Recordings of lectures from St. John's College, Santa Fe. Includes lectures from the Dean's Lecture & Concert Series and the Graduate Institute Summer Lecture Series.
A Yanki Yogi? Henry David Thoreau and Asian Philosophy (Krishnan Venkatesh)
Audio recording of a lecture given by tutor Krishnan Venkatesh on October 9, 2026 as part of the Dean’s Lecture & Concert Series. The Dean’s Office has provided this description of the event: “’To some extent, and at rare intervals, even I am a yogin.’ Any reader of Thoreau will have been struck by the quotations and allusions to Chinese and Indian thinkers on almost every page of his major works. He has read more Asian than Western philosophy, and even wrote essays on Confucius and Buddhism, as well as a translation (from French) of part of the Mahabharata. His reading in the Eastern Classics was extensive and formidable. He was not alone in this: Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Whitman, and other Transcendentalist writers were also fired up by Asian thought. They were preceded by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. In this lecture I will be exploring Thoreau’s reading of Asian philosophy: What exactly did he study, how deeply did he understand these books, did they influence him, can he be considered an American version of an Asian philosopher? I will also explore Thoreau’s profound affinity with a body of work he could not possibly have known: the poet-recluses of China and Japan, the Japanese poetic diarists, and his peripatetic brother Matsuo Basho. What is the significance of all this? It will become evident in this lecture that the presence of an Eastern Classics program in Santa Fe reflects an interest that is as American as…the Founding Fathers and the Transcendentalists.”
22 Oct 2026
Why Tolstoy's War Writing Does Not Grow Old (Donna Orwin)
Audio recording of a lecture given by Donna Orwin on October 2, 2026 as part of the Dean’s Lecture & Concert Series. The Dean’s Office has provided this description of the event: “This talk will compare the three Sevastopol sketches. Ms. Orwin will discuss the narrative structure of all of them with an eye to whether or not the point of view of the narrator changes. Who is this narrator in each sketch, and what is his attitude towards war in general and the particular situation in each sketch?”
7 Oct 2026
Reflections on the American Constitution (Grant Franks)
Audio recording of a lecture given by tutor Grant Franks onSeptember 18, 2026 as part of the Dean’s Lecture & Concert Series. The Dean’s Office has provided thisdescription of the event: “Our country is now celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Everyone understands the urge to place special emphasis on anniversaries that are even multiples of ten, but July 4, 1776, was neither the beginning of the American revolution nor its end. Arguably a more important date in our nation’s history was September 17, 1787, two hundred thirty-nine years ago – sadly, a prime number! – when the Constitution under which our country still operates was signed in Philadelphiaand submitted to the thirteen states for ratification. This lecture will inquire into the nature of a ‘constitution’ in general, describe some of the intellectual, historical, and political currents that shaped the document produced by the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787, ask which of its features have proved especially valuable, and discuss whether some other might profit from reconsideration or amendment.”
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