Graduate Institute

Preceptorials - Fall 2006

  • "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."

    Francis Bacon

Preceptorials are scheduled to meet on Thursdays, 7:30-9:30 p.m. beginning Thursday, August 24, 2006

Introduction to Ancient Greek

Our goal will be an acquaintance with the basic forms and syntax of ancient Greek sufficient to enable students to continue the learning of that splendid and difficult language on their own. Especially in the early stages, much will depend on memorization and the frequent working through of exercises.

The text will be Mollin and Williamson's An Introduction to Ancient Greek, which was written with a view to the purposes of the undergraduate language tutorials at St. John's. Although the learning of the Greek language will be our paramount object, the preceptorial will never lose sight of the other two goals of the language tutorial: reflection on the role of grammatical structure in conveying meaning in our own language as well as in Greek, and a deepened appreciation of the program authors through detailed analysis of selected passages, mostly from Plato's dialogues.

Text: An Introduction to Ancient Greek by Alfred Mollin and Robert Williamson (University Press of America, rev. 1997).
First Assignment: Study Lesson One.
Evening Class
Tutor: Mr. Williamson
Note: The Ancient Greek Language preceptorials also meet on Tuesdays as well as on Thursdays. Mr. Williamson's evening class will meet on Tues. evenings for 2 hours between 5 and 9, with the exact time to be determined, and on Thurs. evenings 7:30-9:30 p.m.

This preceptorial applies both to the Literature segment and to the Mathematics and Natural Science segment.

Tutor: Mr. Grenke
Afternoon Class
Note: The Ancient Greek Language preceptorials also meet on Tuesdays as well as on Thursdays. Mr. Grenke's afternoon class will meet on Tues. and Thurs. , 2:30-4:30 p.m. each day.
This preceptorial applies both to the Literature segment and to the Mathematics and Natural Science segment.

Francis Bacon: Literature in the Service of Science and the Advancement of Learning

Employing a variety of literary genres - essays, aphorisms, fables, interpretations of classical myths - Bacon's writings involve re-thinking the fundamental question of the place of scientific inquiry and technology in relation to the aim and organization of political society.

First Assignment: Please read the first five essays in Francis Bacon's Essays. The Penguin Edition is preferred but not essential.
Tutor: Mr. Cohen
This preceptorial applies to both the Literature segment and to the Mathematics and Natural Science segment.

Mozart: Cosi fan tutte

On a bet, two friends set out to prove the constancy of their fiancées by each adopting a disguise and attempting to seduce the other's sweetheart. The consequences are not all of them comic, but comic or not, the opera has some of Mozart's most ravishing music. No prior musical knowledge is required; the basic skills of following a vocal line in the score and identifying key signatures will be taught in the preceptorial. We will ask such questions as: How does the musical setting shape the story? How do the musical progressions comment on the action? How does melody reveal character?

Materials required for the preceptorial are:

A recording of the opera. While the music library has several recordings on reserve for use in the library, owning a recording is desirable. There are a number of good versions, no one is clearly superior to the rest.

A copy of the Schirmer vocal score, available in the college bookstore. The bookstore also has photocopies of a decent translation of the libretto; this can be convenient and is indeed necessary if your recording does not provide one, as the English version in the vocal score has little connection with the Italian original.

A copy of the Essential Dictionary of Music Theory by L.C. Harnsberger, a paperback available in the college bookstore.
First Assignment: Listen to the Overture.
Tutor: Mr. Wyatt
This preceptorial applies to both the Literature segment and to the Mathematics and Natural Science segment.
Darwin on Man
To launch his book on language, M.I.T.'s Steven Pinker quotes as follows from Darwin's Descent of Man: "As . . . one of the founders of the noble science of philology observes, language is an art, like brewing or baking . . . . It certainly is not a true instinct, for every language has to be learned. It differs, however . . . from all ordinary arts, for man has an instinctive tendency to speak, as we see in the babble of our young children; while no child has an instinctive tendency to brew, bake, or write."

As even these few sentences show, Darwin is enormously thought-provoking. Had we turned to books by contemporary students of animal social behavior or of child development Darwin would have been equally out front.

While I am particularly interested in careful study of The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals we shall also read The Descent of Man and Ch. 7 in Selection in Relation to Sex and selected chapters in Origin of Species.

First Assignment: The assignment for our first class meeting is a reading of Ch. 7, on instinct, in the Penguin ed. of The Origin of Species plus a brief written commentary (no more than 2 double-spaced typed pages) on some one issue or item in the reading. A tentative syllabus for the 16 class sessions will be sent around in due course.
Tutor: Mrs. Maschler
This preceptorial applies to the Mathematics and Natural Science segment.

Aristotle, Physics
This class will engage in a careful reading of the Physics. The primary themes Aristotle explores here are causality, motion, time, place, chance and the infinite. This work is invaluable for an understanding of ancient conceptions of nature, and for understanding the radical character and significance of the all-too-familiar modern scientific alternatives to Aristotle.

First Assignment: Read all of Book I.
Tutor: Mr. Badger
This preceptorial applies to the Mathematics and Natural Science segment.

Ovid: Metamorphoses
Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) wrote the Metamorphoses during the first few years of the Christian era. For the last two thousand years, it has been a book beloved by poets-Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Keats, Baudelaire, and many others-as a quarry for mythographic materials. It contains, for example, stories about Phaethon, Europa, Arachne, Niobe, Actaeon, Echo and Narcissus, Pyramus and Thisbe, and many, many more. But the Metamorphoses is far more than a vast source; it is a great poem in its own right. Its narration is wildly colorful, sometimes hilarious or risqué. Its structure is intricate but coherent. It treats of the nature of the universe, the shape of human history, relations between gods and humans, men and women, rulers and subjects. We will read the whole poem at the rate of about one book per meeting-too fast, but the only way to get the whole thing.

First Assignment: Book I. Note to Latinists: For those who have acquired the rudiments of Latin, Ovid's language is not too difficult. If there are students who desire it, I am willing to schedule some extra meetings to do a bit of translation.
Tutor: Mr. Tuck
This preceptorial applies to the Literature segment.

Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is the longest epic poem in any language. Many claim that it is also the greatest. You would be able to test this claim, at least with respect to The Iliad. Like the latter, the Mahabharata features both rivalry between warriors and battle and centers on one warrior's changing reasons for fighting. Although it is an epic of the great deeds of heroes, it also tells a very human story. The human beings it tells about display frailty as well as greatness.

It is one of the required preceptorials in the Eastern Classics program on the Santa Fe campus. We would generally follow the Eastern Classics schedule of readings, which comprise parts of Books I-VI, X and XI.

Text: The following translations are required:
The Mahabharata, Volumes I and II, tr. J. van Buitenen (University of Chicago).
The Bhagavadgita in the Mahabharata, tr. J. van Buitenen (University of Chicago).
The Sauptikaparvan of the Mahabharata: the Massacre at Night (Oxford World's Classics)
The Mahabharata: an English Translation Based on Selected Verses, tr. C. Narasimhan (Columbia University).
First Assignment: Read pp. 19-123 in Volume 1 of The Mahabharata, tr. J. van Buitenen (University of Chicago).
Tutor: Mr. Druecker
This preceptorial applies to the Literature segment.

Franz Kafka (1883-1924)
Kafka is a great writer whose transformational work bridges the boundaries of literature, philosophy, theology, myth, politics, and social thought. We will read short stories, The Trial, The Castle, and some selections from essays, diaries, and letters. A prior acquaintance with Angst may be helpful, but is not required.

First Assignment: "The Metamorphosis" (Die Verwandlung).
Tutor: Mr. Townsend
This preceptorial applies to the Literature segment.

Plato's Symposium & Phaedrus
We will do a close reading of Plato's two dialogues on eros, the Symposium and Phaedrus. The dialogues also raise fundamental questions about human speaking and writing, their limits and possibilities, and about comedy and tragedy. We will pay special attention to the dramatic elements of the dialogues.

First Assignment: Read all of the Symposium; be prepared to talk about it from the beginning to 198A. We will read and discuss the whole first quickly (we will finish it for our second meeting), and then return to it for a more leisurely reading.
Tutor: Ms. Silver
This preceptorial applies to the Literature segment.