synaesthesia

Any of you who might be interested in exploring the idea of synaesthesia in Sophocles might want to look at the following:

Wednesday is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain on Synesthesia by Richard E. Cytowic and David Eagleman. I recommend it only because David Eagleman is one of the authors. His book Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain is a fabulous read. I've been recommending it to all of my friends. He is informative on the subject of neuroscience and has a wonderful writing style The book on synaesthesia is so described on Amazon:

Analysis and PDE Seminar

Title:  Lp norms of eigenfunctions and Kakeya-Nikodym averages

Abstract:  We consider the problem of determining upper bounds on the growth of L^p norms of eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on a compact Riemannian manifold. After an introduction to the problem, we will discuss recent works of C. Sogge and the speaker with C. Sogge relating such growth to mass concentration in frequency dependent tubes about geodesic segments. We then show that this yields improved L^p bounds for manifolds with nonpositive sectional curvatures, extending a result of Sogge-Zelditch to higher dimensions.





 

Date:
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Location:
745 Patterson Office Tower

Aristotle on the Corinthian messenger in Oedipus

                                             

 

On Monday we will discuss Aristotle's great contribution to an understanding of Sophocles' Oedipus.

First and most importanr is Aristotle's distinction between simple and complex plots:

"Some plots are simple, others are complex. By "simple" plot, I mean one in which as it develops in a consecutive and unified manner... the shift in fortune (metabasis) comes about without peripety (peripeteia) or recognition; by "complex" one in which the shift (metabasis) is accomplished consecutively but with peripety or recognition or both." (Poetics1452a12ff.)

Next, Aristotle defines peripety:

Peripety is the shift of the action toward the opposite pole..., as, for example, in the Oedipus, the messenger who has arrived, when it seems that he will make Oedipus happy and relieve him of his fears towards his mother by revealing who he is, brings about the oposite." (Poetics, 1452a23ff.)

Crossroads

While going through Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" I noticed in Act 3, Scene2  this little speech from Robin Goodfellow:

My fairy lord, this must be done with haste,

For night's swift dragons cut the clouds full fast,

And yonder shine's Aurora's harbinger,

At whose approach, ghosts wand'ring here and there

Troop home to churchyards. Damned spirits all,

That in crossways and floods have burial.

The play is supposed to be set in ancient Athens, but, of course, it's not. It's interesting that Shakespeare has knowledge of the practice of burying suicides in crossroads. Crossroads as liminal areas, places betwixt and between, places of filth and dirt, have a long, long history.

Images courtesy of Martin Liebermann: 

www.martin-liebermann.de".

 

 

 

An Interview with Ron Leshem

You are invited to hear an interview with Ron Leshem who is a celebrated novelist, journalist, and screenwriter for television and films. As a reporter in the West Bank and Gaza, his work appeared in Yediot Ahronot, Ma’ariv, and Le Monde. His first novel, Beaufort, won the Sapir Prize, Israel’s top literary award. The film adaptation of Beaufort, which Leshem co-wrote, earned him an Academy Award nomination in 2007 for Best Foreign Language Film.



Tikva Meroz-Aharoni is the Schusterman Visiting Professor for Israel Studies at the University of Kentucky. She teaches in the Jewish Studies Program. This fall, she is teaching courses in Hebrew language, literature, and film.

Prof. Meroz-Aharoni will interview Mr. Leshem regarding his experiences as a journalist and how those experiences influenced the writing of his novel. The process of adapting a literary text into a film and the ramifications of writing on controversial topics will also be discussed. Attendees are also invited to participate in a Q & A with Mr. Leshem.

Date:
-
Location:
Patterson Office Tower B3
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Davis Bottom: Rare History, Valuable Lives

"Davis Bottom: Rare History, Valuable Lives" reveals the fascinating history of a working-class neighborhood established in Lexington after the Civil War. Davis Bottom is one of about a dozen ethnic enclaves settled primarily by African-American families who migrated to Lexington from the 1860s to the 1890s in search of jobs, security and opportunity. 

The documentary is part of the Kentucky Archaeology and Heritage Series, produced by Voyageur Media Group, Inc. for the Kentucky Archaeological Survey and the Kentucky Heritage Council. The series is distributed by Kentucky Educational Television (KET) to viewers, teachers and students throughout the state. Wednesday's advance screening, part of the first-ever Kentucky Archaeology Month activities, is free and open to the public.

Date:
-
Location:
W T Young Library Auditorium
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