly, the work of the faculty who do not teach in the classroom–but have some other office. This essay is in part concerned with the right use of words so I may as well be gin by saying that the word “officer” is an important one around here. It comes from the Latin words opus (work) and facere (to do), and originally meant, “someone who has a duty to do.” It also implies that the one occupying the office does so temporarily before passing off the work to someone else. “Officer” is the term we use to name those responsible for steering the College: the presidents, the deans, the treasurers, and College-wide officials. You can read more about who they are and what they do in our guiding document, the Polity, found on the College’s website or in the Assistant Dean’s office. The collection of such people at other institutions of learning is usually called The Administration. That phrase is not found in the Polity at least in that sense, but it has become usual in our everyday speech. It used to be frowned upon around here and I still do frown when I hear it. “Administration” connotes a large, impersonal bureaucracy when we should be referring to only a few individuals, not a collection of furniture. Another reason not to use it is that unlike the plural “officers,” “administration” is a singular noun, and implies that there is a collective will behind it. The leaders of the College should be individuals with separate minds, opinions, and spheres of responsibility, not constituents of an overarching, impersonal organization promoting a unified message. “Administration” comes from the word minus, as in “someone who is lesser than someone else, a servant.” An administrative servant might sound rather useful to you in your busy first few weeks here, but I hope to show that you should not want one. (A more idiosyncratic point: when I hear the word “administer” I think of being given a shot in the arm, or worse, a formulaic survey.) It may seem so, but the purpose of this essay is not to instigate a linguistic reformation–though we should 8 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 5, 2022 always take great care about the way we speak. The purpose of this essay is rather, as I said above, to think about the responsibilities of those who lead the College. If it is not to administer, what exactly is their work? I used a word that might more closely approximate it, “to steer.” As many of you know, I used to be a crew coach, and so I am partial to nautical metaphors. Perhaps if I use a different word for “steer,” a word with an even older etymology than “administration” or “officer,” my metaphor will be more like a definition. That word, “govern,” ultimately comes from the Greek word kubernan, “to steer.” One name for what the officers of the College are doing is governance, or, steering. A rudder, as James writes in his epistle, is a very small agent with a very great effect. All sorts of interesting and contradictory things can be going on inside a boat, but it goes where the steersman steers it. This is sometimes how the College works. Perhaps there is a question about what is to be done involving controversial and complex issues. When should we wear masks indoors? Should students be required to purchase alcohol for parties? What honorifics are to be used in the classroom? After all the conversation inside the boat, a decision must be made. Part of the officers’ work might be to make that decision. But something about this metaphor doesn’t sit quite right with me. Maybe it describes the way things look but doesn’t explain the way they are. For instance, it doesn’t answer a rather crucial question: how did all these people get in the boat in the first place? And for that matter, why do they remain? Why don’t they each build a boat, jump ship, and steer their own course? Though I began this essay by wondering what the work of the College’s leaders is, I have arrived at a new question: what cohesive principle underlies the College community, without which there would be no one to lead? It might be helpful now for you to be told or reminded of a practice the faculty has. Every month we gather as a body–fifty or so people–and have a meeting. The meeting �The Spirit of Knowledge by Henry Fuseli (1798) the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 5, 2022 9 �Man and Boy Walking Down Village Road by Jan van Goyen or Paul Liender is overseen by the president, and the faculty discusses whatever needs to be discussed. Sometimes there are matters of pressing concern. Is Freshman Advising an effective way to help students begin their education at the College? Is listening to a book the same as reading it in the traditional way? How ought tutors be involved in the admissions process? Sometimes there are more theoretical questions. What is the role of the practicum in the laboratory? How might we think about the readings in Senior Language as a whole? Is the College flourishing? All of these were questions discussed this past year. Meetings are lengthy and wide-ranging, and the conversation often opens unanticipated lines of inquiry. We speak in a spontaneous and candid manner. These sorts of conversations also occur in the committees responsible for discussing more specific matters: Campus Planning, Athletics, Financial Aid, Admissions, etc. If you 10 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 5, 2022 were to listen in on these conversations, you would find that no topic is too small or too large for serious attention. After all, what might seem to be a small matter is often linked to something greater. The faculty once considered– before digital media made their appearance–whether the coffeeshop should sell newspapers. This rested on a more fundamental question. What kind of attention should we encourage the students to cultivate: an immediate concern with the contemporary situation of the world or a settled contemplation of the fundamental questions underlying it? There are things to be said on both sides of this question, and they were. You would find similar and seemingly “administrative” questions considered with great seriousness over the decades the New Program has existed. Should there be a book drop at the library? Should the College maintain a scholarly journal? In what way should we represent ourselves to prospective students to convey �honestly and economically our essential aims and character? What is the optimal number of students on each campus so that we nurture a true community? This last question was taken up when ground had not yet been broken for Spector and Gilliam. The president held a public forum so that students could be informed of the plans to build two new dormitories and discuss what effect this might have on the community. Some students were concerned that more housing would mean a larger student body. It has turned out that the size of the College has only slightly increased, while more and more expensive housing in Annapolis has pushed many students to live on campus. The new dorms have accommodated that change. This kind of forum arises as needed but there are standing bodies in which matters of concern are regularly taken up by students. The Delegate Council, the Student Committee on Instruction, and the Committee on Student Life all have their role to play in governance. As I use that word again, “governance,” I am left with the same uneasy feeling. It does not capture what I have described above, particularly when I consider that the cohesive principle I am trying to grasp is present not only in formal deliberative bodies, but in informal conversations, at unscheduled times, and in private–standing in line at the dining hall, running into each other on the quad between classes, or conversing over the dinner table. It is both a duty and a feeling, an activity and an expectation, an honor and a joy. I believe I can name it more correctly by adding a simple but meaningful prefix to our previous designation. The special atmosphere we breathe around here is selfgovernance. You might think that self-governance is a delimited right to have a say over particular aspects of one’s well-being (such as health care) or one’s work (such as the classroom). But that is not the kind of self-governance that envisioned and built the College. Nor is self-governance merely the right to be heard or the right to representation. That would be the right to be a constituency—a paying or paid passenger on the boat. Self-governance is a way of deliberating about, taking care of, and acting for the whole good of the community of which one is a part. It is the reason we stay in the boat, and when it is lost, we will go our separate ways. You can now see why the notion of an administration acting as a servant to its master is so alien to the College. We are meant to govern ourselves. We do not need servants, and we do not want to be masters. Students too are meant to be self-governing individuals responsible for thinking about and caring for the whole. (You can find the Student Polity at the back of the Student Handbook.) We are not alone in attempting this way of life. The Athenians might recognize us as cousins–gossipy, inquisitive, perpetually active, not always effectual, deeply interested in what is best, questioning the limits of what is possible, preserving what we know to be fragile and hard-won traditions, knowing that it is a difficult but beautiful thing to rule and be ruled. It is a fragile form of government and not necessarily the best. It isn’t really a definite “form” of government at all, though those who care about self-governance conscientiously observe the written and unwritten conventions that sustain it. Besides being a shared activity, self-governance is, as I said above, a feeling. It is not a transient pleasure or pain, but an educable conviction like pride or shame, a bonedeep sensibility, something you both cherish and expect, like fine weather in May. By way of a humorous coda, I’ll share something I learned about the office of the Assistant Dean while I was reading the Student Handbook (available on the website). Towards the middle of the Handbook there is a helpful list called, “Whom to See about What.” The last item to see the Assistant Dean about is, “Anything not handled by anyone else.” It is wise to have such an indeterminate provision in one’s constitution. As you talk to upperclassmen, tutors, and staff, you will naturally figure out “whom to see about what” and get to know your community at the same time. I encourage you to ask questions of those you meet, just as you would in the classroom. And should you ever not know what to do with your question, please feel free to drop by the office of the Assistant Dean. the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 5, 2022 11 �What's the Good of a Liberal Education? Luke Briner A s the first cracks of the new year’s dawn finally make their way above the summer’s horizon, and as a new class of wide-eyed freshmen set their feet on those ancient red bricks of ours for the first time, filled with anxiety and anticipation for what our College will bring them, it seems important now more than ever to ask what exactly we intend to accomplish at St. John’s. What, we must ask ourselves, is the good of a liberal education? Advocates of liberal education often argue at the outset that it’s devoid of any external, material, utilitarian end. This is pretty apparent from the constitution of liberal education as a whole; by dipping our toes into virtually every facet of human life through the seven Arts of the trivium and quadrivium,1 we’re intentionally prevented from concentrating on any particular field or trade with concrete application. But these advocates argue that the lack of this kind of good is precisely liberal education’s strength. Ms. Eva Brann, in her Manifesto for Liberal Education, provides an explanation for this lack of utilitarian intent: “[I]n education utility is impractical. Eventually almost everyone had better become a this or a that…. but parents and the world owe the young some (let it be four) clear years for becoming not a this or a that, but for learning to be a human being, whose powers of thought are well exercised, whose imagination is well stocked, whose will has conceived some large human purpose, and whose passions have found some find object of love about which to crystallize.” If we aren’t learning to “become a this or that” but “to be a human being” on the level that Ms. Brann describes, then clearly liberal education is intended to bear internal rather than external fruits, its aim being the excellence of the human being in themselves rather than in this or that particular sense. What must be explained next, then, is exactly how this sort of excellence is fostered. By carefully considering and questioning “what is elementary in all subject matters,”2 students tend to and are intended to begin asking the deeper philosophical, moral, or simply human questions that underlie life. In this dialectical deepening, 12 the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 5, 2022 the line between the examination of a text or idea and the examination of the self blurs. It’s the student’s active presence to this blurring that makes it possible for them to fundamentally change their perspectives and characters; dialectic and dialogue on what is elementary in our thought is necessary in order to interface with what is elementary in ourselves. This is precisely why Socrates remarks to Meno that a state of deep questioning and perplexity is necessary for the improvement of our thinking and our lives,3 and why Mr. Stringfellow Barr writes that “we can never live wholly human lives without a genuine converse between men.”4 But something is wrong in supposing so straightforwardly that liberal education brings about the moral betterment of human beings. While I agree that the purpose of liberal education is to bring this about, I confess that I’ve become highly skeptical of its actual ability to do precisely that. We can talk all we want about liberal education being in the business of “freeing minds,” as one of our own College’s slogans proclaims, or generally of creating excellent human beings; but even a cursory observation of liberal arts students makes clear that many if not most of us are far from actually living up to that standard. Taken as a whole, I don’t believe we’re any more temperate, courageous, prudent, or just than any other random swath of human beings, in spite of us likely having spent a great deal more time reading and discussing fancy old books than they have. By this fact alone, it’s clearly no guarantee, nor is it necessarily even probable, that our minds will be “freed” and our characters improved in the way that we’ve considered. But if liberal education has no practical utility, and if even the internal benefit it boasts of is infrequent at best, then its moral value must be extremely limited. Socrates’ question about whether virtue really can be taught seems to be the right one, since people can turn out morally deficient even after the most excellent education.5 As Seneca held that “​​[p]eople prone to every fault they denounce are walking advertisements of the uselessness of their training,”6 so I hold that people who fall short of every ideal that they set for themselves are walking advertisements of the same. �Moreover, other forms of education operate under the assumption that “each tree is known by its own fruit” (Luke 6.44). For instance, engineering schools aim to generally produce good engineers, and schools that fall short of consistently achieving this are rightly considered failures. But if the same principle holds for liberal education with its end being to produce truly, fundamentally excellent human beings, shouldn’t we consider it a failure too, considering it falls short of achieving that end for most of its students? Even when we consider cases where liberal education comes off best, with the student truly blossoming into excellence by submitting to its discipline, its efficacy still seems questionable to me. In such cases, we need to ask whether the student’s character was changed by it in the sense that it was a true efficient cause, or whether they already had noble intentions beforehand, which they then simply realized through it. If it’s true, as Ms. Brann says, that “it is flabbily inflated and implausible to talk of teaching students to think—no one can do that,”7 then while liberal education is capable of facilitating the improvement of a will already sincerely invested in its own moral improvement, it isn’t capable of instilling that will itself in them. But if this is the case, then liberal education is in a sense morally redundant, since it only really helps those who already have the earnest will to become better people through it. In other words, the moral efficacy of liberal education appears to be limited by the fact that it can only help those who care about it in the first place—which is itself due to a prior moral will—and so cannot convert a non-moral to a moral will; at the very least, it hasn’t been made clear that this conversion is directly possible. We must ask again, then: what’s the good of a liberal education? What’s clear enough, at least, is that the relationship between liberal education and excellence of character is not a causal one—the former in no way necessarily leads to the latter, despite the latter being the former’s professed benefit. But even though there’s no causal relationship between them, it remains that liberal education at least potentially has great benefit insofar as it allows for and facilitates the development of a genuinely moral character. Since liberal education points not outwardly but inwardly, and intends thereby to focus the students upon their own selves, it gives the student the ability to genuinely determine what they believe to be the Right and the Good, independent of any other consideration—to ground themselves upon a foundation that they have intentionally, organically, and rationally developed. And if this remains true, then perhaps it isn’t actually necessary that we begin our liberal education with the explicit will to become an excellent human being in order to actually become one through it, but only with the will to take the actual work of that education, i.e., dialogue and dialectic, seriously—to open our minds and our hearts to it, and to sincerely give ourselves to the terrifying and delightful perplexity that noble character and moral conviction can at last burst forth from. If we’re able to do just this earnestly and resolutely, then a deeper transformation of the moral character seems feasible, since it remains true that it’s only through dialogue and dialectic that the grounds for such a transformation is possible. This, I venture, is the true good of a liberal education: that it alone, out of all the disciplines of the world, has even the possible capacity of helping us to develop this kind of will. Liberal education, therefore, is a worthy study for human beings, as Seneca reflects, “[n]ot because it can make them morally good but because it prepares the mind for the acquisition of moral values.”8 And if it’s true that the development of genuinely moral character does in fact remain the exclusive domain of liberal education, then it turns out after all that such an education is indispensable for living a good life, since it’s only by the fruit of the dialectically-achieved self-understanding and self-mastery that it provides that a truly moral character can be achieved. If this conclusion has any shred of truth in it, then the most crucial factor in determining whether any of us actually derive any good from our education at St. John’s is ourselves. If we give ourselves to our Program, then the Program will give itself to us—and, on that principle, we can choose for ourselves whether to chisel our inner statues until the “godlike splendor of virtue”9 begins to shine from it, or to squander some of the choicest and most formative years of our lives. Let’s, then, try to emulate Socrates and become devoted midwives for each other and thereby for ourselves, giving birth not only to great ideas, but to great souls; and, in doing so, do honor not only to ourselves but to the very pursuit of Wisdom. Let us try to become living testaments to the good that a liberal education can still have. notes (1) The trivium consists of grammar, rhetoric, and logic; the quadrivium consists of astronomy, music, geometry, and arithmetic. Together, they make up the Seven Liberal Arts which our own Program, and liberal education in general, is centered upon. (2) Brann, A Manifesto for Liberal Education, Thesis Two. (3) Plato, Meno, 84b-c. (4) Notes on Dialogue, §2. (5) Meno, 93a-96d. (6) Letters From a Stoic, Letter CVIII. (7) A Manifesto for Liberal Education, Thesis Three. (8) Letters From a Stoic, letter LXXXVIII. (9) Plotinus, Ennead I.6.9. the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Sept 5, 2022 13 �{campus opinon} Etiquette for Johnnies Isa Kiedrowski T echnically, I suppose a better title would have been “Etiquette- and Manners-Based Customs and Traditions at St. John’s College,” but that’s a mouthful, and your average reader would have already skimmed on to the next article already. Other discarded titles included “Sit Down, Shut Up, Start Talking: A Guide to Classroom Manners,” which didn’t have quite the tone I was going for, and “Yes, You Should Stand Before The Lecture Begins.” And while one might think some of the etiquette at St. John’s belongs to the “Cult of Antiquity,” I would like to posit that it does not. Respect has yet to become unfashionable, after all. Archaic though some of these customs may seem, at the end of the day, they are all rooted in plain good manners. Tutorials You may have by now noticed that we address each other by last name and honorific. While it is permissible to occasionally slip up and call your friend by their first name in class, there is one rule you must forever observe: Ms. Brann is never to be called “Eva.” Ever. I saw a freshman do it once. Only once. He was never heard from again. I recently read that answering the call of nature, as it were, is discouraged during tutorials. Technically, that is true. But don’t sacrifice your bladder for your tutorial. You will be of far less use to everyone if you spontaneously combust during your music class. Lectures Stand at the beginning. Stand at the end. Avoid looking at your phone in the middle. Waltz Parties Dancing and etiquette have always been deeply intertwined. So much so, in fact, that it warrants an article of its own. Dancing was once the social activity to top them all, and it came with its own set of rules, regulations, and conventions devoted to ensuring that all involved had at least a tolerable time. Some were useful (the notion that “cutting in”—simply tapping a fellow on the shoulder to borrow his partner—is the height of rudeness, and ought only to be employed in extreme circumstances), others cruel (that a girl who realizes that she is unpopular ought to spare everyone the trouble of her presence and go home, to “look around for other worlds to conquer”), and others that were definitely a product of their time (dancing more than twice with the same partner could be considered tantamount to announcing one’s engagement). Some of these rules have trickled down to us, others have been mercifully abandoned. A rule I really wish I didn’t have to bring up involves hands—namely, their location. Suffice it to say that hands should not wander from their standard positions. Trust me when I say there’s no way your hands got there by accident. Not only does it make one run for the smelling salts, but it could also devolve into a Title IX case. Yours truly also happens to be of the opinion that Waltz Parties would be greatly improved by the addition of dance cards, but that is a discussion for another Waltz Committee meeting. Seminars We’re getting back into the swing of post-Zoom things, but it bears reminding that the mute button no longer exists. This means that one unfortunately cannot mutter Reality snide things under one’s breath. It also means that it’s I don’t think etiquette has ever applied here. So you have easier to talk over one’s classmates again. I certainly don’t want to cause anyone any more anxiety than they already my permission: go hog-wild if you want. Maybe hold the have, but please remember that your classmates have things door on occasion, though? to say as well. “I’m sorry. Please, do go ahead,” is always a good response if you find the beginning of your sentence colliding with the middle of someone else’s. Technically, seminars have no end time, hence the seminar last year that lasted three hours (apologies if the wound is still fresh). There is no good way to end a seminar reprinted from early if you aren’t a tutor. The Gadfly Vol XLIII, Issue 02 14 the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 5, 2022 �{smoke without mirrors} Smoke Without Mirrors Year 3: Your Annual Report on Nictoine and New Beginnings Daniel Nathan A t St. John’s, nicotine usage—cigarettes, more to the point—is an oft undertaken habit. A lifestyle to some. A cultural flashpoint to others. School spirit to many. From the legends of smoking in seminar to the ten minute (not necessarily a smoke, but effectively a smoke) break during long lab, cigarettes have long been a St. John’s staple. Will it stay that way? Can it stay that way? Before that, some context. First, they came for the mango Juul pods, then it was the menthol cigarette ban, then there was the initial order banning Juuls altogether, which a federal appeals court temporarily blocked. “They,” of course, is the cold, paternal hand of the FDA. Over the course of last few years, there has been a wave of anti-smoking and anti-vaping policy enacted by Washington directed at lowering usage amongst America’s youngest and hopefully halting the rise of addiction amongst susceptible zoomers. From the lowering of nicotine levels in cigarettes to tightening restrictions on fruit-flavored and sweet-smelling vape products, an old crusade is being renewed, harkening back to the days of the Big Tobacco lawsuits of the late 90s and early aughts. These lawsuits—many of them class action—swung public opinion firmly against Big Tobacco and severely hamstrung the industry’s influence and stature, and, not to mention, cost the largest tobacco corporations billions, which they are still paying out to this day. Fast forwarding to the present, not only have new technologies such as vapes and other electronic cigarettes revolutionized the tobacco industry, but nicotine use has risen steadily and staggeringly in recent years. These discreet “smokeless” alternatives have rushed the market over the last decade or so. A 2018 study conducted by NIH found that over 37% of 12th graders had tried vape products, a 9% increase from the previous year, and trends indicate that without substantial intervention these numbers will continue to rise. Since students returned to campus in the spring of 2021 after the initial wave of Covid and shutdowns during the pandemic, there have been a slew of changes on campus enacted by the college’s administration. The ashtrays around campus and near the quad were removed and smokers were driven into their huddled masses, confined to the grassy knoll beside the Campbell parking lot and bordering the Paca-Carroll dorms. During the summer semester of 2021, students were even threatened with fines and expulsion from on-campus living if they were caught smoking outside the approved smoking area. Though few students faced this wrath, the message had been sent loud and clear: any sort of cigarette culture at St. John’s—like at many other institutions—was a thing of the past. And if it must stay, it will be tucked far, far away, where no can hear you or see you or God forbid smell you. But as 2021’s fall semester began, complaints soon started to roll in from residents of Paca-Carroll that the odor of cigarette smoke was wafting into dorm rooms. Thus, the smoking section was moved once again to the spot where it now lives and breathes and will most assuredly die: the desolate puka shell necklace of chairs and ashtrays wrapped around long-dead grass, tucked in between the tennis courts and the gym. What I have so graciously dubbed: The Most Depressing Place on Earth. The current smoking section goes by many names. Originally called the Fern Lounge by admin, this name did not stick, and some enterprising individuals started to refer to it as Wolf Mountain, or by its full territorial title: Bone Tree at Wolf Mountain. Simple, sleek, elegant. But whatever the name may be, it now rests as the one and only designated (key word) spot to smoke on campus—a second designated spot technically does exist behind Spector hall, near where Buildings and Grounds are located, which may as well be off-campus. Nevertheless, for all you smokers and non-smokers alike, you teetotalers and vapists, the important thing is to remember that there is a new year upon us, and You Have Made It. Whether it was through the rejection letter from Brown or due to a somewhat suspicious love of western intellectual heritage, you are here. And through the ups and downs, the pulling out of hair and the tugging of heartstrings, we are all in for another year at St. John’s College, whatever that may entail. So, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 5, 2022 15 �{and they gave her a fork} Greetings! (And a review of Bread and Butter Kitchen) Audrey Fox T he pursuit of an Annapolis Foodie is trite and contradictory, a bit of a paradox one might say. “All Annapolis Foodies are Liars!” I shout as I proceed to enjoy an overpriced salad in the warm industrial lighting of some wine bar. So take what I say with a grain of salt, or perhaps a whole fistful, if you’re willing to follow an assuredly blind guide. Before I get into the particulars, my overall review of the Annapolis food scene is thus: it’s a scam, rarely worth your hard earned dollars! Thomas Jefferson would be rolling in his grave. No pursuit of happiness left in Annapolis, only total disappointment. However, for the sake of you, good reader, I wish to take you down the treacherous path of optimism and seek as many worthwhile dives in order to keep your hard working brains and well-restrained mouths satisfied for this coming year. You’re going to have to forgive me, good reader. My first review has two outstanding issues that I must confess before continuing. One: as I am writing this review in order to prove to my magnanimous editors my critical capabilities and appetite, the contents will be supplied mainly from memory and not from a recent restaurant trip. In the future, I hope to provide more details and accurate meal prices for my reviews. Two: the location of said restaurant is in Eastport, not Annapolis. Please do not fret! It is within walking distance, and the directions I will now give. It’s 8am on a Saturday, and while you usually find dining hall brunch a satisfying enough meal, today it’s just not going to cut it. You don’t just want breakfast food, you are craving comfort, you are craving warmth, might I say–joy? Joy is not always found in dining hall brunch. So you gather the troops together, coaxing hungover friends from their dens as a mother goose to her goslings does, and you lead them off campus onto the treacherous streets of Annapolis. You head down Main Street, towards the docks. You’re going to go down Compromise Street and lo and behold a bridge! Well you and your comrades cross this bridge and come to Severn Ave and make a left. From there walk a few blocks down to Second Street and make another left and on the right side of the block, dear reader, you’ll find a favorite spot of mine called Bread and Butter Kitchen. At first glance it does not seem very impressive, just a small, unimposing place by the Eastport docks. But I promise you there are few breakfast joints as good and 16 the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 5, 2022 Bread and Butter Kitchen 303 Second Street, Suite A 410-202-8680 breadandbutterkitchen.com Open all week from 7:30 AM-3:00 PM. affordable as here. The atmosphere is cozy, a few tables inside plus a bar overlooking the water. On nice days they have outdoor seating and a seemingly endless stream of middle aged men with ponytails to play guitar for the guests. I’ve personally always come here in the dead of winter, and nothing beats walking inside after crossing the nefarious bridge with its icy breeze. All the breakfast options are great. I’d recommend either the southern chicken biscuit sandwich or the pancakes (with blueberries). The biscuits are freshly baked and absolutely divine. I am a northerner myself but a southerner I’ve gone with hath hailed them a proper biscuit. Most of their ingredients are sourced locally and they make a majority from scratch–including their delicious chorizo gravy and their sausage. Hands down, I’ve never had better breakfast sausage. They include a variety of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options/substitutions on their menu, which is rare to find at Annapolis casual dining establishments. In my experience, they also have an extremely friendly staff who will always take the opportunity to chat when the restaurant isn’t too busy. On the beverage side, nothing remarkable. They serve Open Sea’s Coffee which gets the job done but is definitely not worth the trip out. They do have an impressive bottled beverage selection, such as local kombucha and bottled sodas, but again I’d be going there for the irresistible food, not the drinks. I think Bread and Butter Kitchen is more than worth the trip out. In fact, I think it would serve any Johnnie well to get away from campus if only for the morning. A walk slightly outside one’s usual trodden path is a fabulous way to chance upon something different and maybe even exciting (God willing). My final words: break out of that stifling routine and get you and your friends going on a little culinary adventure! �{poetry} When Vineyards are Yearning Again Michael Jeramaz In the valley where an angel naps You’ll see her shining eyelids asleep, perhaps And the calling of a noble wren When the vineyards are yearning again. How small is the sky! The lining fatal Like a blanket over a baby cradle While purple mountains sit proud intermission Goodbye to you songbird who flew on our wishes. But all this lasts when the angel’s heart beats When all woodland creatures get to their feet When echoes are stretched and singing reborn When young Boys and Girls choose to transform. So in the beginning of my second life I’ve planted some sunflowers in my strife Like how wine from a grape has forever been All when vineyards are yearning again. the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 5, 2022 17 �{johnnie athletics} Freshmen Bodies, Freshmen Souls The reasons, both physical and metaphysical, why everyone ought to become involved in our sports program are many. I list a few: 1. We have the best athletic program of any college in the country. 2. Exercise is good for the body... unless you sprain an ankle, or something like that. 3. Most of us feel better, are more alert, and can get more work done if our bodies are healthy and our souls relaxed. 4. Friendly competition is one of the really fun things in life. It is good for your soul. 5. Your circle of acquaintances will be greatly enlarged. This is good for the soul, provided you can separate the wheat from the chaff. 6. You will learn to accept, and bear with, thousands of split-second decisions from the officials, a few of which are wrong. This is very good for the soul. 7. Do you like to strive for, and achieve, specific goals? If so, consider our College Blazers. They are much sought after, and the pathway is clearly laid out. Striving for goals is good for your soul. 8. It is probably true that more pure fun occurs in the athletic program than in any other area of the college. Fun is good for your soul. 9. If you get involved in team sports, and become a “good team player”, you have realized that there are things in the Universe that are more important than your ego. That is good for your soul. 10. The benefits of exercise and friendly competition, learned while one is young, should be maintained for the rest of your life... i.e., they should become habitual. For virtue, as the Philosopher said, is a habit. 11. You will get to know numerous Alumni, Tutors, and Staff members who participate in the program. This is good for your soul, or ought to be... provided that they are the proper sort of role models. 12. Our showers are the best at the college; always plenty of hot water. 13. Are you bothered by, or worried by, tobacco fumes in the air? Come to the gym. The whole building is a nicotine-free zone. 14. If you perform some sort of heroic deed on the athletic field, your name will be mentioned in our weekly column. Heroes are always acclaimed. But do not be carried away by this. Remember that “the paths of glory lead but to the grave.” 15. A high percentage of our best students are active participants in our program. 16. Those who play, stay. 17. The gym is not particularly well-equipped, as gyms go. But it has washers and dryers, and a coke-machine... and I will explain to you, if you ask me, how you can get yourself in tip-top physical shape, without any equipment at all. 18. You can sit in an old-time barber’s chair in my office... you can pump yourself up or down, and adjust the slope high or low. Where else can you do that? 19. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. 20. It is better to light a candle, than to curse the darkness. So there you have it... twenty good reasons why you should participate in our athletic program. If you are not convinced by all this, come and talk with me... I can probably think of some more good reasons. Or better yet, talk with the upperclassmen. They will tell you all sorts of strange, interesting and wondrous things. original article by Bryce Jacobsen former Director of Athletics The Gadfly - September 9, 1982 18 the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 5, 2022 �Polity Communications D ear Polity - For this year of the Gadfly, we will be trying something new. Here, in the Polity Communication section, we want to publish your thoughts, concerns, letters, and announcements. This section will be an opportunity for you to directly communicate with the Gadfly staff and our writers as well as the wider St. John’s community. Think of it as a cross between “letters to the editor” and a community message board. If you have something you’d like us to include here for the next issue, please send it to sjca.gadfly@gmail.com by September 10th. Sincerely, The Gadfly Staff the Gadfly / πόλις / Sept 5, 2022 19 �THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, staff, and alumna of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish a professional, informative, and thought provoking newsmagazine. Submissions sent to the Gadfly should either be in Google Docs or JPEG format. The deadline for submissions is the Friday prior to publication. For more information, contact us via email at sjca .g adfly@gmail.com 6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401 20 the Gadfly / Sept 5, 2022 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 20 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XLIV, Issue 1 Description An account of the resource Volume XLIV, Issue 1 of The Gadfly. Published September 5, 2022. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Koch, Craig (Editor-in-Chief) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2022-09-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource College students' writings--Periodicals College student newspapers and periodicals St. John's College--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly Vol XLIV issue 1 Gadfly Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/c9ac81b7f2b1d788470b5182a25fb71b.mp3 e831dff12ad13f3f17bfbbbbe9754434 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College. During the Fall and Spring semesters, lectures are given on Friday nights. Items include audio and video recordings and typescripts.<br /><br />For more information, and a schedule of upcoming lectures, please visit the <strong><a href="http://www.sjc.edu/programs-and-events/annapolis/formal-lecture-series/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">St. John's College website</a></strong>.  <br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="Formal Lecture Series" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=5&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection.<br /><br />A growing number of lecture recordings are also available on the St. John's College (Annapolis) Lectures podcast. Visit <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/st-johns-college-annapolis-lectures/id1695157772">Apple Podcasts</a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6GDsIRqC8SWZ28AY72BsYM?si=f2ecfa9e247a456f" title="Spotify">Spotify</a> to listen and subscribe. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context formallectureseriesannapolis Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data audiocassette Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 00:59:45 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource From Ancient Agony to Contemporary Ecstasy: The Gospel at Colonus Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture delivered on January 18, 2008, by Theophus "Thee" Smith as part of the Formal Lecture Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Smith, Theophus Harold Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-01-18 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Permission received Type The nature or genre of the resource sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Subject The topic of the resource Gospel at Colonus (Choreographic work) Religion and drama African American Pentecostal churches Tragedy--Greek influences Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LEC_Smith_Theophus_2008-01-18_ac Alumni Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/2546af82b5c97bb1c25a03b83e1b7fe8.mp3 ade347419384b68d6e591be897954869 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College. During the Fall and Spring semesters, lectures are given on Friday nights. Items include audio and video recordings and typescripts.<br /><br />For more information, and a schedule of upcoming lectures, please visit the <strong><a href="http://www.sjc.edu/programs-and-events/annapolis/formal-lecture-series/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">St. John's College website</a></strong>.  <br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="Formal Lecture Series" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=5&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection.<br /><br />A growing number of lecture recordings are also available on the St. John's College (Annapolis) Lectures podcast. Visit <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/st-johns-college-annapolis-lectures/id1695157772">Apple Podcasts</a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6GDsIRqC8SWZ28AY72BsYM?si=f2ecfa9e247a456f" title="Spotify">Spotify</a> to listen and subscribe. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context formallectureseriesannapolis Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data audiocassette Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 01:51:05 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Form and Figure in Greek Art: Ideal Beauty, Individualism, and Political Space in Greek Architecture and Sculpture Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture delivered on February 16, 2007, by Camille Paglia as part of the Formal Lecture Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Paglia, Camille, 1947- Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-02-16 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource A signed permission form has been received stating, "I hereby grant St. John's College permission to: Make a recording of my lecture, and retain copies for circulation and archival preservation at the St. John’s College Greenfield Library. Make a recording of my lecture available online." Type The nature or genre of the resource sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Subject The topic of the resource Architecture, Greek Sculpture, Greek Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LEC_Paglia_Camille_2007-02-16_ac Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/078831fe59a8098112e5933ab2252130.pdf b63461ee3ff0df82302176919bd987bc PDF Text Text MITCHELL GALLERY 2021–22 PAST EXHIBITIONS AND PROGRAMS A SEASON OF SHAKESPEARE: BRONZE WORKS BY GREG WYATT August 23–October 15, 2021 A VIEW FROM THE SHORE: WINSLOW HOMER’S IMPRESSION FROM THE COAST October 16–December 17, 2021 FLOATING BEAUTY: WOMEN IN THE ART OF UKIYO-E January 7–February 25, 2022 PHOTO | BRUT: COLLECTION BRUNO DECHARME January 29–March 21, 2022 ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE COMMUNITY ART EXHIBITION May 9–15, 2022 �A SEASON OF SHAKESPEARE: BRONZE WORKS BY GREG WYATT AUGUST 23–OCTOBER 15, 2021 Greg Wyatt, Macbeth, bronze maquette. On the St. John’s College Quad at McDowell Hall Greg Wyatt, an American sculptor whose primary medium of artistic expression is cast bronze, is the sculptor-in-residence at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City. Wyatt is known for his public works throughout the United States and Europe, and is inspired and guided by poetry, classicism, Shakespeare, Italian Renaissance masters, and architecture. Wyatt’s sculptures can also be seen in the gardens at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Georgetown University Medical Center, Arlington National Cemetery, and many other major institutions. These maquettes, located on the quad at St. John’s College, will provide a preview for the full exhibition to be on view in the Mitchell Gallery in fall 2022. All exhibitions and most programs are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Links to events will be posted on the website prior to the event. This exhibition is organized by the Newington-Cropsey Foundation and the Mitchell Gallery. We thank the following for their continuous funding and support: Anne Arundel County, Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, the City of Annapolis, The Helena Foundation, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, the Maryland State Arts Council, the Estate of Elizabeth Myers Mitchell, the Mitchell Gallery Board of Advisors, Members of the Mitchell Gallery, Mrs. Ruth Mitchell, the John and Hilda Moore Fund, the Lillian Vanous Nutt Mitchell Gallery Endowment, and the Clare Eddy and Eugene V. Thaw Fine Arts Fund. Sponsors:  American Alliance of Museums, Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, Maryland State Arts Council �PROGRAMS AND EVENTS August 23: Online opening of exhibition A Season of Shakespeare: Bronze Works by Greg Wyatt August 23–October 15: Online Lecture “The Creativity of Bronze” by Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. September 19: Live-stream interview with artist Greg Wyatt, 3 p.m. This interview, followed by a Q & A period, will offer insights on Wyatt’s inspirations as seen in his sculptures of Shakespeare’s characters, as well as the collaboration and production of bronze sculptures. September 30: Book Club, 2:30–4:30 p.m. Site tour of the exhibition (conditions permitting), followed by discussion of Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood, led by Janet Gellici. Registration required. October 14: Art Express, 12:15–12:45 p.m. Lunchtime site tour (conditions permitting) with Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. �A VIEW FROM THE SHORE: WINSLOW HOMER’S IMPRESSION FROM THE COAST OCTOBER 16–DECEMBER 17, 2021 Winslow Homer (1836–1910) is regarded by many as the preeminent American painter of the 19th century, well known for his dynamic renditions of scenes from the coast. His rise to prominence was greatly due to his work as an illustrator for the then-booming pictorial press—an outlet that brought Homer’s imagery into hundreds of thousands of homes on a nearly weekly basis. During his tenure with such publications as Ballou’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, and Harper’s Weekly, Homer created more than 200 illustrations. His career as an illustrator began in 1857 and ended in 1875, at which point he dedicated himself solely to painting. Homer’s images were admired early for their engaging style and dynamic composition. Jacob Lawrence, (1917-2000), General Toussaint L’Ouverture, 1986–1997, silkscreen. © Jacob Lawrence, courtesy of Landau Traveling Exhibitions. Following a trip to Europe, illustrated in the double-spread impression Homeward Bound (1867), Homer’s compositions for the press became noticeably more developed and sophisticated. Impressions including Gloucester Harbor (1873), Sea Side Sketches—A Clam-Bake (1873), and Seesaw-Gloucester, Massachusetts (1874) reflect a mature understanding and relationship to the engraving process. Though he did not participate in the printing of the block, Homer did have approval over the interpretation of his imagery and only used specific engravers for his impressions, maintaining his involvement in the process. The prints on display are selected from the original newspaper editions. The pictorial press enlisted an army of artists, engravers, platemakers, and printers to publish these works. While it is the draftsmen we focus on, the unnamed craftsmen who engraved and printed these images deserve recognition for bringing these mass-produced publications into the homes of 19th-century families. This exhibition is organized by Syracuse University Art Museum and curated by Andrew Saluti. We thank the following for their continuous funding and support: Anne Arundel County, Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, the City of Annapolis, the Helena Foundation, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, the Maryland State Arts Council, the Estate of Elizabeth Myers Mitchell, the Mitchell Gallery Board of Advisors, Members of the Mitchell Gallery, Mrs. Ruth Mitchell, the John and Hilda Moore Fund, the Lillian Vanous Nutt Mitchell Gallery Endowment, and the Clare Eddy and Eugene V. Thaw Fine Arts Fund. Sponsors: American Alliance of Museums, Maryland State Arts Council, Arts Council of Anne Arundel County �PROGRAMS AND EVENTS October 16: Online opening of exhibition A View from the Shore: Winslow Homer’s Impressions of the Coast October 16–December 17: Online Lecture “Winslow Homer: Printer and Painter” by Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. Prerecorded lecture. Premieres October 15, available through December 17. October 20: Art Express, 12:15–12:45 p.m. Lunchtime Tour with Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. November 3: Discussion, 5:30 p.m. “Illustrator to Artist: Winslow Homer and the Public” with American art scholar Wilford Scott. November 14: Live-stream lecture by exhibition curator Andrew Saluti, 3 p.m. This lecture, followed by a Q&A period, will provide insights into Homer’s career as an engraver and its importance in American art history. Watch the recorded lecture via YouTube. Andrew Saluti is assistant professor and program coordinator of the Graduate Program in Museum Studies at Syracuse University. Before joining the faculty of the School of Design, Saluti was the chief curator of exhibitions, programs and education for the Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Libraries, and the assistant director of the Syracuse University Art Galleries and Collections. Saluti’s creative research centers on the curatorship and history of printmaking, specifically the relationship to prints in social context. Current projects include the text The Preparator’s Handbook: A Practical Guide for the Prep and Installation of Collection Objects (Rowman & Littlefield), and the catalogue raisonné of the prints of Louisa Chase. December 9: Book Club, 2:30–4:30 p.m. Online tour of the exhibition, followed by discussion of Winslow Homer in Gloucester by D. Scott Atkinson and Jochen Wierich. Please contact the Mitchell Gallery for this out-of-print book. Discussion moderated by the author Jochen Wierich. Registration required. Jochen Wierich holds a dual appointment as Associate Professor at Aquinas College and as Curator of Sculpture and Sculpture Exhibitions at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. He studied Art History and American Studies at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf and at the Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main and received his Ph.D. in American Studies at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. His teaching appointments in art history include Vanderbilt University, Whitman College, Free University in Berlin, and Belmont University. As a museum professional he has worked at the Terra Museum of American Art in Chicago, the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture in Spokane, Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art in Nashville, and the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson. In addition to a Terra Foundation Senior Visiting Fellowship in Berlin, Wierich had pre- and post-doctoral fellowships at the Smithsonian Institution as well as Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library. His publications include two books published by Penn State Press: Emanuel Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware, and American History Painting (2012) and Internationalizing the History of American Art: Views (2009), an anthology co-edited with Barbara Groseclose. His essays cover a range of topics and artists in American art, including Richard Caton Woodville, Lilly Martin Spencer, Emanuel Leutze, Winslow Homer, the Taos Society of Artists, The Eight, Winold Reiss, and Plantation images in the American South. �FLOATING BEAUTY: WOMEN IN THE ART OF UKIYO-E JANUARY 7–FEBRUARY 25, 2022 Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), Standing Courtesan, 1828, ink on paper. This exhibition of woodblock prints examines the historical perspectives of women and their depiction in art in Edo period Japan (1615–1858). Female characters in literature, kabuki theater, and poetry; the courtesans and geisha of the Yoshiwara district; and wives and mothers from different social classes performing the duties of their station are depicted in ways that provide some insight into the lives of women in pre-modern Japan. This exhibition is organized by the Reading Public Museum, Reading, PA. Exhibition support is provided by Casey and Rex Pingle. We thank the following for their continuous funding and support: Anne Arundel County, Arts Council Anne Arundel, the City of Annapolis, The Helena Foundation, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, the Maryland State Arts Council, the Estate of Elizabeth Myers Mitchell, the Mitchell Gallery Board of Advisors, Members of the Mitchell Gallery, Mrs. Ruth Mitchell, the John and Hilda Moore Fund, the Lillian Vanous Nutt Mitchell Gallery Endowment, and the Clare Eddy and Eugene V. Thaw Fine Arts Fund. Gifts-in-kind: Up.St.ART Annapolis. Sponsors: Foundation for the Reading Public Museum, American Alliance of Museums, Maryland State Arts Council, Arts Council of Anne Arundel County �PROGRAMS AND EVENTS January 7: Online opening of exhibition Floating Beauty: Women in the Art of Ukiyo-e January 7–February 25: Online Lecture “Floating Beauty: Women in the Art of Ukiyo-e” by Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. Prerecorded lecture. Premieres January 7, available through February 25. January 12: Art Express, 12:15–12:45 p.m. ET, Online Lunchtime tour with Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. January 29: Try-It Workshop, 9 a.m.–noon ET, In person With the guidance of artist and printmaker Mary Ellen Carsley, participants will create a print in the ukiyo-e style. No experience necessary. Materials provided. Registration required. $20 for members; $30 for non-members. Open to ages 16 years and up. February 1: Curator’s Lecture, 5:30 p.m. ET, Online Kit Brooks, the Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, will provide insights into the representation and attitudes toward women in the Edo period. Watch the recorded lecture via YouTube. Kit Brooks, The Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art at the Freer-Sackler Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, holds a PhD in Japanese art history from Harvard University. Specializing in prints and paintings of the Edo and Meiji periods, Kit’s primary research interests revolve around the reevaluation of “eccentric” artists of the 18th century, the relationship between illustrated books and paintings, and special prints that emulate the visual qualities of other media, such as surimono and takuhanga. Before joining the Smithsonian in 2019, Kit held positions at the British Museum, Harvard Art Museums, and the Children’s Museum in Boston; they are also a graduate of the CCL/Mellon Foundation Seminar in Curatorial Practice at the Center for Curatorial Leadership. Kit is currently working on a number of shows drawing from the museum’s collection of over 8,000 Japanese prints. February 24: Book Club 1–2:30 p.m. ET, In person Join members of the Mitchell Gallery Book Club for a discussion of Tokaido Road led by the author, Lucia St. Clair Robson. Free. Registration required. Location to be announced. �PHOTO | BRUT: COLLECTION BRUNO DECHARME MARCH 4–APRIL 22, 2022 Elke Tangeten (Belgian, 1968– ) Untitled, 2013. Embroidery on chromolithograph adhered to paper. The abcd/Bruno Decharme Collection includes more than 3,500 pieces in a variety of media dating from the mid-19th century to the present day. This exhibition will feature 16 artists with representative works that provide a window into artists who exemplify the 1945 concept of art brut, the French term for “raw art” invented by Jean Dubuffet to describe art graffiti or naïve art created outside the academic tradition of fine art. Artists include Marcel Bascoulard, Mark Hogancamp, Ichiwo Sugino, Elke Tangeten, Melvin Way, and others. This exhibition is organized by abcd/Bruno Decharme and the Mitchell Gallery. Exhibition sponsorship is provided by PNC Bank with additional support by Laurie Salladin and Mark Baganz, and Cynthia Alderdice. We thank the following for their continuous funding and support: Anne Arundel County, Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, the City of Annapolis, the Helena Foundation, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, the Maryland State Arts Council, the Estate of Elizabeth Myers Mitchell, the Mitchell Gallery Board of Advisors, Members of the Mitchell Gallery, Mrs. Ruth Mitchell, the John and Hilda Moore Fund, the Lillian Vanous Nutt Mitchell Gallery Endowment, and the Clare Eddy and Eugene V. Thaw Fine Arts Fund. Gifts-in-kind: Up.St.ART Annapolis. Sponsors: PNC Bank, American Alliance of Museums, Maryland State Arts Council, Arts Council of Anne Arundel County �PROGRAMS AND EVENTS March 4: Online opening of exhibition PHOTO | BRUT: Collection Bruno Decharme March 4–April 22: Online lecture, pre-recorded “PHOTO | BRUT: Outsider Art from the Collection of Bruno Decharme” by exhibition curator John Verdi. Premiers March 4, available through April 22. This talk provides an introduction to select artists in the exhibition and provides some suggestions about the power of “outsider art” to shape our understanding of art in general. Watch the PHOTO | BRUT online lecture March 8: Panel Discussion, 5:30 p.m. ET, online Join this panel of distinguished guests as they address the process, aesthetics, and traditions of art outside the academic tradition, in “Pictures from the Edge.” • • • • American Visionary Art Museum Director Rebecca A. Hoffberger Curator and Tutor Emeritus John Verdi Cultural Historian Jennifer Donnelly (A96) Interim Director of the Mitchell Gallery Lucinda Edinberg View the recorded panel discussion on YouTube March 30: Art Express, 12:15–12:45 p.m. ET, online Lunchtime tour with Interim Director Lucinda Edinberg. April 6: Curator’s Lecture, 5:30 p.m. ET, online Exhibition curator John Verdi will provide insights on visionary and outsider artists in his lecture “Art Without Irony.” View the recorded lecture on YouTube April 13: Book Club, 1–2:30 p.m. ET Join members of the Mitchell Gallery Book Club for a discussion of Welcome to Marwencol by Mark Hogancamp and Chris Shellen, led by curator John Verdi. Free. Registration required. Contact the gallery for book purchase. Location to be announced. �ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE COMMUNITY ART EXHIBITION MAY 9–14, 2022 St. John’s College Undergraduate and Graduate Students: • • • • You may submit up to three works of art, total. Works may be two-dimensional or three-dimensional. We will mat your two-dimensional artwork (max. 11”x14”) for free. Sale of artwork is optional. St. John’s College Faculty and Staff • • • You may submit one work of art, either two- or three-dimensional. Two-dimensional work must be ready to hang. Sale of artwork is optional. Drop-off Dates • • • 2-D works: Wednesday, April 27 and Thursday, April 28, Noon to 5 p.m. 3-D works: Friday, May 7, Noon to 5 p.m. Deliver at the Mitchell Gallery (come to back door) Call to All Seniors: The Charles Vernon Moran Prize, open to any SJC Annapolis Senior, is awarded to a member of the senior class whose work in The St. John’s College Community Art Exhibition demonstrates mastery of technique and original thought. Announcement of this prize will be made in May. Questions? Contact Lucinda.edinberg@sjc.edu or call 410-626-2556. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mitchell Art Gallery Exhibitions Description An account of the resource Schedules of past exhibitions from the Mitchell Art Gallery. To see current exhibitions please visit the <a title="Mitchell Gallery" href="https://www.sjc.edu/annapolis/mitchell-gallery/exhibits-and-programs" target="_blank">Mitchell Gallery Exhibitions</a> webpage.<br /><br /><span>Click on </span><a title="Mitchell Art Gallery Exhibitions" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=30"><strong>Items in the Mitchell Art Gallery Exhibitions Collection</strong></a><span> to </span><span>view and sort all items in the collection.</span> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 10 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mitchell Gallery Exhibition Schedule 2021-2022 Description An account of the resource Mitchell Gallery Exhibition Schedule 2021-2022. Exhibitions include JA Season of Shakespeare: Bronze Works by Greg Wyatt, August 23–October 15, 2021; A View from the Shore: Winslow Homer’s Impression from the Coast, October 16–December 17, 2021; Floating Beauty: Women in the Art of Ukiyo-e, January 7–February 25, 2022; Photo | Brut: Collection Bruno Decharme, January 29–March 21, 2022; St. John’s College Community Art Exhibition, May 9–15, 2022. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.). Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Gallery Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-2022 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Art museums--Exhibitions Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Mitchell Gallery Exhibition Schedule 2021-2022 Mitchell Art Gallery https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/14983763513edb9ce47df6b004c9dc37.pdf 651eb5c7a8a32a285f07d020a2ef2e3b PDF Text Text MITCHELL GALLERY 2020–21 PAST EXHIBITIONS AND PROGRAMS JACOB LAWRENCE: “GENESIS” SERIES September 2–October 6, 2020 JACOB LAWRENCE: “TOUSSAINT L’OUVERTURE” SERIES October 7–November 17, 2020 JACOB LAWRENCE: “HIROSHIMA” SERIES November 18–December 18, 2020 A. AUBREY BODINE: OUR TOWN January 29–March 21, 2021 LENS AND BRUSH: WORKS BY AMERICAN ILLUSTRATOR FRANK E. SCHOONOVER April 1–May 16, 2021 �JACOB LAWRENCE: “GENESIS” SERIES SEPTEMBER 2–OCTOBER 6, 2020 Jacob Lawrence, (1917-2000), No. 8 Creation was done--and all was well, from the “Genesis” series, 1989, silkscreen. © Jacob Lawrence, courtesy of Landau Traveling Exhibitions. Based on biblical texts and his own memory of the Sunday sermons of the Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York, Jacob Lawrence’s “Genesis” series provides a richly personal interpretation. The bright colors and the expressive, monumental preacher figure that stands central in each work reflect the artist’s affinity for action and resonance given in the sermon. Inspired by realism and details of iconography, these silkscreen prints also reveal Lawrence’s interest in references from art history and, together with a universally celebrated narrative, provides an important voice to American art and artists. About the Artist Since his first published print in 1963, Jacob Lawrence (1917—2000) produced a body of prints that is both highly dramatic and intensely personal. In his graphic work, as in his paintings, Lawrence has turned to the lessons of history and his own experience. From depictions of civil rights confrontations to scenes of daily life, these images present a vision of a common struggle toward unity and equality, and a universal struggle deeply seated in the depths of the human consciousness. The works are on loan courtesy of the collection of Alitash Kebede of Los Angeles, CA. The exhibition and museum tour are organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions of Los Angeles, CA. “Jacob Lawrence: Three Series of Prints: Genesis—Toussaint L’Ouverture—Hiroshima” is made possible through the generosity of the Maryland State Arts Council and the Mitchell Gallery Board of Advisors. �PROGRAMS AND EVENTS September 2: Online opening of exhibition Jacob Lawrence, “Genesis” series September 9–October 6: Online Lecture Lecture on the “Genesis” series by Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. Prerecorded lecture. Premieres September 9, available through October 6. October 2: Interview with Jeff Landau, 7:30 p.m. A live interview with Jeff Landau, director of Landau Traveling Exhibitions, titled, “From Coast to Coast: Exhibitions on the Road.” This event will provide the backstory on the work and creativity involved in curating a traveling exhibition, shipping logistics, venue reviews and schedules, and all the particulars involved in getting the show on the road. Moderated by Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. A short Q&A period will be held after the interview. Jeff Landau Mitchell Gallery members only event. Gallery members will receive an email with the event link 24 hours prior to the lecture-interview. Make sure we have your current email address. To update your information, contact us at mitchell.gallery@sjc.edu. �JACOB LAWRENCE: “TOUSSAINT L’OUVERTURE” SERIES OCTOBER 7–NOVEMBER 17, 2020 Jacob Lawrence, (1917-2000), General Toussaint L’Ouverture, 1986–1997, silkscreen. © Jacob Lawrence, courtesy of Landau Traveling Exhibitions. This collection of prints is based on 41 tempera paintings from a series by the same name completed in 1938. Lawrence received his inspiration from C.L.R. James’ book, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution (1938), a widely acclaimed history of the Haitian Revolution regarded as a seminal text in the study of the African diaspora. Toussaint L’Ouverture was the commander-in-chief of the Haitian army who led the slave rebellion into a revolutionary movement against Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1800 L’Ouverture helped draw up Haiti’s first democratic constitution, but he was arrested by Napoleon’s troops and sent to Paris, where he died in prison in 1803. L’Ouverture is known as the “Father of Haiti.” About the Artist Since his first published print in 1963, Jacob Lawrence (1917—2000) produced a body of prints that is both highly dramatic and intensely personal. In his graphic work, as in his paintings, Lawrence has turned to the lessons of history and his own experience. From depictions of civil rights confrontations to scenes of daily life, these images present a vision of a common struggle toward unity and equality, and a universal struggle deeply seated in the depths of the human consciousness. The works are on loan courtesy of the collection of Alitash Kebede of Los Angeles, CA. The exhibition and museum tour are organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions of Los Angeles, CA. “Jacob Lawrence: Three Series of Prints: Genesis—Toussaint L’Ouverture—Hiroshima” is made possible through the generosity of the Maryland State Arts Council and the Mitchell Gallery Board of Advisors. �PROGRAMS AND EVENTS October 15–November 17: Online Lecture Lecture on the “Toussaint L’Ouverture” series by Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. Prerecorded lecture. Premieres October 15, available through November 17. October 29: Virtual Tour, 2:30 p.m. | Book Club, 3 p.m. Join Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg for a virtual tour of the Jacob Lawrence “Toussaint L’Ouverture” exhibition. Then stay for book club, featuring C.L.R. James’s The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution and led by St. John’s College Tutor Emeritus Tom May. Free event, registration required. November 7: Live-stream Concert, 8 p.m. George Winston Conversational Concert: In Honor of the Jacob Lawrence Exhibition at The Mitchell Gallery, St. John’s College George Winston was born in Michigan and spent much of his childhood in Montana (Miles City and Billings), as well as Mississippi and Florida. He is best known for his solo piano recordings, of which he has sold more than 15 million albums, including a Grammy Award for the album, Forest. Winston’s primary interest is in New Orleans R&B piano, influenced by James Booker, Professor Longhair, and Henry Butler; however, Winston George Winston. plays in a variety of styles, including a melodic approach he calls “rural folk piano,” Photo by Todd V and “stride” piano—a style of jazz developed in the 1920s as an offshoot of ragtime Wolfson. developed by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Teddy Wilson. George Winston’s classic albums, Autumn and December, are perennial favorites, along with Winter into Spring, Summer, 2017’s Spring Carousel–A Cancer Research Benefit, as well as two volumes of the compositions of Vince Guaraldi, two volumes of benefit albums for the Gulf Coast disasters, and six other solo piano albums. He just released his 15th solo piano album, Restless Wind, via Dancing Cat Records/RCA Records. The album is available now at georgewinston.com. For this conversational concert, Winston will focus on “Fats” Waller’s influence on his own compositions. Waller, who was somewhat of a child prodigy, was an organist at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem—the same church Jacob Lawrence attended. A brief question period from the audience will follow the concert. Mitchell Gallery members only event. Gallery members will receive an email with the event link 24 hours prior to the concert. Make sure we have your current email address. To send or update your information, contact us at mitchell.gallery@sjc.edu. George Winston plays Steinway Pianos. Mitchell Gallery members only event. Gallery members will receive an email with the event link 24 hours prior to the lecture-interview. Make sure we have your current email address. To update your information, contact us at mitchell.gallery@sjc.edu. �JACOB LAWRENCE: “HIROSHIMA” SERIES NOVEMBER 18–DECEMBER 18, 2020 Jacob Lawrence, (1917-2000), Playground, from the “Hiroshima” series, 1983, silkscreen. © Jacob Lawrence, courtesy of Landau Traveling Exhibitions. Lawrence received an invitation by the Limited Editions Club of New York to illustrate any book of his choice from the club’s numerous titles. Lawrence wrote that he selected John Hersey’s narrative, Hiroshima, because “of its power, insight, scope, and sensitivity, as well as for its overall content.” These works illustrate a series of events taking place in a marketplace, playground, street scene and other sites at the moment of the bombing on August 6, 1945. John Hersey, a noted American writer and journalist, is considered one of the earliest practitioners of what was called “New Journalism,” in which storytelling techniques are adapted to non-fiction reportage. Hersey’s account of the aftermath of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, and the effect on six Japanese citizens, was published in its entirety in the August 31, 1946 issue of The New Yorker. This was the first and only time the magazine has devoted an entire issue to a work by one writer. About the Artist Since his first published print in 1963, Jacob Lawrence (1917—2000) produced a body of prints that is both highly dramatic and intensely personal. In his graphic work, as in his paintings, Lawrence has turned to the lessons of history and his own experience. From depictions of civil rights confrontations to scenes of daily life, these images present a vision of a common struggle toward unity and equality, and a universal struggle deeply seated in the depths of the human consciousness. The works are on loan courtesy of the collection of Alitash Kebede of Los Angeles, CA. The exhibition and museum tour are organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions of Los Angeles, CA. “Jacob Lawrence: Three Series of Prints: Genesis—Toussaint L’Ouverture—Hiroshima” is made possible through the generosity of the Maryland State Arts Council and the Mitchell Gallery Board of Advisors. �PROGRAMS AND EVENTS November 18–December 18: Online Lecture Lecture on the “Hiroshima” series by Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. Prerecorded lecture. Premieres November 18, available through December 18. November 22: Family Event, 3 p.m., all ages. Children’s event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Hiroshima. This live-streamed event on YouTube will feature: • • Online video recording, courtesy of George Winston: Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Narration by Liv Ullmann, music by George Winston. Online workshop: Origami—Making a Paper Crane with Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. The ancient art of creating an origami paper crane will be demonstrated. The paper crane includes many origami techniques, so make one, or watch one being made! Everyone is invited to participate. Free. December 3: Virtual Tour, 2:30 p.m. | Book Club, 3 p.m. Join Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg for a virtual tour of the Jacob Lawrence “Hiroshima” exhibition. Then stay for book club, featuring Hiroshima by John Hersey. Free. Registration is required. December 13: Interview with Alitash Kebede, 3 p.m. A live interview with Alitash Kebede, collector and owner of Alitash Kebede Arts in Los Angeles, CA. Kebede will speak about her collection of works by African American artists and her friendship with Jacob Lawrence. See a recording of this interview on YouTube. December 18: Closing of Jacob Lawrence exhibition Alitash Kebede. Photo credit: Lily Kebede Abozin. �A. AUBREY BODINE: OUR TOWN JANUARY 29–MARCH 21, 2021 A. Aubrey Bodine, The Big Freeze, 1936. Silver gelatin print. © A. Aubrey Bodine (1906–1970), although probably best remembered for his association with the Baltimore Sun, was among the early Pictorialist photographers—an aesthetic movement that emphasized romantic beauty over documented reality. This exhibition of more than 20 photographs, some of which have been exhibited internationally, features urban and rural vignettes that expand beyond the city “beat” to include poetic and nostalgic images of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, Maryland in the mid-20th century. Curated by Lucinda Dukes Edinberg Exhibition images courtesy of Jennifer B. Bodine “A. Aubrey Bodine: Our Town” is made possible through the generosity of the Maryland State Arts Council, the Mitchell Gallery Board of Advisors, and Chesapeake Medical Imaging. PROGRAMS AND EVENTS January 29: Opening of online exhibition Lecture on the “A. Aubrey Bodine: Our Town” exhibition by Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. Prerecorded lecture. Premieres January 29, available through March 21. �February 7–March 7: Pictorialist Challenge Submit up to three photographs that have been manipulated in the Pictorialist style and have them critiqued by awardwinning photographers Robert W. Madden and Wilford Scott. Best images will be posted on the Mitchell Gallery website. Free and open to the public. Guidelines: • • • • • • • This video provides tips for those wishing to enter the Pictorialist Challenge. Submit up to three photographs for consideration Entry submissions open February 7 Images must have at least two Pictorialist elements that have been added to the final photograph Images should be submitted as JPEGs and also include a zip file of a folder containing the elements Image files must include name and title Entries should be sent to mitchellgallery@sjc.edu with subject line: Pictorialist Challenge Deadline: March 7 February 10: Panel Discussion, 5:30 p.m. ET Discussion and analysis of Bodine’s Pictorialist style by photographers Robert W. Madden and Wilford Scott and Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. Free and open to the public. February 28: Interview with Jennifer B. Bodine, 3 p.m. ET This interview, followed by a Q&A period, will provide the backstory on the work and creativity of A. Aubrey Bodine’s photography exhibited in salons and the “Brown Pages” of the Baltimore Sun. Free and open to the public. March 4: Virtual Tour, 2:30 p.m. ET | Book Club, 3 p.m. ET Join Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg for a virtual tour of the A. Aubrey Bodine exhibition. Then stay for book club, featuring After the Photo-Secession: American Pictorial Photography, 1910–1955 by Christian A. Peterson. Meeting will be led by celebrated photographer Don Dement. Free event, registration required. March 7: Pictorialist Challenge Deadline, midnight. March 14: Pictorialist Challenge “Reveal,” 3 p.m. ET Join jurors Robert W. Madden and Wilford Scott for a discussion and “reveal” of selected challenge photographs and the manipulations created. See the entries and finalists. March 21: George Winston Concert, 7 p.m. ET Free and open to the public. George Winston was born in Michigan and spent much of his childhood in Montana, as well as Mississippi and Florida. He is best known for his solo piano recordings, of which he has sold more than 15 million albums. Winston plays in a variety of styles: a melodic approach he calls “rural folk piano;” stride piano, a style of jazz developed in the 1920s as an offshoot of ragtime developed by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Teddy Wilson; and his primary interest, New Orleans R&B piano, influenced by James Booker, Professor Longhair, and Henry Butler. He has also paid tribute to famous composer Vince Guaraldi, the creator of the George Winston. Photo music of the early Peanuts cartoons, and he later released an homage to the by Todd V Wolfson. Doors with his album Night Divides the Day: The Music of the Doors. All of his albums have received overwhelming critical acclaim, and Winston has received many awards, including a Grammy Award for Forest. �Traditionally, George requests attendees bring canned food contributions for local homeless shelters. While the current climate prohibits in-person gathering, St. John’s College will make a gift to the Lighthouse Shelter in Annapolis in honor of George. George Winston plays Steinway pianos. March 21: Closing of A. Aubrey Bodine exhibition. �LENS AND BRUSH: WORKS BY AMERICAN ILLUSTRATOR FRANK E. SCHOONOVER APRIL 1–MAY 16, 2021 Top: Photo by Frank E. Schoonover Bottom: Frank E. Schoonover, Fur Brigade, 1912. Oil on canvas. Frank E. Schoonover (1877–1972) is known for his works found in Harper’s Weekly, Scribner’s, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, American Boy, and other publications. Schoonover—along with N.C. Wyeth, Jesse Willcox Smith, and others—was a prized student of Howard Pyle, the founder of the Brandywine School of American Illustration. Through Pyle’s encouragement, Schoonover traveled by snowshoe and dog sled across parts of Canada and North America, taking photographs of his environments that were later used as image references. This exhibition, which includes more than 40 works, provides a glimpse into Schoonover’s resources, technical skill, and creativity used for his highly acclaimed illustrations. Curated by John Schoonover, president and curator, Schoonover Studios. Organized by Lucinda Dukes Edinberg. �PROGRAMS AND EVENTS April 1: Opening of online exhibition April 1–May 16: Online Lecture “Compatible Companions: Tools of the Illustrator,” a prerecorded lecture by Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. Premieres April 1, available through May 16. April 11: Live interview with John Schoonover, president and curator, Schoonover Studios, 3 p.m. ET This interview, followed by a Q&A period, will provide biographical insights and background on Frank E. Schoonover’s travels, training, and inspirations—which led to his reputation as a prominent illustrator. Free. No registration required. John Schoonover John Schoonover graduated from the University of Virginia and established Schoonover Studios Ltd. in 1969. The Schoonover Studios specialize in the works of Frank E. Schoonover, but works by other American illustrators, as well as art conservation, are also a vital part of the studio’s operations. Along with Louise Schoonover Smith and Lee Ann Dean, John is the co-author of the 2-volume Frank E. Schoonover Catalogue Raisonné. He is currently on the Board of Trustees at the Biggs Museum of American Art, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Delaware Humanities Forum, was a founding member of the Brandywine Arts Festival, and remains an active member of the Wilmington Rowing Club. John is currently working on a book celebrating the documentary photographs of Frank E. Schoonover, which is expected to be released in 2022. April 29: Virtual Tour, 2:30 p.m. ET | Book Club, 3 p.m. ET Online tour of the exhibition followed by discussion of Howard Pyle by Henry Pitz, led by illustrator Rob Wood. Contact the gallery for book purchase. Free. Registration required to participate in Book Club. Illustrator Rob Wood received his BFA from East Tennessee State University with a major in painting and graphic design. Upon graduation, he joined the U.S. Air Force and served a year in Vietnam. After receiving an honorable discharge, Wood attended the University of Georgia, where he earned his MFA and began his illustration career at a design firm in the Washington, DC area. Rob Wood Wood’s artwork is found in books and magazines, and he has created illustrations for book covers for Stephen King, Nevada Barr, Jack Higgins, Kristin Hannah, and a new edition of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, released in 2021. He has also created an ornament for the White House Christmas tree, as well as murals for the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, The World War II Museum in New Orleans, and the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. He is a member of the Society of Illustrators and has received multiple awards and recognition, including best in show and gold medals from Communication Arts Magazine, the Art Directors Club of New York, the American Illustration Annual, the Art Directors Club of Washington, DC, National Geographic, and other publications and organizations. In addition to his illustration work, Wood has served as a guest lecturer and judge at the World Infographics Conference in Pamplona, Spain. Wood has taught at Towson University as a graduate advisor and for the former Continuing Education Program at St. John’s College. Wood is a partner with Wood Ronsaville Harlin, Inc. an internationally recognized firm with clients worldwide. May 5: Art Express, 12:15–12:45 p.m. ET Lunchtime tour with Art Educator Lucinda Edinberg. Free. No registration required. May 16: Closing of Frank E. Schoonover exhibition � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mitchell Art Gallery Exhibitions Description An account of the resource Schedules of past exhibitions from the Mitchell Art Gallery. To see current exhibitions please visit the <a title="Mitchell Gallery" href="https://www.sjc.edu/annapolis/mitchell-gallery/exhibits-and-programs" target="_blank">Mitchell Gallery Exhibitions</a> webpage.<br /><br /><span>Click on </span><a title="Mitchell Art Gallery Exhibitions" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=30"><strong>Items in the Mitchell Art Gallery Exhibitions Collection</strong></a><span> to </span><span>view and sort all items in the collection.</span> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 12 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mitchell Gallery Exhibition Schedule 2020-2021 Description An account of the resource Mitchell Gallery Exhibition Schedule 2020-2021. Exhibitions include Jacob Lawrence: “Genesis” Series, September 2–October 6, 2020; Jacob Lawrence: “Toussaint L’Ouverture” Series, October 7–November 17, 2020; Jacob Lawrence: “Hiroshima” Series, November 18–December 18, 2020; A. Aubrey Bodine: Our Town, January 29–March 21, 2021; Lens and Brush: Works By American Illustrator Frank E. Schoonover. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.). Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Gallery Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-2021 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Art museums--Exhibitions Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Mitchell Gallery Exhibition Schedule 2020-2021 Mitchell Art Gallery https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/183cd0fe79202198a9f2578b8412c32f.pdf 7f4619dc22798d76a2a293414d431ed8 PDF Text Text THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE In Book One of his A1emorabilia, Xenophon reports Socrates conYersing \vith the sophist Antiphon. Towards the end of their comrersation, Socrates speaks of sharing wisdom with one's friends: ... just as someone else takes pleasure in a good horse or dog or bird, so I take even more pleasure in my good friends, and should I possess anything good I teach it, and I recommend my friends to others from whom I believe they \vill receive some benefit regarding \'Utue. And the treasures of the wise men of old that they have left written down in books, unfolding the scrolls, I carefully go through them in common with my friends; and should we see anything good, we single it out, and we consider it great gain should \Ve [thus] become helpful to one another. (1.6.14) Xenophon comments: ''\Vhen I heard these things, he certainly seemed to me a supremely happy man and someone to conduct those heeding him into a good and noble life." Xenophon's testimony to the ,·alue of books in their relation to friends is striking, gi\·en his upright character and worldly competence-a man fully capable of successfully leading others in the grimmest of life and death circumstances. He must have had rather special books in mind. \Vhat, then, is im,olved in reading Plato's dialogues together as friends, carefully turning their pages, seeking out the treasures that hmre been written down by a wise man of old? What ought 1.ve be after? What \voul<l Plato ha\·e us find? \Vhat would he ha\'e happen, as the result of our reading? The ans\ver to such questions cannot be straightforward, but the dialogue form of Plato's writings-graciously and thankfully-makes unm·oidable our consciousness of what it means to read them. Looked at a little more carefully, they also make unavoidable the question of what it means to speak, ,-1:rite, or read in the name of philosophy, and-from another angle-they encourage meditation on what it means to speak, read, or write at all. To presume that we already know what a dialogue is for, \vhat philosophical speech really aims at, and what we should be getting out of reading Plato, is therefore to ignore, perhaps even to violate what I shall be suggesting to you are Plato's wise and manifold purposes. In particular, your single greatest practical failing as readers of Platonic dialogue \vill regularly be the assumption that you can remain spectators of its dialectical drama, disinterested onlookers, that you can remain aloof from its proceedings to pick and choose among the thoughts you imagine the drama to be presenting to you. Your single greatest theoretical failing \Vill regularly be to suppose that you know the nature of the philosophical life. I do not doubt that Plato both understood and allO\ved for the fact that many people would easily make both these sorts of mistake, each in his O\vn way, but that should not lessen your resolve to be counted among the readers he most wished for. �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-:! Tonight I want to assemble some reminders to help stop you falling short of Plato's potential friendship. I hope to do that, principally by recalling hO\v thoroughly strange the dialogues are and by reflecting a little on why that might be. From the n:ry start, therefore, you can see that my speech \Vill be far more practical and erotic, i.e., aimed at nudging your habits and ideals, than it \Vill be doctrinal and theoretic-which is to say, aimed at informing you of something. Jn this respect, my speech about Platonic dialogue reduplicates the central character of the dialogues themselves. A few procedural obsetTations. First, my main design is to present a vie\v of Plato and his philosophical activity, rather than to justify my interpretation of them. I confine myself to presentation, partly because of ti.me, but mostly because I think justification comes up as a serious question only after one is convinced that something is interesting enough to warrant that sort of effort-should circumstances require. It is the interest I would like to pro,-oke first. My second note is a confession. Although much of \vhat follO\vs could be called methodological, I often find myself impatient and ungenerous with such reflections, with abstract worries about how one ought to do things instead of getting on with doing them. Methodology, critique, and meta-theory tend to be airy and undisciplined, they lend themsefres to indecisi,-e, apparently endless bickering, they e:acourage an odious sort of intellectual smugness, and their attention to matters of form is frequently at the cost of return to the concrete content (whose understanding they were originally supposed to serve). N e\-ertheless, any serious \vell-directed \vork does need orientation, does need some understanding of what it's about, and this is especially important for those who have only just begun. In philosophical matters, the Delphic injunction to know oneself looms as large over Socrates as it does over Kant, notwithstanding their disagreements over how best to fulfill the responsibility. It seems, therefore, one must at some point or other run the risks of transcendental narcissism for the sake of self-knowledge. Third, some of the topics I shall explore \Vill sound like nriations on the familiar, perhaps eYen tired old Straussian themes of esotericism, noble lies, persecution of philosophy, and the rest. But not e\·eryone here has heard these important refrains. I intend to repeat my \Trsions of a few of them eloquently and incisively, along with a couple of riffs I hope no one has heard before. I deliberately refer to "my \'ersions" of these refrains because I disagree with an underlying assumption commonly at work in their interpretation: that philosophy is by nature politically alienated and must therefore exercise a condescending accommodation, compelled by necessity, to the city and to ordinary human life. Some of my reasons for this deep disagreement are \VOYen into \vhat follows, though I do not make them thematic. One last introductory word. I shall not hesitate-rather shamelessly perhaps-to speak on philosophy's behalf. By my acknowledging this presumption in advance, you can at least see that I appreciate what might be questionable about my immodesty. THE ODDITIES OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE A moment ago I hinted that there is something important in the very fact of Platonic dialogues, something that goes beyond and maybe even upsets the conventional meanings �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-3 typically associated with philosophy books and their academic study. This needs to be made explicit. PU.TONIC ANONYi\IITY. The dialogues arc fully dramatic, i.e., they portray logoi in action and deeds of speech but never disembodied assertions. This form is unusual and was noted by Aristotle near the beginning of the Poetics, \vhere he speaks of "the Socratic conversation,'' classing it together \vith the mimes of Sophron and his son Xenarchus (1447b10). Sophron was a fifth-century Syracusan writer, reputedly admired by Plato. His mimes were dramatic renderings in \'erse of everyday people, designed to be revelatory of their characters. Plato's dialogues are either directly performed, simply narrated, or narrated within a performed frame, but in all cases not a \vord is said in Plato's own voice, except the titles. The dialogues not directly performed permit external comment by their narrators, but there is neYer-unlike the passage from Xenophon with \vhich I began-any authorial comment from Plato himself. In this respect, the Platonic corpus is like the body of Shakespeare's plays. Just as \Ve must wonder exactly how far Prospero, for example, can be taken to speak for the Tempest's author, or I Iamlet or Lear, so too must we wonder hO\v far Socrates or Parmcnides or the Eleatic Stranger or Timaeus or the Athenian Stranger can be taken to speak for Plato. This question was known to Diogenes Laertius in the third century A.D., though many contemporary readers seem to have forgotten it. Despite the unremitting anonymity, hO\vever, it must be added that the dialogues are known to be Plato's and were circulated from the start under his authorship. We arc therefore meant to notice that the dialogues contain no direct word of Plato's O\vn. He addresses us, but he does not declare himself. Ancient rumours of secret Academic teachings notwithstanding, in his own time Plato was just as reticent about his ultimate insights and purposes, providing almost no other clues but the dialogues themseh'es. They are like "the lord, \vhose oracle is at Delphi,'' that "neither reveals nor conceals, but gives a sign" (Heraklcitos, Frag. 93) and, like the sibyl herself, '\vith ra\·ing lips, uttering things unlaughable, unbeautiful, and unperfumed, they reach \Vith their \"oice across a thousand years, because of the god" (cf. Herakleitos, Frag. 92). So, Plato whispers an intriguing name into our ears-Phaedms (\vhom e\·eryonc knows to be very beautiful), Theaetetm (whom everyone knmvs to be very clever), Afeno (whom everyone knows to be very bad); either such names or sometimes a provocative title-Socrates' Defense Speech, An Intimate Drinking Par!J, Cizilized Order, Reg11lations,-then he draws the curtain back, to disappear, not off-stage but behind the masks, bringing life to each and every one of his drama/is personae-the personae Platoms. LOGICAL DERANGEMENT. The god-inspired oracle at Delphi uttered things "unlaughable, unbeautiful, and unperfumed," the very same qualities we meet with in Plato's oracular dialogues. Before fully realizing that strange fact, an experienced and competent reader might well approach the dialogues assuming that philosophy is meant to be or at least ought to include the art of telling, insightful speeches, that a philosopher's discourse should be more accurate, more illuminating, more comprehensive, and more self-conscious than any of our other ways of talking. Plato's dialogues, ho\vc\•er, present quite a different face, despite their being finished works and despite how plainly philosophy is their centre of l l :!I) / I) 8 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAG E -4 gra,·ity. Individually and as a whole they are, at first sight, if not a conceptual chaos at least a tangle of conflicting and unrcsoh'ed accounts, often at cross-purposes with one another, and sometimes in ways their speakers seem not even to appreciate, let alone understand. I list the most ob,·ious features. Many of the dialogues are aporetic, i.e., they lose their way and never seem to find it again, no matter how serious the resoh·e with \vhich they began. One tends to get used to this, but the failure of comfortable closure~,·cn in the manifestly great works, such as the Rep11b/ic-reliably irritates any classroom of first-time readers; as, indeed, it should. Some of the dialogues that seem more doctrinally committed, more like "proper" philosophy, e.g., Parmenides, Sophist, are experienced by many competent readers, at least initially, as rather boring through much of their length, occasionally to the point of unreadability. A good handful of dialogues hardly seem like dialogues at all, if "dialogue" be understood as an earnest effort at inquiry in common. At crucial points in almost all of them, the philosophical argument relics on images and metaphor, conwntionally the tools of poetry. Worse still, poetry itself seems regularly to be denounced, while nonetheless used throughout. fa·en writing itself is declared some sort of mistake. Also at crucial points, the speech will sometimes turn with utter logical seriousness to myth, to what are acknowledged within the com·ersation as fanciful talcs (Repuhlzi.~ Gorgias, Phaedo, Phaednd). And yet, all these myths and images rub cheek by jowl with the most abstruse forms of technical argumentation and intricately developed analyses, sometimes lasting for pages and pages-pages that cause painful conceptual squinting, e,·en for the most discursi,·ely facile of readers. Yet again, logical precision can at almost any moment gi,·e \vay to outrageous fallacy, blatant non-sequitur, and shameless ad hominem attack. Occasionally, the whole show seems a logical farce-as in the Crary/11s, the E11th)'demm, and parts of the Protagoras for example-yet everyone in the dialogue keeps a completely straight face. There seems to be no overall plan to the dialogues as a totality; one more or less would not seem to ruin their effect, and there is no single dialogue that might count as their culmination or key. Nevertheless, many are linked dramatically \vith one another, both temporally and topically. Worse still, some topics seem to be treated inconsistently across different dialogues, and worse again, the topical coherence of individual dialogues has seemed to many readers to lea,•e much to be desired (Rep11blzi.· and Phaedms have gi,·en this impression for centuries). Neither can one help but wonder at the apparent naivete with which the interlocutors so often proceed, only infrequently stopping to "define their terms"-as \VC like to say--often plainly making large and questionable assumptions, sometimes agreeing not to pursue deeper investigations, and so on, all the while talking about precision and whether we really know what we think we know, how different knowledge and opinion are from one another, and what indispensable value there is in self-knowledge. Finally, as if it were n ot sufficient that \VC never hear directly what Plato himself thinks, the character of Socrates-clearly a protagonist, though not for that reason equinlcnt to Plato-is depicted \vithin the dialogical drama as notorious for hir irony. Let me say straightaway, ho,ve,·cr, that Socrates' irony docs not mean that he isn't serious in what he does say or that he says the opposite of what he thinks, either for amusement or �CARL PAGE T H E POWER & GLORY OF PLATONI C DIALOGUE PAGE-5 social co1wenience. Socrates' irony is that he kno\vingly ne,·er says all that he has in mind, and that he will on occasion knowingly let his speeches and his deeds contradict one another, both in the present and across dramatic time. Plato's irony is similar, if not identical, in spirit. It is an irony that Aristotle described as "graceful and generous," an a,·oidance of pretension, especially in matters that are " unclear and apt to cause no small impediment" (Nicomachean Ethics 1127b22-31). In sum, the logical or account-gi,·ing, truth-telling face o f the dialogues presents a confusing, sprawling, eclectic, thoroughly unsystematic gallimaufry of irritatingly teasing hints at philosophical depth and meaning. Beware of becoming blind to this obtrusive fact. Everyone has heard that the whole of Western philosophy is nothing but footnotes to Plato, so the dialogues must be magnificently crafted speeches. Right? Well, they are, but not in the way you might expect. Their ,·cry ugliness, their rebarbati,·e outward appearance is itself a manifestation of the greatest craft. It is great, because we haYe all-by which I mean all serious readers since Plato wrote-kept coming back in amazement and expectation to these astonishingly ugly things. You \vill often hear it said that Plato is a master stylist, and indeed he is. He is a master stylist because he can and regularly does with facility and com·iction imitate eYeryone else perfectly, from Aristophanes' humour, to G o rgias's nai\·e urbanity, from Lysias's oratory to Protagoras's logic, from Hippias's vanity to Alkibiades' disarmingly attractiYe hubris. Yet the dialogues themselves remain lopsided, ungainly, "unbeautiful and unperfumed." They are nothing that we expect, either as ordinary readers or as readers with m ore sophisticated views about the nature and tasks of philosophy. Plato's intensely ironic dialogues, then, are just like the ironic Socrates, \Vhom Alkibiades describes for us in the Symposium. Completely ugly on th e outside- short, snub-nosed, goggle-eyed-yet nonetheless suffused with a hidden harmony. Like the Silenus figures Alkibiades goes on to mention, the dialogues are cleverly contrived statuettes, ugly satyrs of undisguised desire on the outside but on the inside filled with images of gods. Alkibiades saw the gods in Socrates, but on account of his hubris tic ambition to command Socrates' eros, he failed to make those gods his own. Like\visc, the reader of Platonic dialogues must abandon the urge to possess. Blundering, thoughtless lonrs, groping after the satisfaction of their O\Vn, preconceived lusts, \Vill get nowhere. Socrates seems to b e a sort of conversational vulture, always hanging around to see if he can tum the carrion of ordinary conversation into a philosophical feast. More particularly, he seems to be a sort of psychic vampire as well, circling around all the promising young men, always whispering with some one o r a few of them off in a corner, as Kallikles fo r example accuses him in the Gorgias. In both cases the hope and promise seem ne,·er fulfilled. There is simply no Platonic dialogue between two mature philosophers; Zeno and Parmenides happen to be present together with an immature Socrates in the Parmenides, while the mature Socrates is present but does not engage the Eleatic Stranger in the Sophisl and Stalesman. As for any dialogue that acti,·ely engages truly potential philosophers, one might look to the Republic but Plato's dialogues furnish no clue as to the later fate of either Glaucon or Adeimantus, while in the case of the Parmenides, the promising Socrates is for the m ost part an onlooker-th o ugh he is THE ABSENCE OF :tl!ATURE PHILOSOPHY. l l / ;! I) / 9 8 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-6 undoubtedly educated both by what he sees and by the brief exchange that crushes his fledgling account of Ideas. It is fair to say overall, then, that while Socrates is forever interested in getting philosophy going and that as a mature philosopher he is clearly superior to all those he actively questions, \Ve ne\'er really see philosophic conversation underway in full sail, top-gallants flying. Moreover, this omission is explicitly brought to our attention in the Sophist, whose intriguing prologue leads the eager reader to expect a third dialogue Philosopher once Sophist and Statesman arc done. The apparent promise, however, remains unfulfilled. There ne\'er was such a dialogue published, and we are provoked to wonder if it ever could have been written. We are also invited to think about why sophist and statesman should be the topics to eclipse so bright a sun as that. The common spectacle of the Platonic dialogues is at least the deferral of fully realized philosophy and more often than not the outright failure of philosophy even to show signs of a healthy beginning. On the other hand, Plato himself is standing somewhere beyond that absence and failure, a position he underlines for us by \vriting himself out of a scene in which everyone would most have expected him to appear-and where he was no doubt present in fact-namely Socrates' swan-song and death, the scene that Plato dramatized in the Phaedo. Whate\'er else, therefore, that Plato takes his own philosophizing to be, it cannot be what is represented in the drama of his dialogues. In particular, philosophy as Plato means it to be understood cannot be a simple equivalent to "Socratic conversation." I mean that last assertion to be a little shocking. The dialogues are often thought to be mirrors or representations of real, li,·ing communications, or at least of some idealized version of foring, philosophic communication. i\foreover, this mirror image is by itself somehow supposed to dra\v us too into the same sort of living communication, as if the imitation became the deed in us by our seeing it. But Plato did not seek to encode the living communication of philosophy by imitating it via the drama that is constructed in and as the dialogue. This is worth stating bluntly: Plato did not write dialogues because he thought that the proper form of philosophy \Vas the Socratic flim-flam that takes up so much of them. The dialogues are designed to make up for the fact that Plato cannot be here to talk with us as he would most desire. They are the monological half of a philosophical communication that must compensate for the fact that one of the interlocutors, perhaps the wisest one, is absent. The dialogue is first and foremost a logos, Plato's logos. That it is dramatic and so on, is all internal to the fact of its having been written dO\vn and published as an artfully contrived speech by one man to the entire world. This does not sit well with a common contemporary view that there is nothing else that should emerge from Socratic inquiry except more Socratic inquiry, that the full, mature form of philosophy--disappointingly but somehow only accidentally missing from the dialogues-would be a conversation between Socrates and his equal in logical refutation. To cut a very long and depressing story short, current intellectual orthodoxy claims that the best reasons available to human beings are ahvays and in principle immanent to the contingent circumstances of their inquiries, that our deepest thoughts cannot but be fully conditioned by tradition and circumstance in \vays that make them inevitably finite and parochial, that all insight can never be more than a single perspective, a point of vie'v taken from within a 11 / :!(1 / 9 8 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-7 limited horizon. This posture has the following peculiar result: to the extent that there is nothing absolute available in the contingent play of opinions, to that extent it starts to seem absolutely better to be able to refute an opinion than to assert or maintain it. Human life on the practical le\Tl no doubt calls for provisionally acceptable conclusions, but on the philosophical or theoretical level all assertions turn out to depend on the critically complacent failure to have discovered their refutations, \vhich if not around today surely will be tomorrow--or so the fallibilist predicts and insists with alarmingly fanatical, not to say incoherent conviction. It thus also follows that the theoretically open mind ought to be an empty mind, a mind fortified with a sturdy arsenal of techniques for preventing any opinion from lodging within it. To ha\'e any opinion at all is to risk the embarrassing accusation of intellectual naivete. Whatever its own merits, this is not the view represented by Plato's Socrates or his dialogues. Although Socrates claims to lack \visdom-in the teeth of the fact that no one, either inside or outside the dialogues, belie\·es him when he does so-it is still \visdom that he loves, not the lack of it. Contemporary critical thinkers love the lack, and this tempts them into making a fetish of transcendental detachment and to indulge an infinite, unfalsifiable suspicion for what Socrates in the Apology calls his "human wisdom" and \vhich elsewhere turns out to be the science, note that word, the science of erotics. There is, hmvever, a more substantial point of comparison. Although both Socrates and the contemporary critical thinker agree that most people are unhelpfully opinionated (which is by no means the same as to say that all their opinions are \vrong), the critical thinker imagines that the fitting response is to work hard on disinterested mind-skills for keeping all tempting beliefs up in the air, for keeping the naivete of commitment at arm's length. For Socrates, on the other hand, the fact that most people are opinionated is a much deeper, murkier problem, tied up \vith what souls most deeply want and what they most deeply fear they can't get. The examination of genuine opinions, i.e., the deep-seated convictions you ha,·e about what is true, good, and beautiful, the com·ictions \vhose belief is not a matter of choice, the examination of those sorts of opinions is a far more delicate matter than testing for reasonableness----e,·en if self-styled logicians kne\v precisely what that really is, which they obviously don't. I say that so confidently because I have never yet heard of a logician helping anyone understand Plato, or Hegel, or Nietzsche, for example-all of whom I take to be entirely reasonable thinkers. They haven't done much for Aristotle either. Plato makes the need for something else especially clear by having his Socrates talk about two unusual and hitherto unrecognized arts: psychic midwifery in the Theaetetus and philosophical rhetoric in the Phaedms. The reader is also meant, of course, to notice how often those same arts are portrayed at \vork throughout the dialogues, both by the characters and by Plato himself. Philosophical inquiry turns out to be a far more complex acti,·ity than tying people in argumentative knots or never being at a loss for a clever or merely correct reply. It includes a moral, soul-tending dimension that pays attention to pedagogical, rhetorical, ethical, and political matters as well, in addition to the surface dimensions oflogic, analytic technique, and epistemic responsibility. TRA...:"JSITION. I have briefly considered Plato's artfully contri\·ed anonymity, the constant baffling of our logical expectations, and the dramatic absence of philosophy in a l 1 :!o _: 9 B �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-8 mature form. These obsenrations, together with the phenomena of irony, both Platonic and Socratic, plus a glimpse into certain soul-tending arts, all point to the partially hidden yet systematically intrusive presence of philosophizing in a more complex, shadowy form than Socrates' public \vrestling matches or the Eleatic Stranger's diacritical gymnastics. Plato speaks through indirection and means to indicate that philosophy cannot and ought not to speak as straight as one might at first suppose. This initially unsettling conclusion finds several well-known echoes in the Platonic epistles. "There is no composition by Plato, nor will there e,·er be one, but those now said to be his belong to a Socrates grown young and beautiful" (314c). And then in a great and famous passage from the Seventh Letter. But this much I can certainly declare concerning all these writers, or prospective writers, who claim to know the subjects which I seriously study, whether as hearers of mine or of other teachers, or from their own discoveries; it is impossible, in my judgment at least, that these men should understand anything about this subject. There does not exist, nor will there e\·er exist, any treatise of mine dealing therewith. For it does not admit of verbal expression like other studies, but, as a result of continued application to the subject itself and communion therewith, it is brought to birth in the soul of a sudden, as light that is kindled by a leaping spark, and thereafter nourishes itself (341 b) Nevertheless, Plato wrote dialogues all his life, taking astonishing pains m·er their intricate construction. He cannot therefore ha,·e thought them superfluous or trivial, despite his recognition of their necessary limits. By all normal standards of truth-telling coherence the dialogues are manifestly deranged; my task now is to address the partly hidden method in their apparent madness. PHILOSOPHY IN THE IRONICAL MODE According to the reports of antiquity, Aristotle wrote Platonic-style dialogues in the earlier part of his career. They are, regrettably, lost-all the more regrettably, seeing that Cicero praised them as golden (though what else should we expect from someone \vho spent the greater part of his early years in the Academy teaching rhetoric?). What we ha,·e from Aristotle are documents that may reasonably be thought of as treatises or at least notes to treatise-like expositions. As it happens, there is nothing in the Aristotelian corpus as we have it that can confidently be taken as published "\vriting in the manner of Plato's dialogues and it is certainly the case that much of what we do have presents an aporetic, tentative, less than declarative face. Even so, and with all due allmvance for hints at even Aristotelian indirection in what seem to be far more straightforward texts, the Aristotelian writings bear witness through much of their bulk to an expository, more recognizably academic style of philosophical speech than the baffling Platonic form. The comparison shO\vs that Plato perfectly well understood what it would mean to write philosophy in that more straightforward mode-and that Aristotle kne\v perfectly well \Vhat it would mean to write in the ironic, self-deprecating dialogical mode. In neither case, then, is the form a stylistic quirk 11 / :!O /9 8 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC D!ALOGUE P AG E-9 or an historically dictated necessity. Moreo,·er, for both Aristotle and Plato it was a conscious decision to write at all, since Socrates, just as self-consciously did not. DIALOGUE YS. TREATISE. What is at stake in this stylistic difference between dialogue and treatise? At first glance, the Aristotelian style of telling, philosophical speeches gives one reliably direct ways of talking about and thinking about the ordered, eidetic structure of things, both human and non-human. E\Tn if one accepts none of his specific metaphysical results or if one prefers to emphasize the open-ended, aporetic character of certain of his inquiries, Aristotle's noetic tools and categories have proven themseh·es of permanent worth. The notions of substance, essence & accident, form & matter, actuality & potentiality, together with Aristotle's interpretative specifications of aitia, arche, kinesis, p!Jche, phronesis, epzsteme, and praxis are all ingenious and Yirtually indispensable devices for anyone interested in the peculiar business of philosophical articulation. Aristotle's insights constitute a huge fraction of our philosophical patrimony, and amount to a legacy we should receive \Vith both gratitude and respect. While at least equally deserving of gratitude and respect, Plato's ironic form of philosophical telling does not emphasize in the same way the ordered structures that may be seen and understood. Rather, Plato points to \Vhat it is like to be seeing structure, what it is like to be moved by truth, to be astonished by beauty, to aim at and hope for the good. Not only that, Plato also indicates the manifold \Vays in \vhich human beings variously fail and fall short in their attempts to be knowing and wise. Actuality and achievement rule in Aristotle's philosophic art, eros and lack in Plato's. The one emphasizes what may be understood, the other the fragile, unsteady soul that does the understanding. Aristotle is thus the philosopher of detachment, Plato the philosopher of integrity. Correspondingly, the danger of Platonic philosophizing is self-obsession and the narcissism of intelligent desire, while the danger of Aristotelian philosophizing is selfforgetfulness and the indulgence of theoretical hubris. Strange as it may seem, although Aristotelian exposition puts a premium on truth-telling, in the end it is more guarded. Aristotle tends to suppress the erotic, the madness of self-transcendence and the nuances of self-knowledge. In particular, he muffles what is dangerous about philosophy, whereas Plato is comparatinly open about it. Aristotle prm·ides many theoretical insights for which one can be very thankful, yet it is \VOrth recalling that on the death of Alexander he had to flee Athens, pursued by an indictment for impiety. For help in understanding that disturbing fact, one will find more extensive guidance in Plato. In distinguishing an eidetic emphasis from an erotic one, I do not mean to say that the two modes are rigidly correlated with dialogues and treatises, as if Plato never really presented a philosophical idea or Aristotle never worried about the integrity of thinker and thought. Platonic dialogues can in places be as expository as Aristotelian treatises can in places be ironic and full of finesse. Both modes have their relative purposes and merits. Sometimes, one is simply ready to hear an idea, to be told how it is \vith things, to be shown where the joints of the world are. At other times, and for different reasons on different occasions, one needs to understand the circumstances of such truth-telling. "Aristotelians" and "Platonists" have quarreled over these matters for centuries and \vill, doubtless, brawl for centuries more. As a matter of temperament, different human beings find themseh·es 11/:!I) / l)8 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC D!ALOGUE PAGE-10 favouring one emphasis rather than the other, but both dialogue and exposition are equally flexible in the hands of masters. In fact, I am quite sure that philosophic masters need to be masters of both. Let me just state then that masterful philosophical articulation, in thought or in speech, requires equal command of \Vhat I shall call eiddics and erotics. As just suggested, eidetics correspond to the objects of contemplation, the intelligible nature, structure, and wholeness of things. The dimension of erotics includes how the soul is disposed to think and to act, and how responsible it remains to itself and its conditions as it engages both. As it happens, i.e., just as a matter of historical fact, the artful irony of Plato's dialogues as we have them communicates far more about philosophical eros-and its failings-in relation to the truth than do the Aristotelian writings we have. No doubt Aristotle could have told us more, and has probably told us more than is usually realized, but I think that the matter of fact rests on a matter of principle, namely, that Platonic dialogue is truer to the manifold needs and realization of lucid, philosophical existence. In particular, it is Platonic dialogue that can more reliably save us from ourselves, since it is \vith respect to the erotic dimension of human endeavour that \Ve keep getting in our own way, that we are the originating sources of our O\Vn unnecessary wanderings and corruption. Eidetics tend, in comparison though by no means mindlessly, to take care of themseh-es--one sign of \vhich is that they're more teachable. Plato hides, though not with complete invisibility, behind his characters. Chief among them is a character, namely Socrates, not only notorious among his fellow players for his irony but plainly to us his spectators coy, manipulative, and far from even-handed. Taking courage from the apparent straightforwardness of Aristotelian exposition, we can hardly forbear an exasperated cry: Why all the fuss? Why the teasing, not to say irritating indirection? What prevents philosophy from speaking forthrightly, from saying all she means? Must philosophy ahvays play false, or perhaps play games, with our truth-telling hopes and ambitions? In short: what, if anything, calls for Platonic irony? If we cannot answer such questions, then Plato can be left to his idiosyncratic, sibylline whimsies. Unsurprisingly, the dialogues themselves furnish many clues to a more generous understanding. Gi\Tn that writing dialogues cannot be all there is to the philosophical life, it \Vill be helpful to consider such writing in light of that li"\·ing \Vhole. As I read the dialogues, actual philosophical life has four principal domains of responsibility: work, pedagogy, guardianship, and civics. By work I mean master-work, the full, unimpeded realization of philosophical insight. By pedagogy I mean the husbandry of potential and apprentice philosophers. By guardianship I mean the preservation of philosophy against both external assault and internal corruption. By civics I mean philosophy's citizenly life and duty within the larger human community that gives it birth. All four domains suggest good reasons for philosophical indirection, for less than unqualified truth-telling, though I shall not here be able to pay full attention to them all. ORIGINS OF IRO:t\TJ:'. The most common initial excuse offered for Platonic irony, for \vhy the dialogues seem so ugly and manipulative and confusing, appeals to pedagogy, to the requirements, as it is commonly formulated, of getting readers to think for themselves. Certainly, in any worthwhile education and a fortiori any philosophical education, mere instruction is not 11. :o / 9 8 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-II sufficient for understanding. Instruction alone leaves us, as Nietzsche put it, with a bellyful of undigested knowledge-stones; enough to calm our hunger for a while perhaps, yet ultimately unable to nourish and satisfy. To the extent, therefore, that the dialogues aim at guiding and training potential philosophers, it can safely be expected that they do more than instruct, that they challenge when we get lazy, inspire when we are daunted, and that they somehow aid proper noetic digestion. As usually understood, however, this encouragement "to think for oneself'' is interpreted as the development of critical thinking skills, skills that may permit you to grind down those knowledge-stones but which do nothing to help you assimilate whatever truth they may have contained. One must also be wary of supposing that such pedagogical aims, even when understood in the best sense, exhaust the possible reasons for dialogical irony, that teaching determines the boundary of Plato's communicative intent. It does not. There is another, deeper difficulty with the idea of thinking for oneself. Namely, that everyone already does; it's part of the problem, not the solution. To quote from Herakleitos once more: "though the logos is common, the many live supposing themselves to have a special understanding" (Frag. 2). At the most important level, then, irony or stimulating indirection is a proper part of philosophical pedagogy not so much because young learners need tricky help with the hard work of assimilation-which they certainly do-but because we human knowers are constantly prone to collapse into that state of consciousness Hegel identified as self-certainty. Once in such a state, we can usually only be levered out again with well-meaning, i.e., noble, lies. Being in the know, the natural condition of the human soul, is so obviously our greatest adaptive advantage that we keep getting entranced by partial realizations of our wonderful capacity, we keep generalizing our local insights into global wisdoms. But how is such self-satisfied conviction to be m oved, led out of itself, educated? How does one come to recognize that one does not know? Hegel's dialectic, to the extent that it may be thought of as containing a pedagogical response to the problem, is a logical bludgeoning that has turned out to be all but useless, except in the case of a uniquely motivated not to say perverse few. Socrates, in contrast, seduces many a complacent soul-though not every one--out of its proclivity to noetic self-satisfaction with all manner of charms and deceits, as does Plato in tum at another level of refinement. The essential psychagogical trick in most cases is to make the higher truth look somehow attractive within the perspective of the lower, more confined horizon. Plato's Eleatic Stranger classifies such tricks as belonging to that species of the image-making art that works with phantoms (fantastics) rather than with likenesses (eikastics). The distinction is made in a dialogue entitled Sophist (236c). Philosophy's strictly educative concerns, however, have definite limits, since not every soul is capable of fully realizing her promise. We moderns do not like to hear things like this, partly because we tend to think that reason ought by and large to be perfectible by methods universally available to all and partly because we h ate to think that possibilities are limited or that freedom alone might not suffice for realizing the good. Plato is more hardheaded. Serious attraction to philosophy is no guarantee at all of its fulfillment, as may be seen, for example, in Apollodorus of the Symposi11m, who was at least wise enough to know 11 / 20/98 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-12 this fact about himself. Furthermore, while Socrates will converse with whoever comes his way, he does not undertake to teach everyone. Some souls he passes on to others, often guided by the admonitions of his daimonion, his "divine sign." His daimonion, of course-his little daimonic thing-is an inflection of the daimon eros, in whose affairs he is expert. So Socrates will sometimes help and sometimes tum aside those who will never be able to manage all that philosophy requires. As with most serous matters, it is a risk-y sort of discrimination, easily incurring public odium. In Socrates' case, that risk is the essential meaning of the historical accident that wrapped his erotic daimonion up into the civic charge of impiety, of importing new-fangled gods, an innovation partly responsible for his execution. As a final point it needs to be noted that infatuations with philosophy are not always so benign as Apollodorus's. The tyrannical ambitions of Alkibiades and Kritias, for example, both gifted intellectually, were blamed on their association with Socrates, while Plato's Seventh Letter--from which I have already quoted--exists principally on account of the havoc wreaked on philosophy's public, indeed international, reputation by Dionysius the Younger, Tyrant of Syracuse, in his efforts to make Plato's wisdom his own. My guiding question is whether or to what extent the irritating indirection of Platonic dialogue can be understood as exercising philosophical responsibility. The particular demands of teaching provide some plausible grounds, but there are others. Some of these are rather easy to overlook, once inside the comforts provided by contemporary academic freedoms. But not only are those freedoms hard-won and in need of constant maintenance (a task for which philosophy, in virtue of its disciplinary competence regarding the relation of theory to practice, is the proper guardian), neither is peace the uniform condition within our necessarily parasitic Republic of Letters. Academic politics is notorious for its pettiness and intolerance-itself a hardly accidental fact-but more significant are the manifold theoretical disputes over demarcation, hierarchy, and methodology across and between the various disciplines. Regarding these foundational and procedural reflections, philosophy's competence and even presence is held in deep suspicion by the positive disciplines. Within the so-called university, faction it would seem is the norm-no matter what ideals one might prefer or hope to see there. Not everyone can be fully philosophical, you might think that's a shame; not everyone wants to be philosophical; well, that's their choice; but not everyone wants philosophy around. That's dangerous. Hence the need for what I called philosophical guardianship. Both philosophy and what is philosophically best in all of us cannot rely on being left alone. In either the personal or the political case, there are several intrusive challenges to philosophy's well-being within its larger community: the psychic community of manifold desires on the one hand; the civic community of individual agents on the other. The fights in both cases depend on a hunger fo~ wisdom. The Platonic dialogues emphasize two main sources of intrusive challenge, and though I shall discuss them mostly in terms of the civic paradigm, the Rep1Jb!ic's own brilliant likeness of city to soul should keep the psychic paradigm equally in mind. According to Plato's dialogical imagery, then, the challenges come (1) from the other men of logoi, of whom the two main classes are poets and sophists, and (2) from the men of the city, who share with philosophy an ambition for the noble but 11 /20 / 9 8 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-13 disagree on the location of its highest form. The latter challenge also has two arms : that philosophy subverts decent, conventional politics (Anytus, Kleitophon), and that philosophy is adolescent, laughable, and unmanly (Kallikles, Thrasymachus). Adeimantus, who stands for what is necessary and best within the large yet still limited horizon of the city, bluntly restates these two accusations in the middle of the Rep11blic: philosophers are either useless or depraved. They therefore deserve no place in human community, let alone to be enthroned as its only competent kings. Perhaps the clearest overall Platonic symbol of the political challenge is the dialogue entitled Socrates' Defense Speech, while an emblem for the challenge from the men of logoi may be found in that gigantomachy mentioned in the Sophist, that never-ending battle between the hard-headed, aggressive "motion men"-whose general, so we learn in the Theaetet11s, is Homer-and the gentler, more generous "friends of the forms." Plato's implied account of the nature and grounds of these several challenges, I cannot examine in detail here but it is, I think, tolerably clear that the predicaments are, in all cases, serious and abiding ones. Astute Protagorean prudence, Hippian technical competence, and effective Gorgian rhetoric all seem far more beneficial-both in themselves and certainly to their practitioners-than Socratic elenchus could ever be. Socrates' wisdom appears only to numb people and make them angry or unhappy. Homer, Sophocles, and Aristophanes all seem more inspiring and companionable than philosophy's austere explanations and deflations, from which the gods are missing and in which, if the divine be mentioned at all, it seems aloof and indifferent to human concerns. Too much talk, and talk for talking's sake are indeed shameful and unmanly, while delving too deeply into the origins of things does indeed run risk of undermining civic loyalty, familial respect, and even the self-confidence that is a necessary condition for any worthwhile deed. All these tensions have a symbolic focus in that disturbing scenario at the end of the Rep11blic's most memorable image: the philosopher returning to the Cave would be set upon and killed by those still shackled there, if they could get hold of him. Their opinions are not so true as they imagine them to be, formed as they are by the shadows cast from artifacts and statues of real things carried above and behind them by poets, sophists, and politicians, and they would react with hostile fear if they knew. Yet the lesson is not that the Cave-dwellers are all contemptibly ignorant and wicked; it is that pure wisdom is unbearable to the incompletely enlightened soul. I say "incompletely enlightened" because too bright a light is unbearable, only to those who can already see. There is both a fire and muted daylight in Plato's Cave. Athens that prided itself on its freedom of discourse, its accomplishment in tragedy and its welcome to the sophists, nonetheless executed Socrates and indicted Aristotle. Philosophy cannot be an unqualified human good, because it is not unqualifiedly safe to tell the truth. We all know this already. Frankness is a gift and honour reserved for close friends, and even there it's difficult. Nor should we be surprised to learn that the truth is dangerous, if-as we hear so often-that knowledge is power. Socrates let himself be executed to vivify these sorts of unsettling facts for all thoughtful souls to come, knowing that Plato was there to write about it in a way that would keep the recognition safe within the memory of subsequent generations. 11/20/98 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY Of PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-14 The several differences between what is philosophical and what is not are none of them merely qualitative; they are fraught with threat and anxiety of an order that civility alone cannot control because their roots lie deeper than the city. Furthermore, Plato's sustained attention to the various assaults on philosophy suggests that none are to be regarded as accidental, that there are good if incomplete reasons why philosophy should suffer from them and it is therefore incumbent upon those pursuing her to understand the justice within such fates. To the extent that the assaults are not accidental, the need for irony in dealing with them is more than politic accommodation. Philosophy needs to make a peace with politics and poetry, with the healthy decency of civic life and with the consoling charms of comedy and tragedy, but such peace is at best a very unstable friendship of unequals. Moreover, the instability is reproduced within the individual soul as well. Each of us must make his uneasy peace both with the needs of practical life and with the enchantments of art, if we are to live as thoughtfully as possible. The ironical Socrates in Plato's ironical dialogues can be seen constantly negotiating these inequalities and their attendant dangers. Budding philosophers can be thankful for the tips. Guardianship and pedagogy deal, respectively, with the privations and the potentials of philosophizing. Actual or fully-fledged philosophizing remaius. Insofar as irony entails in some sense a playing false, it might seem that irony could at best be only conducive to and never constitutive of philosophy's focal activity-which might for the moment be characterized as consorting with the truth. Yet irony belongs here too, I think, at the heart of philosophy's defining concern. Philosophical account-giving or truth-telling has to be ironical to the extent that what philosophy is obliged to mean cannot in principle be given all at once. Philosophical comprehensiveness entails primacy, universality, and lucidity, i.e., its truth-telling must be a self-illuminated knowledge of ultimate principles in relation to what is. Among other things, this implies that any philosophical account aims at simultaneous knowledge of the conditions that make possible and justify its thematic claims; it must not only tell the truth, but somehow also tell the truth of its telling as well. These conditions for the possibility of a speech, however, cannot be given along with the content of the speech-at least not in the same, linear, thematic way. Hence the logical necessity for a two-faced mode of speaking: one aspect to declare what one wants to say, the other aspect to show that one knows exactly how and why one can say it. Such a two-faced mode of speech is properly called ironic because it cannot state all that it means at once, though it is not thereby prevented from evoking the wholeness of the understanding it articulates--on the condition, that is, of a generous listener with an eye for reading between the lines. Failure to appreciate that philosophy requires at least this sort of irony easily leads to measuring its discourse by a mathematical standard, since the latter is a reasonable measure for interim, though never for primary, insightfulness. Similar failures have also been responsible for many a foolish trek across the transcendental desert in search of presuppositionless beginnings. One further consequence is that philosophical speech, because both primary and comprehensive, cannot be univocal in principle. This is the deep ground of philosophy's ancient quarrel with poetry and why metaphorical speech is so emphatically integral to the texture of Plato's dialogues. 11/20/98 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-15 I have just argued that fundamental speech, and this would be in whatever situation we find ourselves moved to give it, has to be two-faced. It follows that univocal speech-i.e., the speech that gives the appearance of managing to say all that it means-is not only secondary but also contingent upon that primary equivocation. Univocal speech is therefore radically unstable, bounded and made possible in its qualified way by a tacit agreement not to press inquiry beyond a certain point. Part of our human experience of this fact is the disturbing discovery that plausible arguments can apparently be made on both sides for virtually anything-the so-called dissoi logoi of the ancient sophists-and that almost no one is ever persuaded by rational, i.e., purely univocal, words alone. In the absence of philosophy or fundamental speech, any assertoric stand thus depends as much on the will to maintain it, on agreement to abide by the axioms that make it possible, as it does on the content of those axioms themselves. Perversely, then, it becomes possible to take a stand in words without the corresponding insight and so too without the corresponding resolve or choice that deemed the axiom worthy--or, rather, one takes a stand with an alternative, unspoken resolve. That's why Aristotle said that the difference between the sophist and philosopher lies in their resolve, their proairesis, not in the arguments they give. Yet note that even philosophy cannot logically repair the breach caused by any such willful detachment of speech from the soul's orientation and insight. In other words, philosophy cannot in words alone compel the sophist to come out of hiding. This is an important lesson of Plato's Sophist and it is also the reason Thrasymachus blushed. That is, Thrasymachus eventually had to betray his sophistry once he had committed himself to the theoretical probity of "precise speech." It was a noble and educative blunder. In sum, therefore, human logoi can never by themselves reveal the soul that makes them-and so we must pay as much attention as we can to deeds as well. One of the most important resources of Platonic dialogue is, I suggest, their ability to let us see how speeches are anchored in a soul's resolve, despite the fact that a soul's true love cannot in principle be deduced from the things it says. TRANSITION. Philosophical insight depends on a complex of conditions, both extrinsic and intrinsic, to which I have pointed under the topics of work, pedagogy, guardianship, and civics. In their light, I have sketched several ways in which irony is native to how philosophy must deal with what is non-philosophical, with what is potentially philosophical, and with the truth itself. Unlike Athena, human wisdom does not actually spring fully formed from the head of Zeus-though what the myth means to say is that wisdom, once she has arisen, cannot be fully explained in terms of genealogy alone. Also unlike Athena, human wisdom has no nectar and ambrosia with which to fortify itself against the many forms of mortal decay. This means that no matter how like a goddess, pure theorizing on its own is by definition irresponsible. It also follows that no part of erotics can be set aside on the plausible yet mistaken grounds that eidetics are philosophy's only proper concern. Socrates' erotic science may be shady and ironic, yet it nevertheless belongs to philosophical life quite as essentially the rest. With this granted, however, it will always remain to consider when and to what extent one need or ought to talk out loud about such things. I accept, therefore, that my entire speech, no matter how correct it may be, remains 11/20/98 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-16 vulnerable to being judged either tactless, or trivial-to the extent that it does not emphasize eidetic content. WHY PLATO WROTE DIALOGUES Philosophical truth-telling,. the sustaining activity of philosophical life, has to be twofaced. Hegel's impressive dialectical logic is a concerted effort to smooth out this acknowledged need for irony, an attempt to resolve self-illuminating insight into a special sort of discursive linearity, into a proof that manages to demonstrate its axioms as it deduces its theorems. His experiment in philosophical discourse is weak, however, on two main counts. First, the logic of Hegel's proof is in the end not as methodical as hoped for, indeed required. Ingenuity is still needed in order to make the crucial transitions, an ingenuity that Hegel from time to time facilitates with quite remarkable philosophical poetry. A further sign of this same weakness is his embarrassment over giving introductions, which he knows he should not in all strictness use but which he writes anyway. Moreover, since the introductions are where Hegel encodes the suppressed erotics of his philosophic art, i.e., what he means to be doing as a man here and now in love with philosophy, that's exactly \vhy everyone finds them so intriguing and often more interesting than what follows. Plato avoids the dialectical inconsistency of such introductions, remaining truer to Hegel's own insight that philosophy cannot ever in principle begin to prove itself, that it cannot put itself on trial before the tribunal over which it presides as judge. Perhaps Hegelian dialectic comes as dose as philosophical discourse ever can to an exhaustive, rationally systematic, univocal self-explicitation. The question, though, is when or whether we really need such a thing. Plato wrote a defense speech for philosophy, but he quite deliberately named it after Socrates, not himself. The second major weakness of Hegelian dialectic is it's being so forbidding and dull. This is an important criticism. It says that H egel's philosophy by and large fails, as I noted earlier, to seduce, fails to enflame theoretical eros, fails sufficiently to help us make insight our own. Platonic dialogue, in contrast, is remarkably seductive-the unattractive patches notwithstanding. In fact, part of its seductiveness is to make itself confusing and exciting by turns, whereas Hegelian dialectic plods along in the same old difficult way page after page. Knowing that Plato can be wonderfully lucid and inspiring from time to time, forces the reader to seek a reason and so too a meaning for the times when the text is experienced differently. There is nothing more inspiring than the suspicion of a hidden life, 1me vie inconnue, half-hidden depths in which we might swim if only we can prove strong enough. Platonic dialogue is a complex three-dimensional speech, rather than a linear, discursive one. Its axes are drama, argument, and character, all three of which follow their independent but mutually interpenetrating logics. Take book one of the Republic. Why does Polemarchus interrupt? How does his account of justice follow up on the account his father, Cephalus, seemed to give? What is the relationship between Polemarchus and Cephalus? Who is the better man and why? What things seems good and best to Polemarchus? What things most noble? What is there in a man like Polemarchus that inclines him to think of justice and friendship in the way he does? H ow exactly did he get 1 1 / 20 / 98 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-17 talked into agreeing that justice is trivial and base? Are his mistakes consistent with the partial goods for which he stands? What do Socrates' examples tell us about Polemarchus's mistakes? What is Socrates trying to do for Polemarchus? To what extent, if any, is he successful? Why does he care about Polemarchus at all? Why does Socrates argue so fallaciously in proving that justice does no injury? What did he understand about Polemarchus to know he could get away with the fallacy? Why is Polemarchus so enthusiastic in his final agreement to be a "partner in battle" with Socrates? How does all this relate to Polemarchus's action at the very beginning, when he waylays Socrates and Glaucon? How does it fit with his later interruption, in book five, when he objects to women and children in common? What is Plato showing 11s about the limits of Polemarchus's understanding of justice? About its merits? Why is Polemarchus there, between Cephalus and Thrasymachus? And so on. Not until you have some reasonable answer to all of these sorts questions, and scores besides, can you have begun to understand Plato's meaning, his logos, in these four or five pages. You need to become proficient in a multivariable calculus that simultaneously integrates along the three dimensions of drama, argument, and character to produce a shimmering hologram of meaning. This dimensional complexity allows the dialogue to mean more than what it says in its arguments and to reveal more than its narrative depicts. It opens up a maximum of triangulation between uncertain souls and their shifty speeches. Aporia, then, is superficial. It belongs to only one or two of the relevant dimensions and is therefore only an aspect of the whole. The characters may be in perplexity, and maybe the reader is too, but Plato is not. His pictures of perplexity are too finely drawn to be themselves expressions of the depicted anxieties; they are too precisely located and elaborated not to be the subject of a higher-order interpretation. What foolishness would impel Ol!JOne to spell out ignorance and error so intricately, and with such great pains at so great a cost of time, if he did not have a view of what they meant? For all the reasons examined above Plato conveys his interpretations obliquely, but that does not mean the dialogues bear out no logos. On the other hand, Plato's logos is a delicate and subtle thing, not easily separable from the theatre it animates. It is a sure sign of having failed to understand Plato fully when one is forced to leave or dismiss any single part of the dialogue as incidental, as wrapping, as form rather than content. Plato does not dress up otherwise independent, philosophically sober propositions in gaudy, entertaining dramatic garb, as if through some aesthetic quirk he liked to do it that way. There is indeed the thing that he means to say, but it is not captured by the naked propositional bodies you might take to be under the theatrical fancy-dress. As I have just indicated, for example, the philosophical meaning of Polemarchus is more than the partially correct proposition that justice is doing good to friends and harm to enemies. Among other things, he casts significant light on how and why the proper discipline of spiritedness is integral to philosophy, and why friendship is the soul of justice. Quite in accord with a principle Socrates announces in the Phaedms, everything in the dialogue is meaningful and everything serves the overall meaning Plato would communicate. 11/20/98 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY Of PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-18 This raises yet another matter of philosophical tact. According to what I have just said, it should be possible to spell out Plato's meaning in non-dramatic terms. To be a correct translation, part of such an exposition would have to be ironical and it would have to encompass at least the sense of all the implied erotic elements as well as the eidetic ones. Nothing obvious prevents such a gloss, yet even if correct, it remains to ask whether such a flattened out account could do all or even much of the work Plato intended and which the dialogues have, in fact, done and continue to do. The answer would have to be, I think, no. In one sense, Ideas-by which I mean the fundamental an:hai and intelligible structure of all things-are just not a problem; the predicament is that human souls for the most part fail to be ruled by them. That's something no amount of theory can fix. I asked the question: what, if anything, calls for the strangeness of Plato's dialogues, what could justify their indirection? A natural instinct, on first hearing such a question, is to look for reasons that might force or compel the response, reasons why things could not be done in any other way. In the present case, however, the instinct is misleading. The serious grounds for Platonic indirection I have considered do not, I think, necessitate the dialogue form. Without being necessitated, however, Plato's dialogues are a beautifully effective response to the many things philosophy always finds needing to be done. In my own view, they are the most beautifully effective response we have yet witnessed. A beautiful, noble, and effective response to abiding necessities is certainly grounds for praise, but this is not all there is to admire. By the ambiguous testimony of his letters and by the seamless consistency of his dialogical irony, Plato could not have been writing as an intellectual to express his thoughts or as a scientist to circulate his results. Perhaps it is hard to imagine there could be any reason for writing left, besides vanity or madness. Yet, Plato worked at something, and no one has ever doubted, despite the derangement and indirection of the texts, that they are all somehow for the sake of philosophy. I add: for the sake of keeping philosophy alive and well. Plato wrote for the love and care of philosophy, for its realization and well-being in living souls as well as in real cities. He saw clearly in what senses its husbandry, preservation, defense, and even its central truth-telling activity called for-though without necessitating-something like his two-faced books. Among other things, he aimed at philosophy's survival as a cultural entity in the tradition we think of as Western civilization. In this he was successful. Unbelievably successful, as may be seen in the fact that two-and-a-half thousand years later: here we all are, still vitally interested in what Plato had to communicate, in what a man like Plato understood the life of wisdom to be. Moreover, we keep being affected by his enigmatic communication, both directly as we study and through myriad historical reverberations at work behind the scenes of our own present educations. Even after all this time, we keep taking good things away from his amazing gift. The dialogues, then, are the instruments of Plato's mega!opsuchia, the unhurried means of a rare but great and noble deed, the sort of deed yearned for by all men of the highest human excellence. Plato's great-souled project was to create the real, on-going world in which we are all now able to carry on with philosophy; he cleared the space, he gave the laws, he holds up the firmament. ll /2 0 i 98 �CARL PAGE THE POWER & GLORY OF PLATONIC DIALOGUE PAGE-19 As a great-souled man, all honour and praise are Plato's due but we cannot expect him to be impressed by such external rewards. His ambition was for a deed large, beautiful, and impressive in itself. The reward for such deeds is the overwhelming pleasure of actually doing them, though that too is hardly the central reason for which they are undertaken. No great-souled deed can be great, if it cannot be described in terms of a single-minded devotion that transcends selfish purpose. Yet it does not follow from this that devotion to such an end is purely selfless. The great-souled man is himself fi1!filled by his devotion to what transcends ordinary ambition. Thus, Plato wrote not only for others. He also wrote for the love and care of philosophy in regard to himself, in regard to his own glories and satisfactions as a wise, superior, and fortunate man. He also wrote his dialogues as an exhibition of prowess, and for the sake of joy in the exhilarating exercise of his own powers and command. In the end, Plato wrote dialogues for the same reason God created the world: because he co11/d. No one, absolutely no one, has come anywhere near matching him since. 11 /2 0 / 98 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College. During the Fall and Spring semesters, lectures are given on Friday nights. Items include audio and video recordings and typescripts.<br /><br />For more information, and a schedule of upcoming lectures, please visit the <strong><a href="http://www.sjc.edu/programs-and-events/annapolis/formal-lecture-series/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">St. John's College website</a></strong>.  <br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="Formal Lecture Series" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=5&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection.<br /><br />A growing number of lecture recordings are also available on the St. John's College (Annapolis) Lectures podcast. Visit <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/st-johns-college-annapolis-lectures/id1695157772">Apple Podcasts</a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6GDsIRqC8SWZ28AY72BsYM?si=f2ecfa9e247a456f" title="Spotify">Spotify</a> to listen and subscribe. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context formallectureseriesannapolis Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 19 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Power and Glory of Platonic Dialogue Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture delivered on November 20, 1998, by Carl Page as part of the Formal Lecture Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Page, Carl, 1957- Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1998-11-20 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Permission has been given to make this available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Plato. Dialogues Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LEC_Page_Carl_1998-11-20 Friday night lecture Tutors https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/1176638aef26848076e4450c2e331fc9.mp4 fb1925d797cb535111e69991a235216a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College. During the Fall and Spring semesters, lectures are given on Friday nights. Items include audio and video recordings and typescripts.<br /><br />For more information, and a schedule of upcoming lectures, please visit the <strong><a href="http://www.sjc.edu/programs-and-events/annapolis/formal-lecture-series/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">St. John's College website</a></strong>.  <br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="Formal Lecture Series" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=5&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection.<br /><br />A growing number of lecture recordings are also available on the St. John's College (Annapolis) Lectures podcast. Visit <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/st-johns-college-annapolis-lectures/id1695157772">Apple Podcasts</a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6GDsIRqC8SWZ28AY72BsYM?si=f2ecfa9e247a456f" title="Spotify">Spotify</a> to listen and subscribe. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context formallectureseriesannapolis Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data mp4 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 00:46:55 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Difference and Belonging in the Histories of Herodotus Description An account of the resource Video recording of a lecture delivered on October 14, 2022, by Angel Parham as part of the Formal Lecture Series. Ms. Parham is an associate professor of Sociology and Senior Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. She offers this description of her lecture: "One of the great gifts of antiquity is that its writers provide a window for us into ways of seeing the world that differ from what we take for granted today. In this lecture we consider how the chronicles and stories of Herodotus frame ways of thinking about difference and belonging that provide insight into human societies both past and present." Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Parham, Angel Adams Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2022-10-14 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource A signed permission form has been received stating: "I hereby grant St. John's College permission to: make a recording of my lecture, and retain copies for circulation and archival preservation at the St. John’s College Greenfield Library; make a recording of my lecture available online; make typescript copies of my lecture available for circulation and archival preservation at the St. John’s College Greenfield Library; make a copy of my typescript available online." Type The nature or genre of the resource moving image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp4 Subject The topic of the resource Herodotus. History Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LEC_Parham_Angel_2022-10-14_ac Friday night lecture