Posts tagged University
Marlowe to discuss transcendentalism in the Gilded Age as part of Community Lecture Series
Sep 16th
When Flagler College assistant professor Hugh Marlowe kicks off the 2012 Community Lecture Series on Sept. 25 with a talk on “Strange Bedfellows: Transcendentalist Simplicity and Gilded Age Excess,” he will attempt to explain not only how Brooks is wrong but how the path taken may have stunted the country’s soul.
“While there are clear dimensions where we can point to the Gilded Age’s self-interested drive for progress, there are other important dimensions which have become atrophied as a function of it,” said Marlowe. “More specifically, moral and spiritual dimensions.”
Marlowe cites 20th century mythologist Joseph Campbell who said that the purpose of society is to aid in the spiritual development of the individual.
“This would be a view shared by transcendentalists such as Thoreau and Emerson,” said Marlowe. “On that scale, the narrow economic values of the Gilded Age fail pretty miserably.”
Marlowe received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside and wrote his dissertation on “The Problem of Freedom,” investigating two-standpoint style arguments as a means of preventing a notion of ourselves as agents from disappearing into the event-causal flow, and exploring issues of reflective evaluation, identity, and moral realism. He currently teaches courses in philosophy and ethics at Flagler.
Marlowe’s lecture is the first in this year’s lecture series entitled “Reconstruction & Gild: Wealth, Innovation and the Pursuit of Status in Late 19th Century America” which focuses on defining moments in American history during the mid to late 1800s. Speakers will discuss the topic through the lens of their particular discipline.
Tickets are $5 per person for a single lecture, or $15 for four lectures. Active military personnel may attend at no charge.
Lectures begin at 10 a.m. in the Flagler Room at Flagler College, 74 King St. Reservations are required, but space is limited. The lecture will last approximately one hour and will be followed by a coffee and pastry reception.
Call (904) 819-6282 for reservations or more information. To watch a live stream of these lectures, visit ustream.tv/channel/community-lecture-series
Source: Flagler College
Flagler College names AARP Bulletin editor Jim Toedtman as new Flagler Forum director
May 13th
Toedtman, a speaker at the program for the last 13 years, succeeds Victor Ostrowidzki, who passed away this past spring after battling cancer. Ostrowidzki, 80, was a veteran journalist and former White House reporter who covered every presidential election from 1964 to 1988. He joined the faculty at Flagler in 1997, founded the Forum series and taught classes on elections and the media.
The Forum brings nationally-recognized journalists and authorities to St. Augustine to discuss issues of local, federal and global importance. Past speakers have included Robert Novak, Mark Shields, David Broder, Joe Klein, Anne Coulter, Pat Buchanan and Chris Matthews.
“I am delighted with the opportunity of continuing and enhancing the Flagler Forums in ways that enrich the academic lives of Flagler students and benefit the St. Augustine community,” Toedtman said. “I look forward to the challenge of building on the solid foundation set by my friend Vic Ostrowidzki.”
Toedtman has had a distinguished career as reporter and editor for the New York daily newspaper, Newsday, and as an editor for Hearst Corp. newspapers in Boston and Baltimore. At Newsday, he was part of a team of reporters investigating Long Island land scandals that won the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for public service. From 1986 to 1995, he served as managing editor of New York Newsday and helped develop and direct the staff, which won numerous awards including the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting. He was named Newsday’s Washington Bureau Chief in 1995.
He was named editor of the AARP Bulletin in 2005. Since his appointment, the Bulletin has been consistently recognized for excellence in covering a range of public policy and consumer issues. It is published 10 times a year and has a circulation of 22 million. He also helped develop AARP’s online news and information website.
Toedtman graduated from the College of Wooster and earned a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University. He also studied at the University of Queensland, Australia, as a Rotary Foundation Fellow.
Flagler College President William Abare said, “I am delighted that Jim Toedtman has agreed to accept our offer to serve as the director of the Forums. Over the past 13 years, Jim has become a good friend of the College and a close personal friend.”
Abare added, “We are extremely fortunate to have someone with Jim’s experience to lead this important program. He is a well-respected journalist who has a great network of friends and colleagues from which to draw Forum speakers. He is very familiar with our campus and our community and will be a great addition to our staff.”
Source: Brian Thompson, Director, News and Information, Flagler College.