Online Seminar Series: Transcendentalism

Online Seminar Series

Transcendentalism

Monday, August 5, 2024

“Humankind is surprised to find that things near are not less beautiful and wondrous than things remote. The near explains the far. The drop is a small ocean. A man is related to all nature.”

Transcendentalism was a philosophical, spiritual, and literary movement that developed in the early 19th century in the northeastern United States. Deep beliefs in the goodness of nature, and of humanity as a part of that nature, were central expressions of the movement’s thinkers and writers. Self reliance, individualism, and divine encounter with everyday experience also characterized the transcendental spirit. A strong feature of American societal development, the approach generally embraced intuition over empiricism, and was cautious of progress that insulated the individual from dynamic, authentic experience. We invite you to join us for monthly Monday evening sessions (generally taking place the first Monday evening of each month), exploring the early, middle, and late thinking of the approach. Attendees need not participate in all of the sessions to benefit, as each reading will stand on its own. Authors in the series will include:

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Jonathan Edwards

William Ellery Channing

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Henry David Thoreau

Walt Whitman

Margaret Fuller

Emily Dickinson

Frederick Douglas

Nathanial Hawthorne

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August 5 Reading:

Nature – Part One – by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Introduction to III Beauty (pages 1-14)

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Schedule:

5:30-7:00PM PDT

Tutors:

Roxana Zirakzadeh and Andy Gilman

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Location:

Online. Register to receive the link.