by Brooke Brandtjen At Hillsdale, quoting Plato, Shakespeare, and Churchill is de rigueur. It is not only chic, but wholly expected that you be well acquainted with the most noble literary icons that have arisen since Ancient Greece. This is both a burden to bear and a reward to reap. However, amid all of this, perhaps there ought to be a space left for fantasy. … Continue reading Dream Again: Why Fairy Tales & Fantasy Are Important
by Prof. Jon Balsbaugh “Are you the professor who … likes mushrooms?” a student hesitantly asked at the beginning of the semester. I suppose we are known by our loves. I suppose we are known by our loves. I have long been an amateur forager. Growing up in Oregon, my high school offered a course in Edible Plants. (Yes, the Pacific Northwest is … different.) … Continue reading Wonder, Love, and Mushrooms
As something of an enthusiast for the Latin language, I am often subjected to that fearful question: why? Like many others, I have learned the typical responses: I learn Latin because it helps with my grammar skills and it teaches me to think logically. In addition, it improves my writing skill and reading comprehension in English. All these reasons may be offered and more could … Continue reading Why do we Study Latin?
There are two things that guide humanity: reason and love. Humans alone can use language and rational deliberation, as Aristotle observes: “All men by nature desire to know.” In his philosophy, we determine through reason how virtue is a tempered response between two extremes. It leads to eudaimonia—happiness in life—through this kind of rational deduction, and makes up the telos of human existence. In this … Continue reading Love and Logos: The Wind and Sail of Human Existence
“He was born scentless and senseless, he was born a scentless apprentice.” Every so often there comes a work of literature whose deep themes express the darkness of human thoughts and beg the mind to inquire into the sheer hysteria of the human psyche. Perfume, The Story of a Murderer, by Patrick Süskind, is one such book. The story of Perfume forces the reader to … Continue reading Obsession: Perfume, and Humanity’s Depraved Desires
“What a piece of work is man, How noble in reason…/ and/ yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust.” Hamlet’s mournful declaration in Act II, scene 2 opens the audience up to his deeply despondent view of human nature. The prince of Denmark, fresh off his mother’s wedding to his uncle, looks at the world through graphite-colored glasses. Throughout the play, he is … Continue reading Shakespeare and the Psalmist: How Hamlet Echoes Psalm 8
The story of Echo and Narcissus in the Metamorphoses begins when Narcissus’ mother visits a sage and inquires if her son will live to a “ripe old age.” She receives an ambiguous response: Narcissus will live to a ripe old age “if he knows himself—not” (3.449). The anapest meter of the line emphasizes two key terms of the prophecy: “knows” and “not.” The strong syllables … Continue reading History, an Antidote to Narcissim
A few days after I was asked to contribute an essay to the Forum, one of the editors asked if I could write about my experience of being back at Hillsdale as a professor. In trying to meet this request, it is tempting to title this piece “There and Back Again,” but I think the published title is more appropriate. Perhaps a good place to … Continue reading Doctor Tripepi in the Multiverse of Memory
After a 2011 tsunami, Japan experienced the second-worst nuclear disaster in human history at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The system at the Fukushima power plant detected an earthquake and automatically shut down the reactors as the emergency diesel fuel generators started providing essential energy for the coolant system of the core. However, the tsunami that followed the earthquake disabled all diesel generators, causing the … Continue reading Reflections on Fukushima Water
I remember reading an essay by a fellow ex-seminarian critiquing our former institution and its late rector for alleged failures to provide adequate emotional support to young men, for its rigid notions of masculinity, and other such micro-aggression. Coming from a center-left place, his article only differed in details, but not in essence, from the right-wing critiques of seminaries as dens of sodomy yielding the … Continue reading Priesthood as Craft, Not Science
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