The Mouseion - The Professor Wingert Podcast

How Should Western Christians View the Israel-Palestine Conflict? A Middle Eastern Christian Perspective. In this episode of the Mouseion, I am joined by three Middle Eastern Christians with roots in the Holy Land (Israel and Palestine) that share their life experiences and points of view. This episode is not designed to tell anyone how to think, but instead to introduce this minority community into a conversation dominated in the media by uplifting one side or the other. The Middle East, including the Holy Land, is a very diverse place and there are many perspectives that are often ignored or lost against the broader dichotomy pushed by various governments and the differing media apparatuses. It is my hope that this conversation will help us break out of an "A vs. B" dichotomy and instead have a more nuanced approach to the conversation. We prefer to be peace-makers. We ask our listeners and viewers to pray for all the peoples of the Holy Land and especially pray for those of us in this podcast. Glossary: Abouna - "Father" (lit. "our Father" in Arabic, though also in Modern Aramaic); this is one of the ways in which Eastern Christians address priests. Shamosho - Deacon (Aramaic/Syriac - Western Dialect) Shammas - Deacon (Arabic) Malphono - Professor, teacher (Syriac - Western Dialect) Visit Subdeacon Daniel Kakish's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@danielkakish Visit Fr. George's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@askabouna8858 #israelpalestineconflict #Israel #palestine

In this episode, Jenny Rooney, an at-large member of the Cherokee Nation, speaks with me about family history, culture, education, and heritage preservation. Jenny is an educator who has taught at the collegiate level. She presently teaches English to middle school students in California. #cherokee #culture #nativeamerican

In this episode, Subdeacon Daniel Kakish and I count down the Top 5 Syriac poets. When we ended up using NBA parallels, our Top 5 quickly broke down into a starting five with other poets subbing in from the bench. If we missed any or you think others need further elaboration, post below in the comments. #syriac #podcast #orthodox

In this episode, I'm once again joined by Daniel Kakish, a collegiate lecturer in Middle Eastern studies, to take a break from our usual topics and discuss how pro-wrestling is most successful when it integrates its story lines with the zeitgeist. We live in an inverted world today. Rather than pro-wrestling being a cartoon or characterized interpretation of our world, these days our public discourse has directly evolved from professional wrestling. Already Eric Bischoff has already demonstrated that the news cycle in the Western world has (d)evolved to follow the story-telling format previously made popular by pro-wrestling, especially as it was experienced in the 1990s.

In this podcast episode, I go it solo to offer a few updates about the podcast schedule and review the first ten episodes. I will be taking a break from podcasting and aiming to resume in October, 2022. The start of the Fall Semester is a heavy one this year given the amount of coursework I'm teaching, projects I'm working on, and administrative duties. For those who have not seen too many episodes of the Mouseion, I post 1-4 minute clips from earlier episodes. If any interest you, check them out. you can see the difference between the podcast now and its earliest iterations.   As always, thanks for watching, sharing, liking, and subscribing. I'm encouraged by all the great feedback you're giving me.  #podcast #mouseion #selfreflection

"You gotta get really uncomfortable before it gets comfortable."   In this podcast episode, I sit down with former Cleveland Indians and Miami Marlins 1st Baseman/Outfielder Jordan Brown to discuss life through the lens of baseball. What can baseball teach us about life, growing up, aging, and how we perceive success and failure? How do sports define us, especially after we transition from the collegiate or professional ranks to life outside of athletics?   Jordan Brown has played for the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians), Miami Marlins, numerous minor league teams, and has even played in Venezuela for the Leones del Caracas. Brown's major league career was hindered by a torn meniscus, but he has gathered numerous lessons along the way.  The podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, and others.  

#baseball #athlete #sports

In this episode I am joined by Tom Taylor, a first responder in Northern California's Cascade mountains. During the fire season in Northern California, Tom takes care of animals who need a home when their owners are forced to evacuate to safety. Tom is also part of Siskiyou County Search and Rescue, where he helps rescue humans (in addition to the animals). In addition to these matters, we also discuss the Bigfoot or Sasquatch phenomenon specific to the the region.  If you want to help the animals displaced by fire, contact the state's department of emergency services to see how you can direct goods or resources to the region.  

#animallover #cascades #bigfoot

In this podcast episode, Daniel Kakish and I discuss the matter of identity and the various communities of the Ottoman Empire prior to World War I.  Daniel Kakish holds masters degrees in History as well as Eastern Christian Studies and is a former instructor at colleges and universities in the San Diego area, where he taught courses in topics related to the Middle East and Arabic Culture. He is also a sub-deacon in the Syriac Orthodox Church and possesses a wealth of knowledge on the history, language, and religious traditions of the Middle East.

In this episode I'm joined by Jay Rooney, a lifelong gamer, occasional gaming blogger, professional writer, and now the publisher of Game & Word: the newsletter where virtual worlds and the "real" world collide! Game & Word is a Substack newsletter and podcast that dives as deep as possible into the hobby we love, highlighting individual games’ connections to humanity and the world. History, culture, psychology, literature, and even philosophy can all shape the games we play and fondly remember.  

You can read Jay's Substack Newsletter here: https://gameandword.substack.com 

#Gaming #VideoGames #Game&Word

What is a constructed language or conlang? How might Klingon and Elvish relate to living languages of today like Japanese, Arabic, or Finnish? Is there any way to connect Dothraki or High Valerian to ancient languages like Hittite, Akkadian, or Aramaic? In the nerdiest of all my conversations thus far, Dr. Time Hogue (University of Satsuma) and I discuss how constructed languages are formed and how they relate to existing languages, philology, linguistics, and narrative story telling.  

#Conlang #Polyglot #Klingon

In this episode, I am once again joined by food scientist Ryan Scannell to explore the science of cheese. Thrilled Cheese, Grilled Cheese, Mac n cheese, pizza, or just a convenient way to preserve, repackage, and transport milk. There is a science behind making cheese that a is worth learning more about, and if you're into chemistry, all the better.   T

he Mouseion © is the podcast of Professor Michael Wingert.  

#Cheese #Milk #Science

I am joined by Everitte Barbee, an American artist based in the Middle East to discuss Arabic calligraphy as both an art and science, as well as explore his own pieces of art. The aniconic tradition of Islam required artists to place less of an emphasis on human forms and thus to find creative forms of expression through calligraphy using the Arabic language and geometric patters. Centuries of this artistic practice has yielded a distinct style for the region and had implications for the development of Arabic script.  

Born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1988, Everitte finished his Masters in International Business and Arabic at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He currently lives in Beirut, Lebanon where he continues to research and develop his skills as a calligrapher and artist, as well as improving his Arabic language skills.  Although he has had a passion for the arts from a young age, he did not begin studying Arabic calligraphy until he travelled to the Middle East. He learned to write the Ruq’a, Diwani, Square Koufik and Diwani Jali script from the master calligrapher Adnan Farid whilst living in Damascus, Syria in 2009.  

Everitte has been featured on Al Jazeera [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJDBgZZtHm4] and BBC Extra Arabic [https://www.bbc.com/arabic/tv-and-radio-59748457] as well as several other prominent publications in the Middle East.  

To explore more or Everitte's work, commission projects, or purchase prints, visit his website: https://everitte.org 

#Art #Arabic #Calligraphy

In this episode, I'm joined once again by my father to discuss genealogy. We discuss our motivations for studying our family history, how other written histories and genealogical research and impact how we understand our own ancestry, and the impact of DNA on genealogy. If you have not done a family history before but you'd like to get started, have a listen. If you have not ever thought about getting into genealogy, you may want consider taking it up as both a hobby and a way of preserving your own history for future generations.  

For more resources, visit: https://www.usa.gov/genealogy 

#Genealogy #Ancestry #FamilyHistory

In this episode, I sit down with licensed therapist Dn. Basil Balke to discuss the field of modern psychology in light of approaches to the psychological sciences prior to the end of the nineteenth century.  

Father Deacon Basil is a married deacon of the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church and the Russian Greek Catholic Church, and ministers in Denver Colorado. He holds a Masters of Theology from the University of Balamand, a Masters in Clinical Counseling from Regis University and the St. Stephen’s Diploma in Eastern Theology.  He currently holds licensure as a Professional Counselor in the State of Colorado and is head of Mount Tabor Counseling, a Christian counseling practice with locations in Colorado and Texas. His particular interest is in the psycho-spirituality of the Christian Desert Fathers, with a particular focus on St. Evagirus Ponticus and St. John Cassian. He is also a Lecturer in Pastoral Counseling at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, and a regular columnist to Our Sunday Visitor’s Deacon Digest where he writes on issues pertaining to the Eastern Catholic Diaconate. He is also one of the Hosts of the Catholic Psyche Podcast, and a Co-Founder of the Center for InMinistry Development.   

Mt. Tabor Counseling: https://mounttaborcounseling.com

St. John Vianney Theological Seminary: https://sjvdenver.edu

The Deacon Digest: https://www.the-deacon.com

Catholic Psyche Podcast: https://catholicpsyche.com

The Center for InMinistry Development: https://inministrydevelopment.com 

#Psych #Psychology #AncientMedicine

In this episode of the Mouseion, I am joined by Thilo Young to explore some of the issues related to the matter of human suffering? Is suffering always a problem? Do our assumptions about suffering shape the way we think about the world?  

Thilo Young is a Los Angeles based biker, profound thinker, and a tonsured reader in the Coptic Orthodox Church. He has a forthcoming book on his life and integration into Coptic Orthodox Christianity.  

 #Biker #Suffering #Coptic

In this episode of the Mouseion, I'm once again joined by Fr. Shirly Mathai in our ANTI-THEOLOGY series as we reflect on Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone, and how the character of Rocky translated the specific person, becoming emblematic of the city of Philadelphia.

 In this episode, I'm joined by food scientist Ryan Scannell to discuss beer in science and culture.  Ryan and I were having a conversation about beverages in Hebrew... it escalated into a conversation about beer, its science and its history. If you appreciate nerds and beer, this Bud's for you.

#Beer

In this episode, I am joined by geriatric psychiatrist Dr. Amani Michael to explore the process of aging from an Eastern Christian (i.e. Orthodox) point of view. Dr. Amani proposes that aging is a process of involuntary asceticism -- that is to say, the austere lifestyle that many holy men and women in the Orthodox Church have taken up in order to detach from worldly lives. Through this discussion, we hope to achieve a better understanding of elderly care, assisted living, and what we can learn from those who enter into an ascetic lifestyle through the process of aging.  

#Orthodox #Elderly #Aging

Who are thee Arabs? Are all Arabic speakers Arabs? Is there something else that distinguishes Arabs historically and culturally from their neighboring nations that also speak Arabic?  

In this episode, I am once again joined by Deacon Daniel Kakish in a continuation of our previous discussion on the Middle East, this time specifically discussing Arab identity and Arab cultural structures.   

Daniel Kakish holds masters degrees in History as well as Eastern Christian Studies and is a former instructor at colleges and universities in the San Diego area, where he taught courses in topics related to the Middle East and Arabic Culture. He is also a sub-deacon in the Syriac Orthodox Church and possesses a wealth of knowledge on the history, language, and religious traditions of the Middle East.  

#MiddleEast #Arabic #Arab

In this this episode of the Mouseion, I'm once again joined by my father to discuss the book Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America. Who are the Scots-Irish (or Scotch-Irish as we say in the United States)? Where did the Scots-Irish come from? How did the Scots-Irish influence the United States? How did people born fighting in the Scottish lowlands make their way to the Appalachian mountains in North America?  

#Scots-Irish #Scotch-Irish #UlsterScots

In this episode of the Mouseion, Dr. Wingert is joined by the Rev. Dr. Andreas Andreopoulos, more affectionally known as Fr. Andreas, to discuss his book "Gazing on God." This book presents an Orthodox Christian approach to icons and iconography. The text focuses on the role of the icon in the faith and experience of Orthodox Christians as a way through which the Christian interacts with God in and outside of time.  

Fr. Andreas is a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church. Both Fr. Andreas and Dr. Wingert are faculty at Agora University's Holy Transfiguration College (https://htc.agora.ac/faculty/). Fr. Andreas is also a faculty member at the University of Winchester in the United Kingdom. His areas of expertise include Orthodox Theology, Greek Patristics, Iconology, Ecclesiology, Liturgy, Christian Semiotics, Sacred Art, and Monasticism.  

GAZING ON GOD "An exposition of Orthodox systematic theology, Gazing on God is written from the point of view of the experience of the faithful, drawing on traditional icons and liturgy.  By tracing the depth of some key Christian concepts —salvation, Logos, the Trinity— Andreas Andreopoulos provides a framework for the theology of experience. In the following chapters seven select icons are analyzed, in order to demonstrate the theological ideas and themes that may be revealed by studying Christianity through iconography. The analysis touches on topics such as time (the eternity of God, ‘flat’ liturgical time), space, the Church as the Body of Christ, and the Trinity.  Gazing on God offers to all Christian traditions a demonstration that, while our understanding of the development of Christian views and attitudes is guided by the history of theological ideas, Christianity includes from the beginning a strong dimension of meta-linguistic knowledge, which is expressed in its liturgy, as well as in its symbolism.  

Table of Contents 

Introduction: The Perspective 

Part One: The Theology of Experience 1. Faith and Experience 2. Logos 3. Christ and the Trinity 4. Time, Space and Eternity in the Liturgy 

Part Two: An Icon Exhibition 5. Icons: The Way to Gaze on God 6. The Crucifixion 7. The Descent into Hades 8. The Protection of the Theotokos 9. The Life Giving Fountain 10. The Burning Bush 11. The Bogolubskaya 12. The All Seeing Eye of God  

Part Three: Holding the Gaze 13. After the Icon Exhibition  14. Towards a Meta-linguistic Theological Methodology" 

 #OrthodoxChristianity #Christianity #Iconography

In this episode of the Mouseion, I speak with Dr. Chris Estafanous on the topic of PAIN. Do people understand or experience pain differently? Is there a clinical way to perceive, approach, and treat pain, whether it is acute or chronic? Can pain help us transcend our present status and improve our lives?   

Dr. Estafanous is a DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy) who has a sincere desire to help others return to their premorbid level of function. His clinical experience has taught him when treating a patient, it is crucial to not just work with the patients as numbers but as human beings that have feelings and emotions. As a physical therapist, he strives to provide the best quality care for his patients but in a way where they see him not only as their therapist but as someone who genuinely cares for them and has their best interest at heart.  

He specializes Orthopedics, Manual Therapy, Sports Medicine, Sports Conditioning, Injury Prevention, Ergonomic Education, Functional Movement Screening.  

Chris Estafanous is also a co-host of the Reintroduction Podcast. The Reintroduction Podcast aims to reintroduce Christianity to those who may have acquired their understanding early on but who wish to relearn their faith after growing older. "Who is God? Who am I? In a world with much confusion, we often attribute qualities to God and one another that are unfair or untrue. The truth of God has been preserved in the teachings of the Orthodox Church for centuries."  His podcast can be found at https://reintroductionpodcast.com, on Facebook, YouTube, and downloaded on major platforms.  #Pain #PainManagement #PhysicalTherapy

In this episode of the Mouseion, The Professor Wingert Podcast, I am joined by Deacon Henok Elias, the host of the popular podcast, "The Philosophy of Art and Science". Dn. Henok is emblematic of Axumite (historical Ethiopian and Eritrean) culture as expressed in our present day life and times. He has taken the abstract mind of Aksum (Axum) and coded it in such a way that presents Aksumite culture thriving through the lives of Ethiopian and Eritrean people as well as those whose interests intersects them (or his own).  Dn. Henok Elias is both a polymath and a polyglot. He is teacher, interpreter, writer, podcaster, and mediator. He speaks Amharic, Tigrinya, Classical Ethiopic (Ge'ez) and has much today as about Ethiopia's other languages (such as Guraginya, Oromo, Tigre, Somali, and several others).  I learned a lot during this podcast, and I think that you will too. Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe to my channel to keep the conversation going.  #POAAS #Ethiopia #Eritrea

In this series of conversations, my father and I discuss the books that we have been reading. In this episode, we discuss the book "The Peter Principle" by the Lawrence J. Peter. The book is a funny take on why there are so many incompetent people in organizations, ranging across business, politics, the military, religions, and the administrative hierarchies.   The thesis of the book is “In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence.”  #Incompetence #PeterPrinciple #bookreview

ANTI-THEOLOGY episodes: I am joined by Fr. Shiryl Mathai, a priest of the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church in North America serving the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. As an Orthodox Christian priest, Fr. Shiryl is often inclined to give wisdom or a caring word when he speaks. However, when he enters the Mouseion, he is forbidden from doing so in episodes that we refer to as Anti-Theology. Instead, Fr. Shiryl will reflect on old school topics with Professor Wingert as dictated by flow.  

In this episode of the Mouseion, Fr. Shiryl and I reflect on the relationship between Cobra Kai and the Karate Kid films from the perspective of those who first saw the Karate Kid films when they first came out. We also discuss how getting lost in an online rabbit hole like 90s based Houston hip-hop can serve as way in which young people today can rediscover the forerunner films to popular series today.

In this episode, Daniel Kakish and I discuss the problem of modern political borders and the ethnic and national makeup of the modern Middle East. Daniel Kakish holds masters degrees in History as well as Eastern Christian Studies and is a former instructor at colleges and universities in the San Diego area, where he taught courses in topics related to the Middle East and Arabic Culture. He is also a sub-deacon in the Syriac Orthodox Church and possesses a wealth of knowledge on the history, language, and religious traditions of the Middle East.  In this episode, we refer to terms that may not be known popularly in the West: Hijaz - The west coast of Arabia. Hashemite - A clan originally from Mecca that presently rules Jordan. Sykes-Picot - An agreement by British and French colonial powers to divide the Middle East.

In the first episode of the Mouseion, Prof. Wingert provides a short introduction to himself, his interests, and the main reasons for putting this podcast together.

In this series of conversations, my father and I discuss the books that we have been reading. In this episode, we discuss the book "It Takes What It Takes" by the late Trevor Moawad.