MEMORY, FOOTPRINTS OF THE SPIRIT

To the dormant mind, history is indeed “one damned thing after another”. But to the mind blessed with curiosity or creativity, its events dance to a harmonious music, enlivened by colour and drama. How is the overwhelming accumulation of traces of past experiences resuscitated to living immediacy? Can we discern a role for the illuminating power of imagination and music in promoting the freedom to choose and shape tomorrow’s opportunities? Where does the spirit come from that joyously welcomes this awakening and lovingly grieves its necessary decline in the duration of its passage?

No single discipline has crystallized this process into a formula, but the authors of our text Memory: Histories, Theories, Debates S. Radstone and B. Schwarz (eds.) have assembled an exciting collection of passionate but scrupulous viewpoints. Additional readings, which carry us beyond these viewpoints, include: The Art of Memory F. A. Yates, Narrative Truth and Historical Truth D.P. Spence, Conversations with Isaiah Berlin R. Jahanbegloo, The Melancholy of Rebirth G. Konrád, The World of Yesterday S. Zweig, Two Regimes of Madness G. Deleuze, The Tree of Knowledge H.R. Maturana and F. J. Varela, The Politics of the Soul G. Hughes (ed.), Conversations with Eric Voegelin R.E. O’Connor (ed.), From Psyche to System J. R. Neill and D.P. Kniskern (eds.), Selected Writings 1927-1934 W. Benjamin, The Arcades Project W. Benjamin, Strangers, Gods and Monsters R. Kearney, Peeling the Onion G. Grass, Necessary Angels R. Alter, The Shock Doctrine N. Klein, Beginnings: Intention and Method E.W. Said, Deleuze’s Wake: Tributes and Tributaries R. Bogue, Dialogues II G. Deleuze and C. Parnet, Understanding Trauma L. J. Kirmayer et al (eds.), The Engine of Reason, the Seat of the Soul P. M. Churchland, Awakenings O. Sacks, History as an Art of Memory P. H. Hutton, Resisting Representation E. Scarry, The Body in Pain E. Scarry, Blue Mondays D. Fennario, Cities of Words S. Cavell, Paulo Freire: A Critical Encounter P. McLaren and P. Leonard (eds.), The Structure of Evil E. Becker, The Philosophy of History G.W.F. Hegel, Slavery and Social Death O. Patterson, Angels in America T. Kushner, Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace J.H. Murray.

COURSE LENGTH: 24 weeks
DISCUSSION TEAM: Mickey de Takascy, Robert Enright, Gert Morgenstern
FIRST SESSION: Wednesday September 21, 2011 at 10:00 am