Professor Kozlowski Lectures
By Benjamin Kozlowski
For a list of courses and projects, visit his website at: professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
Professor Kozlowski LecturesMar 29, 2022
The Future of Professor Kozlowski Lectures
A brief discussion of what you can expect from Professor Kozlowski Lectures in the coming months and years.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
D&RN - Demons Destroyed
Professor Kozlowski concludes his discussion of Dostoevsky's Demons and his series on Russian Nihilism.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
D&RN - The Demons' Fete
Time to party with the Demons.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
D&RN - Demons Bustle About
Finally we get to see Pyotr Stepanovich bustle about and put his dubious plans into motion. Today Professor Kozlowski contrasts the careers and adventures of Pyotr Stepanovich and Stavrogin, examines the literary origins of each, and considers the censored "At Tikhon's" chapter as it reflects on our understanding of these characters.
D&RN - Demons Unmasked
Professor Kozlowski continues his discussion of Dostoevsky's Demons by deeply examining the newly-revealed characters of Nikolai Vsevolodovich Stavrogin and Pyotor Stepanovich through their interactions with many of the other radicals and townfolk.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
D&RN - Undercover Demons
Professor Kozlowski continues his discussion of Dostoevsky's Demons with an examination of many of the minor characters introduced so far, and how their relationships are revealed, piecemeal, through careful details and subtle interactions.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
D&RN - Introducing Demons
Today Professor Kozlowski discusses the first two chapters of Dostoevsky's Demons, introduces three of our primary characters, and connects them to their archetypes in 1860s Russian society. Also jokes.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
D&RN - Crime, Punishment, Debts, and Devils
Professor Kozlowski attempts to recount the developments in the Russian literary world between 1864 and 1871 (when Demons is written), including a brief summary of Crime and Punishment and its relevance to the literary representation of Russian Nihilism at the time.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
D&RN - Apropos of the Wet Snow
Professor Kozlowski tackles the second half of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, with special attention to exploring the references to 1840's Russian literature (and to Chernyshevsky's What is to Be Done?) found throughout this section.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
D&RN - Underground
At long last, Professor Kozlowski confronts Dostoevsky's most widely discussed and controversial creation: Notes from Underground. Come for the tortured consciousness of the underground man, stay for the literary skullduggery and speculations about censorship.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
D&RN - Chernyshevsky 3
Professor Kozlowski muses on the Utopian hopes and missing realities of Chernyshevsky's promised revolution at the end of What is to Be Done?
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
D&RN - Chernyshevsky 2
Now that we've gotten all the rage sweats cleaned up, it's time for Professor Kozlowski to take a deep dive into Chernyshevsky's convictions and ideology, both to appreciate the merit of those convictions, and to examine the similarities between radical idealism of the 1860s in Russia and in the years since. Hopefully this will be a bit more even-handed than last time, but we're never going to have *no* angry biased grumpiness.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
D&RN - Chernyshevsky 1
Professor Kozlowski offers his first impressions of Chernyshevsky's What is to Be Done? Despite his efforts to be even-handed and charitable, there is still a great deal of hand-wringing, criticism, and outright swearing.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
James Bond and Don Juan
To conclude his General Humanities class (again), Professor Kozlowski examines the broad-strokes legacy and theming of the James Bond franchise as an artifact of the Cold War and late Twentieth Century art and popular culture.
UPDATE: A friend of the show, patron, and library archivist apparently took it upon herself to track down the text of Film Critic Hulk's James Bond essay on Wayback Machine: I include the links below:
web.archive.org/web/20160228071757/http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2014/07/16/hulk-vs.-james-bond-day-3
D&RN - Fathers and Sons 2
Professor Kozlowski concludes his examination of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons with a deep-dive look at Bazarov's painful relationship with his parents, his ignominious final acts (and death), and Turgenev's complicated relationship with Russian ideology, both within the novel, and as Russia reacted to it.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
The Cold War and the Late Twentieth Century
Professor Kozlowski belatedly continues his General Humanities class with a brief-ish (and very insufficient) discussion of the Cold War and the Late Twentieth Century.
General Humanities 202 Syllabus SP24
Professor Kozlowski introduces his General Humanities students to the peculiar nature of his grading system and the expectations for this semester's course.
D&RN - Fathers and Sons 1
Today Professor Kozlowski discusses the first eighteen chapters of Turgenev's landmark novel, Fathers and Sons - where Turgenev coined the term "nihilism". We'll discuss some of Turgenev's literary legacy, including his relationship to Dostoevsky, as well as examine the way that Turgenev's main character, Bazarov, walks the line between tragically human and ideologically monstrous.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Dostoevsky and Russian Nihilism - Introduction
Our new series for spring 2024 is on Dostoevsky's Demons and the tumultuous state of the Russian intelligentsia in the 1860s that brought about some of Dostoevsky's most insightful work. Today we set the stage: Professor Kozlowski walks us through the Russian reforms of Peter the Great, the wars of Napoleon and his socio-political legacy, up to the early career of Dostoevsky himself - including the rival factions of Russian intellectuals in the 1850s. Next time - Turgenev's Fathers and Children and the origin of Russian "Nihilism"!
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Pentateuch - Deuteronomy
Professor Kozlowski closes his discussion of the Pentateuch with an examination of Deuteronomy: its disputed authorship, its review of events past, its new laws, and the conclusion to the story of Moses and the Exodus.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Pentateuch - Numbers 16-36
Professor Kozlowski recounts and explores the latter half of the book of Numbers, including many new complications in the relationship between God and the Israelites as they wander the desert for forty years.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Pentateuch - Numbers 1-15
Numbers is often maligned as a boring book about censuses and laws. But in this lecture, Professor Kozlowski explains the censuses and laws in terms of the story of God's maturing relationship with his people - the ups and downs and ugly practicalities of any relationship, and how Numbers is actually a compelling account of very human failings and maturation in faith.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Pentateuch - Leviticus 16-27
Professor Kozlowski outlines the mixed bag of Levitical laws and prohibitions, taking time to discuss several of the major themes recurring throughout the book, including: the priority on conduct; the mysterious nature of holiness and its strange relationship to cleanliness and sin; and the divine requirements of faith implicit in the structure of holy festivals and sabbath years.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Pentateuch - Leviticus 1-15
Professor Kozlowski examines the laws of Leviticus and how they reveal new insights into God's Nature - though perhaps not as much as we might like.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
How to Read the Bible
After a run of students asking for advice on learning about Christianity, Professor Kozlowski has decided to write and release his own guide for independently studying and familiarizing oneself with the Bible.
Specifically, he recommends the following options, according to the length of one's commitment, or successively, as a way to gradually improve one's knowledge:
1/10 of the Bible (2 Weeks - 1 Month):
OT: Genesis 1-25, Exodus 1-20, Ecclesiastes, Daniel 1-6, Jonah; NT: Luke, Romans
1/4 of the Bible (1-3 Months):
OT: Genesis, Exodus 1-20, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Joel, Amos; NT: Matthew, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, Hebrews
1/2 of the Bible (3-6 Months):
OT: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Daniel; NT: Luke, Acts, Galatians, Ephesians, Revelation
Professor Kozlowski also discusses why this approach might appeal to some students, and recommends other Christianity-related readings useful to students trying to understand Christian teaching, such as:
Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis
The Confessions, by Augustine of Hippo
Little Pilgrim's Progress by Helen L. Taylor
Please feel free to share this with any students you know exploring Christianity for themselves, and don't hesitate to e-mail me at profbkozlowski@gmail.com if you have any questions, or if you want to discuss Christianity or your personal faith.
Pentateuch - Exodus 31-40
The golden calf episode in Exodus 32-34 is one of the most important passages in the Bible, and one of the least understood or discussed. Today, Professor Kozlowski closely examines this microcosmic story exploring the nature of sin, God's character, and how to properly debate (and even win arguments against) God.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Pentateuch - Exodus 15-30
After one of the most famous and exciting stories in the entire Bible comes...a bunch of laws and a famously boring series of chapters detailing the specific construction of the tabernacle. And yet, Professor Kozlowski has a lot to say about these passages, notably including his hermeneutic of Biblical law and how Jews (and Christians) should (and should NOT) apply these laws and principles to their live in a modern, pluralistic democracy. Keep in mind that I don't know how to access any comments you post on Spotify, so if you have any personal attacks to level at me, try e-mail instead.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
WWT - Phaedo and Myth
Today, since Professor Kozlowski is feeling a bit sick, he has uploaded his World Wisdom Traditions lecture, in a true return-to-pandemic-origins! Today he's discussing the underworld/afterlife myth in Plato's Phaedo (107c-118a), including discussion of how myth relates to philosophy, how Plato uses myth in his dialogues, and how that will inform the class going forward.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
Pentateuch - Exodus 1-14
Professor Kozlowski tackles "The Greatest Story Ever Told": The Exodus of Israel from Egypt.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Pentateuch - Genesis 23-50
Professor Kozlowski tackles the messy and enigmatic one-two punch of the Jacob and Joseph narratives in the back half of Genesis, with emphasis on the weird and difficult passages like Jacob's complicated polygamous love life, his equally-strange relationship with God, and the apparently-nonsensical story of Judah and Tamar. We'll also look at the themes and implications suggested by these stories, as a way of preparing for the big show of the Exodus in the coming weeks.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Pentateuch - Genesis 4-22
Today Professor Kozlowski discusses the complicated, post-lapsarian world of early Genesis. He confronts some of the big ticket Genesis stories like Cain & Abel, Noah, and the Tower of Babel, as well as a deep examination of the story of Abraham, and his interpretation of Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction. Along the way he'll examine some of the most controversial discussions surrounding these passages, including the use of Ham's genealogy as a justification for slavery, and whether or not the destruction of Sodom should be seen as a condemnation of homosexuality. It'll be another long one, but there's no shortage of important things to discuss!
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Pentateuch - Genesis 1-3
Hooray! It's finally time to actually read and discuss the Bible! But only a little bit, since the first three chapters of Genesis apparently warrant an entire two-and-a-half-hour discussion all by themselves. Today Professor Kozlowski discusses the tensions between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, the characteristics of God and His created universe, as emphasized and explored in these passages, as well as the manifold interpretations and struggles between these texts, other mythological traditions, and scientific teaching. Along the way he'll discuss many of the controversies and issues springing from these passages, many of which will become more prominent later in the series. Kind of a lot of pontificating for some two-and-a-half pages of Bible, but it is some of the most important and controversial writing ever put to paper.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Pentateuch - Introduction
But didn't we introduce the Pentateuch LAST WEEK? Nope. Old Testament "Introduction" is a formal term encompassing all of the scholarship surrounding authorship, provenance, textual criticism & history, and other non-content related questions about the text (largely because Old Testament "Criticism" sounds blasphemous in Christian circles). Today Professor Kozlowski confronts some of the most important questions surrounding the Pentateuch and its composition - and why most of those arguments and questions are either lazy, tautological, or impertinent to its relevance as a foundational religious text.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Pentateuch - Hermeneutics
Professor Kozlowski kicks off his discussion of the Pentateuch with a rousing discussion of How to Read! Not joking. It's Hermeneutics time, folks. Time to talk about How to Read the Bible, and just how wildly controversial that topic alone has become, as well as the presuppositions and assumptions he'll take into this text as we approach it in the coming weeks.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Notes - Lightning Round!
In this rapid-fire explanation and conclusion to the informal research notes series, Professor Kozlowski discusses the newly-finalized reading list for his World Wisdom Traditions class: what texts are included, why they are included, what texts have been omitted, why they have been omitted, and the underlying motivations governing these decisions. The result is a skeletal syllabus: one that anyone could follow to learn the course material, and the final fruits of his research labors these past months.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Notes on Radhakrishnan's "Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy" 2
Professor Kozlowski continues his study of Hindu Philosophy in Radhakrishnan's Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy by studying the schools of interpretation and commentary springing from the Sutras of the last centuries B.C. and first centuries A.D. in Hindu thought. Among others he'll discuss the logical methodology of the Nyaya, the discipline of meditation in the Yoga Sutra, and the interpretive tradition of Vedanta, which synthesizes the Upanishads into a cogent philosophical system. Along the way, he'll confront the legacy and philosophy of Radhakrishnan himself, muse about how to introduce these ideas to students, and wildly mispronounce many names.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Notes on Radhakrishnan's "Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy" 1
Professor Kozlowski pivots from researching and discussing Native American philosophy to Hindu philosophy in this informal discussion. Here he'll discuss: 1. The differences and difficulties in researching Hinduism and its related disciplines and traditions; 2. The foundational texts underlying Hinduism (from the Vedas through Buddhism) and their rough development; 3. The basic philosophical tenets of these texts and how they have matured and changed over time; 4. Applications for his classroom; 5. Further research. There's a lot to discuss, and only so much time to discuss it!
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Notes on Erdoes, Jennings, et al.
Professor Kozlowski wraps up his discussion of Native American philosophy with a lightning round of books he's skimmed, partially-read, or hopes to read in the future, including:
- Erdoes and Ortiz - American Indian Myths and Legends
- Spencer and Jennings - The Native Americans
- Miller and Taube - The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Notes on Silko's "Ceremony"
Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony was highly recommended by Cordova in her previously-discussed book on Native American philosophy, How it Is. Today, Professor Kozlowski discusses the book at some length: how it does and does not fit into his study, how it encapsulates much of what he has found in Native American scholarship, and how it connects to his own, personal, experiences and understanding of the world.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Notes on "American Indian Thought" ed. Anne Waters
American Indian Thought (edited by Anne Waters) is perhaps the primary sourcebook for Native American Philosophy today, but it's a strange, discordant book without a clear guiding structure or organization beyond "philosophy-adjacent writings by Native Americans". Today Professor Kozlowski discusses some of the essays in the book, and contemplates its use in his upcoming class, in the broader effort to research and understand Native American perspectives, and in his responsibilities as person, professor, and citizen.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Notes on V. F. Cordova's "How It Is"
Having decided to spend the summer researching (rather than trying to produce polished lectures), Professor Kozlowski begins to report his research in this first informal "notes" lecture on V. F. Cordova's How It Is. Cordova was the first Native American scholar to receive a Ph.D in philosophy, and this book seems as good an entry point as any into the complicated world of Native American philosophy and scholarship. In this entry, Professor Kozlowski outlines his expectations for the class (as well as for these "notes" going forward), discusses the obstacles he's found as he tries to enter the world of Native American scholarship, and confronts some key ideas and problems in Cordova's book.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
The Company We Keep
Professor Kozlowski concludes (perhaps prematurely) his discussion of the Ethics of Literature by delivering a broad-strokes summary of Wayne C. Booth's The Company We Keep: An Ethics of Fiction, along with some musing on the series' diverse and complicated conclusions, and thoughts about future projects.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
John Gardner's War on Nihilism
There are few matters in art criticism (and life) closer to Professor Kozlowski's heart than the mental/spiritual war against capital-N Nihilism - retaining hope in the face of despair, remaining positive in the face of relentless negativity, and perpetually adjusting one's perspective to acknowledge the value of the good things in the world, even when plans go awry and things fall apart. That conviction lies hand-in-hand with his reading of John Gardner's On Moral Fiction, which casts artists in the role of warriors against the dark, explicitly comparing art to Thor's Hammer, beating back the forces of evil. In this lecture, Professor Kozlowski explores Gardner's stark, martial metaphors, assesses the fine distinctions between moral and immoral art, and applies these findings to the art world today.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
On Moral Fiction 1
Professor Kozlowski discusses the first half of John Gardner's On Moral Fiction: "Premises on Art and Morality", where we'll identify some of the current philosophical ideas undermining the possibility of moral fiction in the 1970's (and today), examine those issues in many writers contemporary to Gardner, and think about the ways that modern media is equally evasive of or troubled by these problems.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
Derrida to Literature
Professor Kozlowski interprets Derrida's "This Strange Institution Called Literature" according to his own idea of Derrida's philosophical program, perhaps against the "stable" interpretation propagated by self-proclaimed Derrideans. Is this a valid act of interpretation, worthy of its own elevation to stability? May any act of interpretation be considered "less" or "more" valid than any other act of interpretation? Is the assumption of validity a vestige of phallogocentric modern philosophy? These and other questions.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
The Romantic Manifesto 2
Professor Kozlowski concludes his discussion of Ayn Rand's The Romantic Manifesto by examining Rand's confused description of Romanticism, her curious application of Romantic ideals to popular, commercial art, and her examination of the pedagogical function of art, especially for children. Can we reconcile the valuable insights of Rand artistic philosophy with her hostile, narrow view of what constitutes great art?
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
The Romantic Manifesto 1
Professor Kozlowski embarks on his discussion of Ayn Rand's The Romantic Manifesto with an examination of Ayn Rand's controversial legacy, philosophy, and career, before moving on to discuss her philosophy of art and literature, and making a case for her perspicacious take on art's power and effect.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
The Situation of the Writer in 2023
Professor Kozlowski returns to Sartre's What is Literature? to address Sartre's discussion of the situation of the writer in 1947, and expand on his observations there to discuss how that situation - and how literature itself - has changed in 2023.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
What is Literature? 1
Professor Kozlowski examines Sartre's phenomenological/aesthetic treatise: What is Literature? Along the way, he'll address issues of artistic commercialization, the role of art and literature in class conflict, and how one's historical and cultural moment changes the way a writer interacts with the world.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.
An Experiment in Criticism
Professor Kozlowski takes on C. S. Lewis' An Experiment in Criticism to examine the ethical responsibilities of the audience to a work of art or literature, and to discuss how the world of criticism has changed in fifty years. Among other topics, he'll discuss: bad-faith criticism, criticism from marginalized perspectives, intrinsic and extrinsic criticism, and Lewis' own problems with elitist gatekeeping and inflammatory criticism for self-aggrandizement.
Suggested supplementary readings include:
Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island
C. S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Achebe's "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness"
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.