Polymathic Pizza

Man is a social animal.  Thus Aristotle postulates friendship as a fundamental requirement for the good life.  By friendship Aristotle suggested what we moderns might call social adjustment, social connection, self-esteem in a social context, as well as just plain friends.  But what about friendship in an age of social media?  Can someone on Facebook actually list hundreds of friends and meet Aristotle’s requirements?  What, in short, does friendship mean in an age of hook ups, social media, and fiscalized relationships?  And what did the Anglican C.S....

Aristotle did not glorify riches, but he did note that dire poverty or other significant scarcity of means had a way of making the achievement of the good life more than a little bit difficult.  Some of the great religious traditions have endorsed a renunciation of wealth as a high virtue.  Enlightenment philosophers have praised the achievement of sufficient wealth as essential to the sustaining of personal sovereignty.  In the film Wall Street (1987), Gordon Gekko tells us that greed is good, and look where that left him and the country in 2008!  Under the guidance of...

Following the Greek notion that “in health alone is victory,” Aristotle lists this requirement as fundamental to the conduct of life.  Under the guidance of Assistant Professor Carlin Daley, students – fortified with a healthy serving of healthy pizza – will examine the health requirement from a variety of perspectives, including those threats to emotional and mental health intrinsic to life in these United States in the 21st century.

The organization and retrievability of information in a variety of formats has been a preoccupation -- and a profession -- since time immemorial.  For centuries, archives and libraries served this purpose.  The late twentieth century witnessed a translation of information to digital formats.  By the early twenty-first century, information management was addressing itself to a global information environment stored digitally and transferred at electronic speed.  Drawing upon her academic preparation and long career in library, archival, and information management, Catherine...

Carol Muske-Dukes, USC Dornsife professor of English and Creative Writing and California Poet Laureate, will discuss the meaning of her current interest in Scientific Narrative. Professor Muske-Dukes locates literary intersections in science/medical narrative and creativity.  She sees, for instance, the heart as symbol, (a la Valentine's Day), and as "stress" and emotion.  Students will join Professor Muske-Dukes in conversation to explore other possible intersections between the realm of science and the realm of words.

Public Administration is an art, a science, a profession, and a mode of stewardship that can be traced back to the ancient kingdoms of the Middle East and China in the time of Confucius.   The rise of the modern state witnessed the further development in importance of a professional civil service.  In democracies, elected officials set policies, but it is professional civil servants who see that these policies are implemented.  Drawing upon the historical record of public, as well as his own long career as a public administrator, University Professor Kevin Starr will discuss...

Self identity, animal rights, moral responsibility, and social ethics for earthlings and others are just a few of the topics that will drive the conversation with Professor of Philosophy, Law, and Political Science Sharon Lloyd.  Professor Lloyd works in the history of political philosophy, with special attention to the moral and political theories of philosophers Hobbes, Machiavelli, Mill, Marx, and Rawls.  Students interested in discovering and experiencing the meaning of polymathy will not want to miss this session with Professor Lloyd.

Military Science in the 21st century is polymathic by definition.  Today, the US military is called upon in times of crisis to assist communities in all corners of the world hit by earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear disasters, and famine.  The modern ROTC student majors in such diverse and complex areas as physics and nuclear engineering, linguistics, civil and mechanical engineering, geospatial information science, environmental science, or comparative culture and politics.  Lt. Col. Kirkland, Ph.D. in history, will engage students in conversation about the truly interdisciplinary...

Critical Studies Professor Tara McPherson, a pop culture expert specializing in race, gender, film, and television, and digital media, is a genuine polymathic practitioner.  Professor McPherson is a leading force in our rapidly changing technologies and she utilizes her ever-expanding expertise to analyze how film and media affect popular ideas about race and gender.

How might the arts, music or poetry speak to economics, technology, science, or politics?  Dana Gioia, Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture and past Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will explore with students the intersecting linguistic pathways of art with everything else.