Cultural Heritage . . . by Maireid Sullivan 2011 Work in progress
Cultivating friendship is the most important thing we do.
Recommended reading: Anam Cara (Bantam Books, 1997), the best selling book by Irish poet, John O’Donohue (1956-2008).
The body is your only home It is mysterious that the human body is clay. The individual is the meeting place ofthe four elements. The person is a clay shape, living in the medium of air. Yet the fire of blood, thought and soul moves through the body. Its whole life and energy flows in the subtle circle of the water element. We have come up out of the depths of the earth. Consider the millions of continents of clay that will never have the opportunity to leave this underworld. This clay will never find a form to ascend and express itself in the world of light, but will live for ever in that unknown shadow world.
– John O'Donohue >>> more
In Homage: The Way of Anam Cara
by Jason Kirkey Jason
shares insights on friendship and healing in the Celtic tradition. We are all part of something that lies just below the surface of the waters of appearance. >>>more
Living Culture It is essential to celebrate and preserve our cultural heritage. A society out of touch with it's past cannot have confidence in its future. Our history inspires us and defines who we are.>>>more
World Heritage: What does it Mean? Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. What makes the concept of World Heritage exceptional is its universal application. World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory in which they are located. >>>more
"The interaction of historically important ideas with the social milieu from which they emerge and which they in turn influence— that is, broadly, the domain of intellectual history. … Ideas are quite commonly found first in the mind of some unworldly person, a recluse like Bentham, or an obscure pauper like Marx, a poor vagabond like Rousseau; then they are taken up by men of affairs, who, as John Maynard Keynes observed, snatch them from the air perhaps without knowing that they came from some scribbler of yesterday. … The separate disciplines, such as philosophy, the sciences, or political theory, in so far as they study their past ideas tend to do so unhistorically, treating them substantially as if they arose in a vacuum. It must remain for the intellectual historian to show how these ideas interacted with social reality, with past ideas, and with each other." Roland N. Stromberg, (1968). European Intellectual History since 1789
"Carle C. Zimmerman purports to present a comprehensive understanding of European history."– Professor Hsu
Family and Civilization by Carle C. Zimmerman "a prominent sociologist – in a widely publicized work"
This book, which for decades was a leading text in US universities, purports to present a comprehensive understanding of European history. The following critical review was published in AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 1.51, 1949
Reviewer: Francis L. K. Hsu (1909-1999) Professor of Anthropology NorthWestern University, Evanston, Illinois, holds degrees in Sociology, Economics (LSE), and Anthropology, and specializes in kinship patterns and cultural comparisons between large, literate societies, namely, the United States, China, India, and Japan.
Family and Civilization byCARLE C. ZIMMERMAN,
(1947), Harper and Brothers, New York. Review excerpt:
... while the pros and cons of such a remedy are a matter for debate, a number of basic points of reference essential to the foundation of the book are a matter of the author’s ignorance. These points of reference center around Dr. Zimmerman’s distinction between “primitive” and “civilized” families, which in turn constitutes the reason for leaving out a consideration of the family in nonliterate societies. >>> read the full review here
Professor Shlain proposes that the process of learning alphabetic literacy rewired the human brain, with profound consequences for culture in that our evolving interdisciplinary capacity for visionary analytical thinking will be directed to finding 'holistic' solutions to our evolutionary needs.
Abrahamic religion spread globally through Christianity being adopted by the Roman Empire in the 4th century and Islam by the Islamic Empire from the 7th century. Today the Abrahamic religions are one of the major divisions in comparative religion (along with Indian, Iranian, and East Asian religions). The major Abrahamic religions in chronological order of founding are Judaism in the 7th century BCE, Christianity in the 1st century CE, and Islam in the 7th century CE.>>> more
What might heaven be like? by Philip Almond
Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland
June 8, 2018
Excerpt:
Traditional Judaism was somewhat reticent about the life to come. But when it was spoken of, it was primarily in terms of the spiritual vision of God. As one third-century rabbi explained it,
"In the world-to-come there is no eating, no drinking, no mating, no trading, no jealousy, no hatred, and no enmity; instead, the righteous sit with crowns on their heads and enjoy the splendor of the divine Presence."
Islam too has the idea of a Beatific Vision. But Heaven is also very much a place of sensual delights. In the Islamic Paradise, the blessed will reside in gardens of bliss, on couches facing one another. A delicious cup of wine from a flowing stream will be passed around from which none will suffer ill effects. Fruit and meat will be available. And there will be maidens, “with dark, wide eyes like hidden pearls - a reward for what they have done” (Quran 56.22-4).
Within Christianity, the image of a God-centred Heaven was to last well into the 19th century. As Bishop Reginald Heber (1783-1826) put it in his hymn Holy, Holy, Holy:
"all the saints adore thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; Cherubim and Seraphim falling down before thee, Which wert and art and evermore shalt be."
>>> more
Socrates (469 BC-399 BC): "To fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise, without being wise: for it is to think that we know what we do not know. For anything that men can tell, death may be the greatest good that can happen to them: but they fear it as if they knew quite well that it was the greatest of evils. And what is this but that shameful ignorance of thinking that we know what we do not know?"
Freedom Project's Wintersession 2018 focused on freedom of speech and its limits, and presented prominent lecturers from both within Wellesley College and other academic institutions. One of them was Prof. Guy M. Rogers, Mildred Lane Kemper Professor of History and Classical Studies, and one of the Advisory Board members of the Freedom Project.
In 399 BCE the Athenian democracy charged the philosopher Socrates with impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. Socrates was found guilty by a jury of 501 Athenians and was forced to drink hemlock. Many scholars have argued that the charges against Socrates were politically motivated and have understood his trial and conviction as an attack upon freedom of speech and an indictment of democracy. Were the charges against Socrates politically motivated? Was the trial and execution of Socrates really a case about freedom of speech? In this presentation Prof. Rogers first contextualizes the trial and then explains how it fits into contemporary discussions about freedom of expression.
