blog.shimer

Opening Action at the Oxford Union Society

(Guest writer/student Robert Carpenter asked us to post this update on goings on in Oxford on his behalf)

Thanks to some extensive legwork done by Professor Patterson, a few of us were able to get Oxford Union Society memberships in time to attend a talk given by former president Alvaro Uribe of Colombia (the country).  The Union Society is one of the oldest and most prestigious debating clubs in the world.  Founded in 1823, the Union has gained a sterling reputation for the surgical precision and unerring oratory of its debaters.  Many future politicians from a huge number of different countries trained here during their time in Oxford.  The grounds are gorgeously well kept and the buildings are equally beautiful, especially the lavish interiors which have been kept up without any thought for modern aesthetic tastes.  The place positively exudes history.

In attendance on behalf of Shimer were professor Stuart Patterson, Juan Guerrero, Jesus Avina, Eugene Lim & Robert Carpenter (all pictured above in this order, save Eugene).  We promptly took up a place in the back of the hall where the view was spectacular.  President Uribe entered to thunderous applause and after an excellent introduction from the current president of the Union Society he began an hour long talk that touched on his campaign experiences, his presidency and the future of Colombia.  

With regards to his campaign trail he spoke of the decision to stop at colleges and spark debates among the students in order to bring these sometimes disenfranchised groups closer to the political arena.  He championed three cornerstones of his political platform: the desire to cultivate social cohesion, democratic security and an improved business infrastructure to attract investment.  

The largest criticism of his time in office was the country's human rights record, which he defended in an interesting way.  He responded to such attacks with his plan for democratic security, which was meant as a pathway to reassure the populace that their lives and livelihoods were safe, that freedom still endured.  He made it a point to avoid employing the use of the military/para-military groups as a strong arm force.  He was especially careful to avoid the institution of martial law.  Although he acknowledged that his human rights record was less than perfect he was quick to point out that foundations take time to grow into robust institutions.  In the years since his terms in office the country has made vast strides to improve this troubled area of their history and President Uribe was pleased with this trend. 

During the Q&A at the end a young woman stood up and spoke of her dual citizenship in Britain and Colombia and asked what she could do to continue to combat the erroneous stereotypes that still plague Colombia, that of the den of drugs and kidnapping and other nameless villainy.  President Uribe proceeded to cross examine this young woman, asking when was the last time she had been in Colombia, whether she had brought any friends with her on that trip and did the people that accompanied her leave with their assumptions intact or shattered?  Her response spoke of a wonderful experience for all involved and most importantly that none of her companions left feeling that Colombia was still a place rife with violence and drugs.  The president then spoke of how important it is for those who wish to know Colombia to travel there and see for themselves the great changes wrought in the last few years.  For my part I was hugely glad to have watched the President employ a bit of Socratic dialogue with the questioner so that they could arrive at his answer together.

The man had presence.  It was truly incredible to hear him speak.  We are all looking forward to many more such events at the Union Society, called the heart of Oxford, and clearly for good reason.

The Last Supper at Magdalen College

 

Especially for those of you taking "Humanities 1" this semester, let me offer a few photos I took recently of the Last Supper. As you may have already guessed, I haven't made a quick trip to Milan, and this isn't Leonardo Da Vinci's work. It's a copy, on canvas, (probably) by Giampietrino, a "shadowy" contemporary of the master's who seems to have made something of a career doing knock-offs of his work. The painting was almost certainly done in the presence of the original, though probably not under Leonardo's supervision. It's moved a number of times in the last 400 years, first around Italy and thence in 1790 to London, where it finally came into the hands of the British Royal Academy. During World War Two it was rolled up for safe keeping and stayed that way for decades in the Royal Academy's basement. At long last the Academicians went looking for a place where they could show it to best effect, i.e. up high where the perspective wouldn't be distorted, rather than simply sitting at eye level as it had for the century or so that Academy students had been set to copy it. And so it came at last in 1993 to the antechapel in Magdalen (pronounced 'maudlin,' or just 'maggie') College, Oxford (which space is also roughly contemporary to the painting, as it happens). 

 

That's where I saw it a couple of weeks ago on the one day a year that Oxford opens its doors wide to the public and we all troop through seeing sights that are otherwise difficult of access. As you can see from the photos, while it sits suitably high on the wall as intended, this makes the painting hard to examine in much detail. I had to scramble around a bit just to get these shots without the antechapel's north pillar (or "pier" in the technical lingo) in the way. So, my apologies to those who want a good close look.**

Then again, you might be consoled to know that Lord Piers Rodgers, Secretary of the Royal Academy (and no relation to the pillar) admitted (on the occasion of its formal installation at Magdalen) that another reason for hanging it up so high was to keep viewers from being confronted by what he politely called the "rather overemphatic handling of some of the figures." In fact, when the painting was unrolled for the first time right after the war, pre-eminent British art historian (and former Magdalen College Fellow) Sir Kenneth Clark pronounced it an "ugly thing" and had it rolled back up. And those of you who are reading (or have read) Leo Steinberg's book on the Last Supper know what a hard time he gives most copyists (though I admit I can't remember what he says of this one specifically).

Yet as much as Steinberg also demonstrates that Il Cenacolo was painted to be seen (felt?) within the confines of the Santa Maria delle Grazie, I was happy enough with my distant brush with it at Magdalen. In fact, I am thinking about arming myself with a proper tripod for my camera and going back in to get some more detailed shots (a challenge in the chapel's low light). Till then, I hope you'll not look too askance on my own modest copies of a copy.  

** I point the adventurous to a nifty "virtual" tour of all of Magdalen College, including the antechapel, at this website:

http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/oxfordtour/magdalencollege/

If you click on the circle at the far left of the Chapel on the map (the biggest dark-blue bit down at the lower right hand corner above the "High Street") you will be able to get a 360-degree view of the entire room, including the painting (though with the pier in the way, I'm afraid). Here's a view of Magdalen from "the High" just to give you a sense of the place:

 

The first thing people think when they hear about Shimer is, “Wow, that’s a really small school!”  Actually, I’ve already lied to you. The first thing they think is, “What? That’s not a real school, is it?”  But right after that, I promise, they think, “Wow, that’s a really small school!”

Judging strictly by numbers, I would have to agree with that statement. Shimer’s number of students doesn’t exactly topple the scales (in fact, it tips over at about 120). However, Shimer has proved to me that numbers aren’t everything. I’ve seen that each these 120 students is simply adding him or herself to the reach of Shimer faculty and alumni to create the biggest sense of community some of its members will ever experience.

I live in Gunsaulus Hall with many other first-years, and I can already tell you that there is something to appreciate in each of them. Just last week, I opened my door to find a dorm-mate writing on my door’s whiteboard, another coming to see if I’d received his copy of The Communist Manifesto, a third asking if I’d like a soda and a fourth telling me he loves me. Every weekend, a Shimer student has advice to give on which museums are free, what shows are open or what restaurants are best. Any transition pangs I felt from leaving Texas and coming to Illinois were almost immediately calmed by the sheer force of togetherness the dorm provides.

At Shimer, every second in the building has the possibility for conversation. When I walk into the Student Lounge, I can see half a dozen conversations at once, whether it be over the chessboard, the Great Books, or the great people. Faculty and students alike crowd into conversations and each offer some new perspective I had yet to consider. One morning, I had a discussion about Integrative Studies 2, and I’m not even taking that math class yet! The people here make it easy to become involved and aware just in conversation.

With every interaction with a member of the Shimer community, I realize this school isn’t very small at all. It extends beyond just the individuals within it to the ideas we share with one another. Each person doesn’t just represent a height, weight, GPA or hair color but a wide perspective on life itself. Before I came to Shimer, I thought, “Wow, that’s a really small school!” (among other things). After less than a month here, I see that the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.

Getting to Know Oxford

Yesterday, I joked with Simon, Katy, Howard and Sara in our first Hum 3 class here that "only the dead know Oxford." I was hoping that they might have read the story by Thomas Wolfe whose title I was ripping off.* It fell flat, as my jokes will, but it seemed a propos since we were reading the Apology and Crito by Plato, and in our conversation it became clearer to me that (in Plato's way of looking at it at least) the dead know more than the living, or at least see things more clearly. So I thought of Wolfe, whose story begins:

"Dere’s no guy livin’ dat knows Brooklyn t’roo an’ t’roo, because it’d take a guy a lifetime just to find his way aroun’ duh goddam town."

Thus: "Ere's no man livin' wot nowz Awksfd end to wend, for id'take a bloke a lifetime jus to find 'is way around the bleedin' town."

In Wolfe's story, some nameless lug pulls out a map on a subway platform asking for directions. This starts an argument about how to get to "Eighteent’ Avenoo an’ Sixty-sevent’ Street."

Here in Oxford, the same kinds of arguments get started as to the nature of the University and its relationship to the city it occupies (I choose my words here advisedly). Just for starters, there's a long-running (centuries, that is) rivalry between three colleges - Merton, University and Balliol - as to which is the oldest. And then there's the fact that the University itself (i.e. as opposed to University College - you begin to see what I mean) was here even before any of the Colleges. And even people formally attached in whatever way to the University and (38 and counting) Colleges are pretty hard put to describe how the place works. I occasionally quiz people here on it, and like the crowd on the platform in Wolfe's tale, they all have strong opinions and reasons to back them up, but none are quite alike.

Of course, we are all now well-provisioned with maps of the city; a major activity here is dodging all the little knots of people that move randomly around the place while gazing at a piece of paper to know where they are or want to go. (as Wolfe's Brooklynite puts it: "an’ so help me, but he’s got it - he’s tellin’ duh troot - a big map of duh whole goddam place with all duh different pahts mahked out.")

And we've already had a tour (from the best Blue Badge guide in town I am told; there we are below, everybody one day off the plane). And I and Heath (Oxford '08-'09, who visited for a few days before heading to Edinburgh to start a master's program) have been doing our best to give hints about life in Oxford, where to go and how to get there.

But we're getting our footings, and beginning to leave our maps behind. In fact, Sara announced to me yesterday that she'd already managed to get lost for a while this past weekend; a triumph. I am hoping that we all get lost a few times before we finally find our way back to Chicago.

So, we'll check in now and then just to let you know we haven't fallen off the deep end. But if you wonder where we are, just know that we might not know ourselves. No worries. 

*"Only the Dead Know Brooklyn."

The Possessed Intersection

OR: My Warning to Chicago Drivers

    Come sit around the campfire with me as I tell you the spooky tale of the Possessed Intersection. It was late one night, not so long ago, that a friend and I were driving home from a lovely dinner. We decided to take Halsted (a major road, and the street I live just off of) home instead of the highway, in order to avoid any late night traffic. My car is small, but fierce on the road and we were making good time.
    It was as we approached the Halsted/Division intersection that my life changed forever. It was a green light and the old train tracks that ran across the street did not worry me since they lay pretty flat against the ground. I took them at normal speeds and then CRASHBOOMBANG! My right front hubcap flew off into the distance and my car rattled in fury.
    There, just beyond the tracks, hidden, even from my headlights, was a daemonic hole, created by the most vile of circumstances for the sole purpose of ruining what had been a delightful night. I felt sure that I was alone in being terrorized by this beast.
    We got out of my car to search for my hubcap, alas, it was no where in sight. We searched all corners of the intersection, wondering if perhaps another car had pushed it in some unforeseen direction, no luck. Until I thought I spotted it on the final corner. Heedless of the oncoming traffic I made a mad-dash for it, grabbed it from the gutter, only to be disappointed to find that it belonged to a Geo and not my beautiful (albeit ridiculous) Yaris.
    That is when I saw the most unholy of sights, proof that I had not been the first victim of this most evil of cross-ways, a metal fence lined with the lost hubcaps of other unsuspecting vehicles. All hope was lost, this maniacal pothole had claimed my wheel cover forever. I drove the rest of the way home in despair.
    When I next passed this intersection, all of the hubcaps were gone. So, heed my warning, fair reader, do not trust this most treacherous of intersections, it is out to steal your vehicle's beauty and youth.

 

And the final two video blog introductions...

Adrian Nelson, our 4th year blogger, will next be blogging from Oxford:

And Dorian Electra Fridkin Gomberg, our first year blogger, who reflects upon (and here, dramatically reconstructs) her first class.  No Shimer students were harmed in the making of this film...

First Years: An Interview

    It is the beginning of the school year; I am nearing my second weekend for weekend college, the first quadrivium question has been sent out by Bev Thurber and I'm finally getting to know some of the first years. They are a large and varied group. Some are very loud and some seem to lose their voices around latter year students.
    I find myself missing Weekday for a variety of reasons, one being that since I no longer live in the dorms, it is near impossible to get to know the first-years. One I have met is SaraLouise (definitively not Sara), and if she's representative of the rest of the new bunch, prospects are looking high.

SaraLouise Dawson is from Corrales, New Mexico (close to Santa Fe, a small village outside of Albuquerque), has been home schooled her whole life and enjoys swing dancing, roller derby, books, laughter and fake meat.

Staple question: Why Shimer?
Well, it's a great books school, which is the program I decided was for me. Because I was homeschooled my whole life, I wasn't good at sitting and being talked at. I took a couple of classes at the community college in Albuquerque and learned quickly that I didn't want to go to a public university or college. I like that at Shimer, we don't just accept things to be true because someone says they are, but we ask WHY and HOW we know. :)

Favorite class so far, and why?
Natural Sciences 1. I think so far I like it because it feels more concrete, like the things we're discussing have a practical application and help me understand things more. My other classes are getting there... but I think we're still getting our footing. Plus Jim Donovan is really excellent. He was my facilitator for my Montaigne discussion and also my sample class.

Ice cream or frozen yogurt?
Ice Cream. Fun Fact: I can't eat chocolate ice cream without getting it ALL OVER my face. Always cool.

What'd you write your entrance essay on?
My experience as a regional officer in my youth group. I was elected with three other high school seniors to serve a body of over 200 high-schoolers and adults by organizing and facilitating two of the three events out of the year. It took up a lot of my time, and I loved it. I got to serve, and that was (and is!) very important to me.

Why'd you decide not to live at the dorms?
Because it was too expensive. Although Shimer has been extraordinarily helpful to me, covering all expenses but my room and board, I'm paying for my education out of my own pocket and mostly have been since about eighth grade. So when I looked at the cost for room and board on campus, it was just not doable at my current rate of income.

Thoughts on Monty Python?
J'aime le Monty Python. I've only seen a couple of sketches and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but I like that something that came out several decades ago is a source of constant reference to my generation. (Kind of like the books at Shimer.... heyyyy.)

First book on your bookshelf?
Well, if it wasn't on the dining room table being read when I am procrastinating, it would be His Majesty's Dragon, by Naomi Novik. It's about the Napoleonic war between France and England... but with DRAGONS. It's a great great series.
HOWEVER:
The most valuable book on my bookshelf (not including Shimer books, because those are still in a box by my bed) is my copy of Looking For Alaska, by John Green, because I drove 8 hours up to Boulder, CO and back (BY MYSELF) in the space of 36 hours and met him so he could sign it.
AND he spelled my name right. (:

Introducing Jill and Abby's Video Blog

After a long week as Orientation leaders, Abby and Jill may be exhausted, they may be losing their voices from the inevitable beginning-of-semester Shimer cold, but they still make their student video blog debut with great panache. They'll be bringing their perspective as third year Shimer students to the student video blog this year.