Celebrate the Arts: Science and Literature
A continuing education course is being offered at the Florida Keys
Community College in conjunction with the Nineteenth Annual Key West
Literary Seminar, Science & Literature: Narratives of Discovery. This
course will be taught by Dr. Howard Wolman who has a Ph.D. in Classical
Languages and Literature from Johns Hopkins. Dr. Wolman is currently a
Key West resident. He began his teaching at Dartmouth and spent most of
his career at Brooklyn College.
Course Description by Dr. Wolman:
Two years ago, after thirty-some years as a professor of literature and
language, I took an early retirement option and moved to Key West. I
soon realized how much I missed the excitement of the give-and-take of
discussion in the classroom. Thus, I created a series of mini-courses
at the local college devoted to various aspects of art and literature.
The first three courses were devoted to the theater and films of
Tennessee Williams and Terrence McNally and to Key West music.
Last year I attended the Key West Literary Seminar devoted to the
memoir. It was the first time I was wise enough to enroll in a timely
fashion. I was delighted and enlightened by the panelists, but
frustrated by the limited time for discussion. I also noticed that many
of the questions asked by the audience were, in fact, comments rather
than questions. When I shared this observation with a close friend of
mine who was also attending, I realized that I wasn't alone. I decided
that for the 2000-20001 academic year I would devote one of the courses
to the subject of the annual Seminar.
Interestingly enough, the conjunction of science and the arts has been
attracting increasing attention. Recently an article appeared in the
New York Times about science finding a home on-stage in many new plays
and "the connections they made between the mysteries of the universe and
the mysteries of human experience." I saw Copenhagen last year in
London. I found it very exciting theater, but I thought it would never
get an audience in New York. Wrong! It is not only doing excellent
business, but it is expected to win a Tony as the best new play of the
year.
As an undergraduate at Amherst College, I read C. P. Snow's Cambridge
lectures which were recently republished by Cambridge University Press
with an excellent introduction by Stefan Collini. These lectures
crystallized major aspects of the discussion of the lack of awareness
and communication between scientists and humanists. I thought a reading
and discussion of these lectures would be excellent preparation for
maximizing enjoyment and understanding of the panels the week before the
Conference, and on subsequent weeks we would continue the dialogue by
discussing issues which came up at the Seminar.
The four meetings of the course will be held at the College in the lobby
of the Tennessee Williams Theater on Saturday morning from 9:30 to
1:00. The first meeting will be on January 6 with subsequent meetings
on the three Saturdays following the Seminar.
To register, call (305) 296-9081 (extension 488) or write: Office of
the Registrar, Florida Keys Community College, 5901 West College Road,
Key West, Florida 33040. The cost of the four week course is $70 which
can be paid by check or credit card.
Questions should be directed to Howard Wolman at (305) 294-0111.
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