VIS 22 - Formations of Modern Art

The UCSD lecture series VIS 22 - Formations of Modern Art is a very interesting, inspired and at times (I expect) very entertaining lecture series in Art History by the expressive professor William Bryson. (feed) This semester it is back. I went through the whole cycle last year - much to my satisfaction.

Bryson takes the audience on a tour through the art of painting from the 17th to the 19th century with inspired and informative analysis of specific works, which can be found on the course website. Guided by Bryson we get thoroughly acquainted with assorted artists, mostly from France - or so it went last year. This year the first two lecture were missed in the feed and it only starts with the third.

In addition to the teaching in art history, Bryson's lectures are very valuable in that, that they give a complete cultural frame of reference to the works that are being discussed. Such a frame of reference, apart from being highly instructive to the work of art, give a fine picture of the culture and time in which the work was created. And I am sure that this gives the kind of insight anybody would be interested in, who wants to know more of that history, regardless of the painting.

More about Formations of Modern Art:
Renoir and Slumming,
Formations of Modern Art.

Preserving Ojibwe - Speaking of Faith

Over the Ramadan, Speaking of Faith has spent a lot of time on talking Islam and the Ramadan in particular. I wanted to pick at least some issue from that long series, but didn't find the time. Only now, I have returned once more to this good podcast (feed) and found an interview with David Treuer about language and meaning.

The thoughts on language and meaning are applied to the native American language Ojibwe. Although Treuer had to acquire Ojibwe at a later age, it is fundamentally a language he needs to express meaning, especially related to the culture, identity and life of him as an Ojibwe Indian. Together with his brother Anton, he is involved in a project preserving this language. His stories on the show are about the special qualities of the language and the specifics they express, fro him and for his study subjects. The conversation holds that it takes the Ojibwe language, to capture certain meanings and that English cannot do that.

Therefore, it is a plea for the conservation of specific language, native American and otherwise, although many of them are in danger of extinction. Treuer, in this, is the representative of the Ojibwe, but already while listening, I wondered how an Indian and his brother can have such German sounding names. And it turns out that they are the sons of a holocaust survivor from Austria. That aspect is no touched upon during the program, but can be found in the uncut version of Krista Tippett's interview with David Treuer (mp3 download).

More Speaking of Faith:
The story and God,
Fragility and Humanity,
The Sunni-Shia divide and the future of Islam,
Wangari Maathai,
Rumi.

Drabinsky lectures on Husserl

For the serious podcast listener, podcast lecture series can offer content for actual study. One such series is J. Drabinsky's teachings about Husserl. He calls this a podcast, but these (and other) lectures are actually not syndicated. With the help of Huffduffer, I have worked aroudn that and devised this feed: http://huffduffer.com/AnneisaMan/tags/husserl/rss.

Drabinsky's recordings allow you to listen in on his cycle on Husserl, which includes next to him teaching, the interaction with his students. These students are very knowledgeable and take Drabinsky with their questions to all direction, not only with Husserl, but also with other philosophers, whether Husserl's successor Heidegger, or the classical Aristotle and Plato. What arises is an thorough introduction into Husserl's thought and his philosophy called phenomenology, which, by Drabinsky, is characterized, more as a method, than a philosophy.

This method, is an tool to unify the sciences. And so, this course is also very much about science, knowledge and the acquisition of insight in the physical world. As complicated as that subject is, to begin with, the level of the course, both from the professor as well as the students, make it into a very taxing podcast. This is not for leisure listening - this is for serious study. And very worthwhile at that.

More Husserl:
Dichter und Denker in Freiburg (review in English, podcast in German).

MMW4 - New Ideas, Clash of Cultures

An excellent history professor and lecturer at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) is Matthew Herbst. Herbst's excellent instruction can be enjoyed in podcast in the recurring (and ever disappearing) podcast lecture series MMW - the making of the modern world. Just now, the fourth section of the series, MMW 4, is back on line. This is world history covering the time 1200 - 1750 CE, titled New Ideas, Clash of Cultures; a comparative perspective. (feed)

For the help of his students and the enjoyment of us podcast eavesdroppers, Herbst has set up a website to go along with his MMW teachings in general, and to begin with MMW 4 in particular. This contains questions and answers, the syllabus, articles and more. I am sure this will prove to be a valuable asset to the podcast listeners, just as much as to the students.

There are more podcasts and podcast lecture series that give insight in world history of this era. Herbst's added value is, that he genuinely does world history. He is one of the few to go beyond the western perspective and familiarize us with other histories. In this series you can expect Arabs, Mongols, Chinese, Japanese, Ottomans as well as Europeans.

One last word: UCSD courses are online only for the duration of the semester. Make sure you download while you can.

More MMW 4:
When the steppe meets empire,
Gengis Khan,
MMW 4 first review.

The Dead Sea Scrolls - FITJ

If you saw no reason to listen to Michael Satlow's podcast From Israelite to Jew, because you were not especially interested in the history of Judaism or the Bible or such, you may find there is still something to find. The latest issue is about the Dead Sea Scrolls, that marvelous archeological find that has so many mesmerized and has given cause to so many speculations.

Satlow retells the drama of the scrolls' find, hiding and eventual disclosure. He also gives a good inventory of what is among the scrolls. What kind of texts they are, whose they were, why they were stored in the caves near Qumran on the north west shore of the Dead Sea. One gets to understand the amazing riches of the find. A nearly complete Hebrews Bible, many centuries older than manuscripts available at the time. In addition many other texts that give insight in the theological, historical and social situation at the time.

The question whose texts these were, is closely intertwined with what authority they carry. Eventually, Satlow emphasizes the historical importance and historical questions around the find. Central are the questions about what Jewish sect owned and produced the scrolls. Are they the elusive Essenes or not? Without giving a definitive answer, the non-biblical texts in the find, add to the inventory of Jewish sects and streams of thought and theologies of the time, including the just arrived early Christians.

More FITJ:
Herod the Ambiguous,
Jewish varieties,
Jews in the Hasmonean era,
The Maccabee Uprising,
Hellenism.

Unabomber world views - Entitled Opinions

Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, was not just a terrorist. He also was a social critic and in the podcast Entitled Opinions, host Robert Harrison and his guest Jean-Marie Apostolidès dig into the thoughts and writings of the Unabomber.

They make a point, ostensibly, in distancing themselves from Kaczynski as an activist and emphasize they do not agree with his ideas. Apostolidès begins to explain why his ideas, nevertheless, are interesting and relevant for discussion. Harrison expresses some affinity with some of the ideas, although he categorically disagrees with the conclusions. The bottom-line, I think, seems to be that in our rapidly developing world, Kaczynski's ideas are bound to pop up and need to be evaluated and critically assessed for they carry insights or point to truths that otherwise may not be ascertained that clearly.

It is interesting how Apostolidès eventually identifies Kaczynski as a writer. Not as an activist, a philosopher or even a terrorist. He was a writer and he reverted to violence to get attention to his writings. The psychology of Kaczynski, thus, is that of a failed person and his ideas badly written, missing the point and in their anti-technology stance, overtaken by the present. Kaczynski in other words, is yet another Luddite met over the course of progress. What could be added is an analysis of a historian how every technology driven change in society over history has produced its own Luddites and Unabombers.

More Entitled Opinions:
Byzantine Culture,
Jimi Hendrix,
Nietzsche,
Romanticism,
Sartre's Existentialism.