Session 1:
Prof. Cynthia Colburn (Pepperdine University): Arts of Renewal from the Renaissance to the Baroque
In the first session of Imagining the Polis: Reordering Community, Professor Colburn turns from her previous conversation in Seminar III on the arts of death to the arts of renewal in the time of the High Renaissance. Colburn sets the stage by providing the historical and social context of late fourteenth-century Italy. Against this backdrop she identifies trends in painting and key figures, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Raffaello Sanzio. After pausing for discussion, Colburn presents additional artworks from the Baroque period.
Please find all material referenced during the seminar below.
President Biden, First Inaugural Address
Augustine, City of God, Book XIX, Chapter 24
Pope Francis, Address to US Congress
Cynthia Colburn, “Arts of Renewal”
Bryan Keene, “In Search of New Worlds”
Session 2:
Prof. Jason Blakely (Pepperdine University) hosting Prof. Eric Nelson (Harvard University): On St. Thomas More
In the second session of Imagining the Polis: Reordering Community Professor Jason Blakely hosts Professor Eric Nelson, renowned political theorist and professor of government at Harvard University, for an intriguing discussion of St. Thomas More’s Utopia. Guided by questions from Blakely and others, Nelson explains the political theology of Erasmus and More. He discusses a number of controversies in More studies, including the Roman and Greek influences that shaped More’s thought. Nelson explores the egalitarian ideals and hierarchical anthropology in Utopia, delving into More’s connections to Platonic communism and other aspects of Platonic tradition. He also situates Utopia within its New World context, discussing how More’s ideas of punishment, industry, and natural law supported the argument for European expansion into the Americas.
Please find all material referenced during the seminar below.
Eric Nelson, The Greek Tradition in Republican Thought
Eric Nelson, The Hebrew Republic
Eric Nelson, The Royalist Revolution
Eric Nelson, The Theology of Liberalism