As the opening event of the newly minted Mechaya Center, Director Jonathan Lee, invited Adam Hochschild to Maine to discuss new new book To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914 – 1918, where he focuses on the long-ignored moral drama of World War I critics, alongside its generals and heroes.
This event was sponsored by the Mechaya Center and was hosted at the University of Southern Maine, Portland campus.
This year’s Winter Weekend selection, Stendhal’s The Red and the Black follows a young intellectual man from a provincial town who tries to make it in 19th century Paris. Stendhal’s psychological portrait of Julien Sorel and his love affairs mesh well with a satiric depiction of religious and society life.
Charles Calhoun, independent scholar for the Maine Humanities Council presented a lecture entitled “How To Lose Your Head When All About Are Keeping Theirs: Julien, Mathilde, and the Agony of Romanticism.”
The Council’s annual Winter Weekend, a humanities seminar on a classic text, provides an opportunity for readers to confront, in a group setting, an important work of literature. Held at Bowdoin College in early March, the program begins with a Friday evening lecture and dinner (a gastronomic taste of the time and culture reflected in the chosen text). The group reconvenes Saturday on various aspects of the book, from cultural context, to critical analysis, to explorations of specific themes.
Winter Weekend 2011 took place March 11 and 12, 2011 at Bowdoin College.
How To Lose Your Head When All About Are Keeping Theirs: Julien, Mathilde, and the Agony of Romanticism[ 55:44 ]Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2546)
This year’s Winter Weekend selection, Stendhal’s The Red and the Black follows a young intellectual man from a provincial town who tries to make it in 19th century Paris. Stendhal’s psychological portrait of Julien Sorel and his love affairs mesh well with a satiric depiction of religious and society life.
Mary Rice-DeFosse, Professor of French at Bates College presented a lecture entitled “Pens and Pistol Shots: Crimes of Passion in Stendhal’s France.”
The Council’s annual Winter Weekend, a humanities seminar on a classic text, provides an opportunity for readers to confront, in a group setting, an important work of literature. Held at Bowdoin College in early March, the program begins with a Friday evening lecture and dinner (a gastronomic taste of the time and culture reflected in the chosen text). The group reconvenes Saturday on various aspects of the book, from cultural context, to critical analysis, to explorations of specific themes.
Winter Weekend 2011 took place March 11 and 12, 2011 at Bowdoin College.
This year’s Winter Weekend selection, Stendhal’s The Red and the Black follows a young intellectual man from a provincial town who tries to make it in 19th century Paris. Stendhal’s psychological portrait of Julien Sorel and his love affairs mesh well with a satiric depiction of religious and society life.
Theresa McBride, Chair of the History department at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts presented a lecture entitled “Intimate Matters: Sex and Social Class in Post-Revolutionary France.”
The Council’s annual Winter Weekend, a humanities seminar on a classic text, provides an opportunity for readers to confront, in a group setting, an important work of literature. Held at Bowdoin College in early March, the program begins with a Friday evening lecture and dinner (a gastronomic taste of the time and culture reflected in the chosen text). The group reconvenes Saturday on various aspects of the book, from cultural context, to critical analysis, to explorations of specific themes.
Winter Weekend 2011 took place March 11 and 12, 2011 at Bowdoin College.
Intimate Matters: Sex and Social Class in Post-Revolutionary France[ 51:29 ]Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3755)
Jonathan Shay, MD, PhD is a clinical psychiatrist whose treatment of combat trauma suffered by Vietnam veterans combined with his critical and imaginative interpretations of the ancient accounts of battle described in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are deepening our understanding of the effects of warfare on the individual. His book, Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character (1994), draws parallels between the depiction of the epic warrior-hero Achilles and the experiences of individual veterans whom he treated at a Boston-area Veterans Affairs’ Outpatient Clinic. In Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming (2002), using Odysseus as metaphor, Shay focuses on the veteran’s experience upon returning from war and highlights the role of military policy in promoting the mental and physical safety of soldiers. A passionate advocate for veterans and committed to minimizing future psychological trauma, Shay strives for structural reform of the ways the U.S. armed forces are organized, trained, and counseled.
Respected by humanists and military leaders alike, Shay brings into stark relief the emotional problems faced by military combatants and veterans, ancient and modern. In 2007, he was awarded a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” for his work with veterans.
Allen Wells, the Roger Howell, Jr. Professor of History at Bowdoin College, scholarship has focused on modern Mexican history, especially Yucatán. His most recent book is Tropical Zion: General Trujillo, FDR and the Jews of Sosúa. Professor Wells is the first in our series of podcasts from our December, 2009 event: Cuban Exceptionalism: Reflections on Latin American History. This one day event examined the colonial history of Cuba, the Revolution and the post-revolution era of the region. Professor Wells’ opening lecture entitled Colonial Legacies: Cuba and Latin America, set the scene of Cuba’s history of colonialism and how baseball played a role in politics.
Professor Wells’ lecture was part of the Cuban Exceptionalism symposium which took place on December 4, 2009 in the Albert Brenner Glickman Library at the University of Southern Maine.
Please be aware that the content in these audio files does not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of the Maine Humanities Council or any organization with which the Maine Humanities Council is affiliated. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
As the opening event of the newly minted Mechaya Center, Director Jonathan Lee, invited Adam Hochschild to Maine to discuss new new book To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914 – 1918, where he focuses on the long-ignored moral drama of World War I critics, alongside its generals and heroes.
