Book Group
Meeting Time & Dates:
Every 3rd Tuesday
8:00 -- 10:00 pm
Location: rotates
Topics
Each month, someone different will be in charge of selecting a topic and suggested reading.
May: Cosmopolitanism (articles attached below)
Overview of cosmopolitanism: K.A. Appiah “Global Citizenship” and video interview (http://aje.me/zp5wLq)
Relevancy of topic: Washington Post article on the increasing rise of anti-immigration sentiment in Europe
Anti-cosmopolitan thinking: classic article by Samuel Huntington on the clash of civilizations
April: book: Soul Searching
http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Searching-Religious-Spiritual-Teenagers/dp/0195384776
Jan 2012: Wendell Berry
Summary of his ideas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry#Ideas
Essays
In Distrust of movements: http://thegreenhorns.wordpress.com/essays/essay-in-distrust-of-movements-by-wendell-berry/
The Pleasures of Eating: http://www.ecoliteracy.org/essays/pleasures-eating/
Why I am not going to buy a computer: http://home.btconnect.com/tipiglen/berrynot.html
Faustian economics: hell hath no limits: http://harpers.org/archive/2008/05/0082022
Compromise, Hell!: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/147/
November: Occupy Wall Street
Mike: Occupation and realignment: http://www.salon.com/2011/10/18/occupation_and_realignment/singleton/
Mike: email: Subject: More on OWS from you-know-who
Mike: Tea partiers: The self-hating 99%: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/10/2011101883450141716.html
Ben M: Theology of OWS: http://www.jeffkeuss.com/blog/?p=1059
Kevin: Can the middle class be saved: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/09/can-the-middle-class-be-saved/8600/
Mike: The New Progressive Movement: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/opinion/sunday/the-new-progressive-movement.html
Ben W: email: Occupy Halloween (Ben wins the creativity award this time) :)
Optional:
Thane: Materialism and Life Satisfaction (.pdf attachment below)
Ben M: Wright article (.pdf attachment below)
June: Kevin: Is technology making us stupid?
Multitasking ourselves to death, from NetFuture: http://www.netfuture.org/1998/Jul3098_75.html#2d
Original article in The Atlantic by Nicolas Carr: Is Google making us stoopid? http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/
Rebuttal in The Atlantic by James Cascio: Get Smarter: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/07/get-smarter/7548/
Responses with lots of interesting comments:
Response in the Britannica blog by Clay Shirky: http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/07/why-abundance-is-good-a-reply-to-nick-carr/
Review of Carr's new book at Salon.com: http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/2010/05/09/the_shallows
March 14th: Mike: Labor unions, income inequality
Attachement below: PDF contains 3 articles
Feb ?: Kevin H: Pelagianism revisited
Pelagius entry from the Catholic Encyclopedia: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11604a.htm
Attatchment below: chapter from 'Listening for the Heartbeat of God, by Phillip J. Newell'
Oct 11th: Ben W: Art
See attachment below: art readings.pdf
Sept 7th: Mike: Politics (continued)
http://hectocotylus.blogspot.com/2010/04/vanishing-liberal-by-kevin-baker.html
http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/423__0332-Alesina11.pdf
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2010/06/pdf/voter_demographics.pdf
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/07/12/palin_cranks_up_2012_campaign.html
Also, attached is a chart comparing the popular-vote performance of the Whig Party and the Republican Party in the three election cycles before their respective historic flameouts.
Aug 10th: Mike: Politics
July 13th: Geoff: Immigration
June 8th: Read Genesis 1-3 and continue discussion from last week
May 11th: Ben M. John Haught
April 13th: Keith: Health Care
Mar 9th: Geoff: selection of Hauerwas essays on war:
http://www.harvardichthus.org/sections/features/2009/11/war-and-the-american-difference/
http://hopeofalltheworld.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-do-you-know-war-is-war.html
Feb 9th: Kevin: selection of essays on not voting.