Monthly Archives: December 2014

A Holiday Gathering of the Bates Clan

By Robin Bates | Published: December 22, 2014

The holiday gathering of our family has me thinking of Sir Walter’s Scott’s poem about the gathering of the MacGregor clan.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "MacGregor's Gathering", Absolom and Architophel, family gatherings, John Dryden, Sir Walter Scott | Comments closed

The Peace of Wild Things

By Robin Bates | Published: December 21, 2014

My Intro to Literature class explored how a disconnect from nature leads to existential anguish while opening themselves up to nature provides spiritual nourishment.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Ancient Mariner, "Egrets", "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", "Killing the Trees", "Peace of Wild Things", All the Pretty Horses, Bacchae, Barbara Kingsolver, Ceremony, Cormac McCarthy, Euripides, Flight Behavior, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lucille Clifton, Mary Oliver, Midsummer Night's Dream, Nature, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, spiritual healing, Wendell Berry, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth | Comments closed

Are the Gods Out to Destroy Manziel?

By Robin Bates | Published: December 20, 2014

The epic fail in Johnny Manziel’s first NFL start invites Sophoclean analogies. Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus also comes to mind.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, Football, Johnny Manziel, NFL, Oedipus, Sophocles, Sports | Comments closed

San Luis Rey, a Bridge of Love

By Robin Bates | Published: December 19, 2014

Wilder’s “Bridge of San Luis Rey” is a powerful book for those who have lost friends.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bridge of San Luis Rey, death and dying, Grief, Thornton Wilder | Comments closed

Austenland, a Game for Janeites

By Robin Bates | Published: December 18, 2014

At the end of each fall semester, we have a “fall festival” where the first year seminar students present a project to the community that shares some of what they have learned. This year my Jane Austen class invented a board game for the occasion, which they are calling Austenland. In the past, my Austen […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Emma, Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility | Comments closed

Connecting Art to Life

By Robin Bates | Published: December 17, 2014

In a lovely introduction to a reading I gave the other night, my son Toby examined the value of the liberal arts.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | Comments closed

Inviting Jane into Your Life

By Robin Bates | Published: December 16, 2014

Once again Jane Austen has stepped into the lives of my students and enriched their lives immeasurably.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Emma, Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility | Comments closed

The CIA’s Heart of Darkness

By Robin Bates | Published: December 15, 2014

Published details about the CIA’s torture program reveal that America descended into a Conradian heart of darkness.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged CIA, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, Senate Intelligence Committee's torture report, torture | Comments closed

Waiting for the Messiah to Knock

By Robin Bates | Published: December 14, 2014

Steven Schneider’s Hanukkah celebration occurs in a place the old patriarchs never could have imagined.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged festival of lights, Hanukkah, Judaism, Schneider (Steven) | Comments closed