91视频

Two Teams, Coming Together

by Robert Cremins

Heraclitus is a name that must have been heard many times over the years in the lecture halls of the Human Situation, our yearlong Great Books sequence. He鈥檚 the pre-Socratic philosopher famous for saying, 鈥淵ou could not step twice into the same river.鈥� It鈥檚 a truth that applies to Human Sit itself: no two semesters of the course are ever the same. Even though there are some fixtures鈥攁 Homeric epic in the fall, a Shakespeare play in the spring鈥攖he bi-annual realignment of texts, themes, and teams ensures the vitality of the experience for both students and faculty.

And there are ways of enriching the Human Sit experience that go beyond the page. This past academic year has given us some great examples of that. In the fall (as we talked about in detail in the last issue of 础谤别迟茅), Team Omega鈥檚 鈥減rofblog鈥� flourished, with many meditations on the theme of mortality. We鈥檇 begun the semester with the Egyptian Book of the Dead and, thanks to a canny plan devised by Human Sit coordinator Dr. Richard Armstrong, we ended the term with a summation lecture and a visit to the treasure-laden King Tut exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts. Looking at a gleaming pair of gold slippers once worn by the Boy King himself, I thought to myself that we鈥檇 brought our students very close to walking a mile in the shoes of one of the characters we鈥檇 discussed in class.

In the spring, we used Team Alpha鈥檚 home base of Cemo Hall for a couple of joint-team ventures. In early April, I gave a talk on the history of Dublin鈥檚 Abbey Theatre to contextualize a cluster of Irish plays that were appearing on our syllabi and on stages around town. Both teams were studying the poetry of W. B. Yeats, one of the founders of the Abbey (Ireland鈥檚 national theater); Yeats鈥� own writing is much concerned with 鈥減layers and the painted stage.鈥� We made 鈥渇ield trips鈥� to see work by two of Ireland鈥檚 most exciting contemporary playwrights: The Seafarer by Conor McPherson at the Alley, and The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh at 91视频鈥檚 own Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center. Moreover, Dr. David Mikics worked with Houston鈥檚 innovative Catastrophic Theatre Company to bring students to see Samuel Beckett鈥檚 modern masterpiece Endgame, and to bring actor Greg Dean, who鈥檇 brilliantly played Hamm in the production, to campus. Beckett was on Omega鈥檚 reading list, while Alpha examined a very different (but equally brilliant in terms of its linguistic sensibility) 20th-century classic: Brian Friel鈥檚 Translations.

In late April, Professor Mikics was also instrumental in bringing acclaimed teacher and writer Dr. Mark Edmundson to the 91视频 for a series of lectures, including a special presentation to Human Sit students entitled 鈥淪elf and Soul: The Mortal Dilemma.鈥� As Self and Soul was Team Omega鈥檚 theme for the spring semester, this was a timely talk indeed. The students were energized by Edmundson鈥檚 exhortation to spend more time, in both our imaginative and literal lives, in a soulful mode. Edmundson, whose sensibility encompasses Shakespeare and rock鈥檔鈥檙oll, Freud and the Gospels, defined soul as a 鈥渟tate of being鈥� whose gifts, to both oneself and others, include courage, compassion, and contemplation. It was a refreshing lecture.

And in the fall we鈥檒l step into the refreshing waters of another Human Situation. For both teams this is going to be an 鈥�Iliad year.鈥� The towering presence on the reading list of that great 鈥減oem of force,鈥� as Simone Weil labeled it, is calling forth a coordinated creative responsive from the Honors College and its allies. In 2011, choreographer Jennifer Sommers and Center for Creative Work director John Harvey collaborated very successfully on a production of Agamemnon, the centerpiece of that year鈥檚 Dionysia festival. For spring 2013, they are working on an adaptation of the Iliad that will be both a choral dance piece and a testimony of how war has affected the lives of both Honors College students and their families.

From Troy to the War on Terror, the Human Situation experience is eternal, and ever changing.

The Human Situation Faculty

The Human Situation鈥檚 cast of characters continues to evolve. Last year we added professors Jonathan Zecher and Robert Liddell. Zecher鈥檚 expertise is in Christian theology, and Liddell鈥檚 is fiction writing, and both met the challenge of the daunting syllabus with grace.

This fall we welcome Jesse Rainbow, a Harvard-trained Biblical scholar and Honors alumnus, and Marcel Widzisz, a Greek scholar who has taught at the University before, as well as at Rice University and St. John鈥檚 College.

鈥淲e are fielding the strongest teams ever this fall,鈥� said Human Situation coordinator Richard Armstrong. 鈥淭he balance of teaching talent, types of expertise, and styles of lecturing should make this one of the best years in our history to go through the Human Sit experience.鈥�