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Religious Diversity week

Check out these events:

Mon 16th March, TSC West Ballroom, 6:00 pm
Music Night:
Baha’i, Gospel, LDS, Muslim, Pagan

Tues 17th March, Sunburst Lounge (TSC), 5:30 pm
Lecture by Dr. Harrison Kleiner:
“Sex and Religion: Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body”

Wed 18th March, Old Main 304, 6:00 pm
Pagan Potluck & [Religion] Jeopardy!
It is a potluck! Bring, eat, and learn!

Thurs 19th March, Old Main 121, 5:30 pm
Professional Panel on:
“Religion, Art, and Literature”

Fri 20th March, Business Building 215, 6:00 pm
Movie Night
Star Wars IV and “Mythology of Star Wars”

Upcoming lecture on John Paul II’s Theology of the Body

Correction:  this talk is at 5:30, not 6pm.

As part of Religious Diversity Week, Harrison Kleiner will give a presentation called ‘Religion and Sex: John Paul II’s Theology of the Body’ on Tuesday (March 17) at 6pm in the TSC Sunburst Lounge.

I hope the talk will be of some interest to not only those interested in religion, but to philosophers generally.  JPII’s phenomenological as well as personalist leanings are on full display in the ToB, and I see shades of Levinas and the pomo focus on the ‘gift’ throughout.

Barzun’s ‘The House of Intellect’

I first read Barzun’s book ‘The House of Intellect’ in college, on the recommendation of a Politics professor of mine who was advising me on my academic future.  The House of Intellect has incredible foresight – written in 1959 but one would think it was written last year.

I still reference the book on some occasion when I teach.  One of my primary pet peeves with my students is their tendency to put ‘I feel’ in front of everything they say.  My response: ‘Don’t be such a wuss.  Assert what you think is the case, if you are wrong don’t worry, someone will tell you!’  I also still get annoyed at the nearly exclusive emphasis on teaching technique (‘engaging the students’) and a corresponding decline in attention paid to the actual content of courses.  I don’t know if I am a good teacher, but I know I teach great books.  If everyone did that, I think we’d be in better shape.

Here is a recent review of the old book.  The book is worth reading for those interested in education in America (and the anti-intellectualism it has helped foster).