I run the “Philosophy Film Series” (and the corresponding “Pub Talks”) at my college, a task I enjoy so much that it doesn’t even seem like work. I’m always pleasantly surprised to find that our students are very sophisticated film viewers, and my job as the facilitator of our discussions is often impeded by my…
Read MoreThere was a film review of the new Wes Anderson flick The Darjeeling Limited last week in The New Yorker in which the reviewer asks: Can you have a thriving movie culture in a country without enough trains? It’s a great question– for those of us interested in all genres of American art. I, too,…
Read MoreI went to a roundtable the other night on “The Aesthetic” hosted by our English department. As you might expect, much of the discussion was guided by Kant’s Critique of Judgment, supplemented with the requisite considerations of Baumgarten and Burke. At one point, the discussion turned to the “sublime” and, of course, to the ready-to-hand…
Read MoreI was very pleased to see all of the interest in the To Student, or not to student post! The discussion, much of which was sparked by an initial distinction between a student-who-learns and a student-who-students (a la Sartre’s garçon de café) seemed to concentrate on the “inauthenticity” of the latter. I thought it might…
Read MoreA colleague of mine recently alerted me to an interesting passage in Garry D. Fenstermacher’s essay, “Rediscovering the Student in Democracy and Education,” in John Dewey and Our Educational Prospects: A Critical Engagement with Dewey’s Democracy and Education. Fenstermacher suggests imagining that the word “student” might function as a verb or a noun. He writes,…
Read More[Chet has forced me to place a temporary moratorium on Memphis-themed posts to this blog. But it’s only temporary.] I was tied up with Merleau-Pontyans shortly after the Columbia University speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but I did actually watch his speech in its entirety on CSPAN and wanted to offer my $0.02 on…
Read MoreThe quote above is from the Jim Jarmusch film “Mystery Train.” In my experience, this is the quote that people most often associate with our strange city. However, as a Memphian, I’ve always thought that another line from the Jarmusch film was a much more apt description of the Memphis experience. My favorite line comes…
Read MoreApologies to the regular readers of this blog for my absence. Apparently, Memphis is the destination of choice this month for all of my far-flung friends and associates. Be back soon with stories of the carpetbaggers, I’m sure.
Read MoreMy cable was out over the weekend and I had to have a repairman come by yesterday morning to check it out. Because the cable company gave me a window of 10-noon to expect him, I was at home still scrambling to prep for my 1pm class when he arrived. My cable repair guy was…
Read MoreAugust 19- a good day for babies. 1973- a very fine vintage. As it just so happens, that was my birthday. August 19th is also the birthday of Bill Clinton, Orville Wright, Ogden Nash, Fred Thompson, Christian Slater, Tipper Gore and John Stamos. And the same day that Groucho Marx died. Heady times, indeed. I’ve…
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