Splash Biography

In the fifth century BCE a culture of readers emerged in ancient Athens. On the face of it, the emergence of a literate elite was useful to the democracy, but this class will analyze the obverse of the coin. What problems arose when more Greeks began to read? How does literacy make one susceptible to propaganda? We will further consider how fourth century intellectuals responded to and rebelled against the written culture (ironically through their writings), and consider the implications of wide spread literacy on twenty-first century democracy.

This class will study the work of Jenny Saville, a traditional painter who counts herself among the Young British Artists, an uber modernist group of British Artists seeking to push the limits of art. The object of this course will be to analyze Saville's artwork, the juxtaposition of Saville's traditional style and the Post Modern environment she exhibited in, and to pose the perennial questions: What is "art," and why does it matter?

Let's face it- the Greeks were the most awesome civilization on Earth. They got drunk at Symposia, sang the odes of Homer, and helped shape the Western world. In this class, we will focus on two central thinkers in Greek history, Pythagoras' and Plato, and discuss the role of music in their belief systems. This is the class for people who really want to get at the philosophical implications of Music - what does Music suggest about the world around us? We will also discuss the importance of Music in the developments of Greek Mathematics, and how the Pythagorean Theorem and Lady Gaga might actually have more in common than you think.

The Apology of Socrates reads like a twenty-five hundred year old rap diss. In this lecture, we will discuss the context of Socrates' trial, quickly review his defense, and ponder the philosophical implications of the Socratic method. Along the way, we will discuss contemporary figures in Music, Art, and Politics who have challenged the status quo, and how they compare to Socrates.