Hello, all! Happy Saturday. I hope this email finds you in some restful place— a coffee shop, a well-worn chair, under a cozy throw. I’m writing to you from Prufrock, a coffee shop at which I am always tempted to post an Instagram picture with the caption “I’ve measured my life in coffee spoons” in honour of “The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot. I have never given into the urge. Anyway! Today I have two purposes: to make an announcement and to share a little bit with you from my class on the Idea of Beauty!
Announcement: I’m podcasting again!
As many of you know, for the better part of a decade I hosted a podcast called Speaking with Joy, which sought to curate literature, art, music, and good conversations with interesting folk. I loved hosting it, and the community of listeners that sprung up around it (especially in the book clubs I hosted over the summers!). However, in the last few years between work commitments and life changes, it fell a bit to the wayside. And to be honest, I think I was also struggling to find my voice in this new season of life, and, well, the world! I started the podcast when I was a grad student, single and living in Scotland, and when mood of the broader culture was different. I wanted to find a way to continue the energy of Speaking with Joy, but into a new era: both in my own life, and in the world! Then, about six months ago, the magazine I work for Plough, asked if I’d be willing to take start a new podcast for them. Through conversation we developed a vision for it that I’m really excited about bringing to bear in the coming months!
The podcast is called Another Life, which is a play on Plough’s tagline “Another Life is Possible.” It aims to be hopeful, creative, cozy, practical, and challenging. I’ll post more about what I hope for the new podcast and what you can expect from it next Tuesday when the first episode releases! But all I can say for now is… I’m very excited about the episodes I’ve recorded and I hope you’ll listen. I’m taking over the Plough channel, so keep an eye out for the first episode next week.
Now: Beauty! Many of you (here and on sundry social medias) asked if I could share more about the module I’m teaching at King’s College London: The Idea of Beauty. Unfortunately, I can’t share lectures, slides, or discussion as they belong to the University. But I can direct you to some reading on this topic and share the examples of art and music I use to illustrate the ideas we’re exploring in the class. I thought the latter might be a nice way of touching on some of the topics we dive into in the class. And if you’re really interested in exploring this topic further, you should come study at King’s! Okay, without further ado.
Idea of Beauty: Aristotle & Plato
In this week’s module, we explored the thought of Plato and Aristotle on Beauty. Their thinking (especially Plato’s) has a huge influence on Christian theological understandings of beauty. Below are some key terms we discussed and the artworks I used to illustrate them for the students!
Mimesis (imitation/representation):
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