just one more--Yael on Shakespeare

I think this was from my first year, too--I took Eileen's Shakespeare class for 2.5 credits.

I'm really glad, first off, that we get to actually perform this and run lines as opposed to just reading/studying + discussing it. Although the discussion certainly clears up a lot of things in terms of who said what, what it means and some of the historical details I don't always pick up on...there is something drastically different between reading a line to understand it and reading a line to act it out and put in your own interpretation.

Since Shakespeare is, indeed, dead*...we don't know exactly how he expected the characters to be and even if we did, the actors might have played it differently than he had written it.

*and they didn't have Camcorders back then

In any case, I think it's just so interesting to analyze the depth of a character by hearing and seeing different interpretations of it.

Midsummer Night's Dream is funny with its whole ethereal/dream-like/"it's all an illusion" bent. There are some very serious issues brought up but the contrast between those issues and the light-hearted tone of the faeries.

From watching scene 1.2 performed I learned a lot abt... there was a LOT of humor I missed. Quince's role took on new life because suddenly words like "a lover, who killed himself most gallant for love" took on new meaning.

Bottom's humor was also even MORE evident in his over-eagerness to play every part.

Natalie as Flute was very funny as well but I think that's because of the casting. :)

Snug and Quince's interaction brought on new meaning with the part "You may do it extempore b/c it is NOTHING BUT ROARING."

There wasn't a whole ton of humor that I could have picked on in Oberon and Titania's part. What I learned from it was just how dramatic the two really are, and not faerie-like, and powerful. Oberon's jealousy (and how he was not used to getting what he wanted) was apparent.

The part with Helena and Hermia I didn't learn too much from because I already analyzed it for English-Speaking-Union. What I did pick up on was...

(okay, I'm getting bored typing this so it must be more boring reading it so I will stop now)

my first year at Shimer--journal entries

I just found one of my old journals from Shimer and thought it'd be fun to post some excerpts. I had to xxxx out some names/events to protect the guilty. I left my typos, etc. intact. The () are added now.

August 29, 1998
Shimer is cooler than cool. It is also wacked. The ppl. are bold, imaginative, daring and somewhat crazy. After an annoying car trip - Eyal (my brother) ultimately stopping to help some womyn change their tires...when they were in a gas station and didn't need the help...meanwhile I'm running late and we left an hour later than I was supposed to - dad taking 1/2 hour to make some coffee, me waiting for mom who said the shower was hers at 7AM and I waited 'til 7:15 to ignore hr. We were supposed to leave @8, left @9.

Ran into the guy I thought was so cute...smoking a joint w/ a group of ppl. My "mentor" offered me some alcoholic beverage...I didn't think Shimer was a party school.

Met Brandi, finally...which was awes. The luncheon was great, wonderful food (vegetarian, too!) - a good speech by David Shiner on how nobody calls a textbook "great"-and cake. Met my roommate, who I really like. Walked outside on broken glass + got lost w/ her. Attempted to unpack. Met John + Rich, neo-beatniks, and Psyche and Luke. Got a CD from John, gave them (and Luke) stones, traipsed up and down the colorfully painted hallway... listened to Mom bitch in the car all day. Am having a blast and attempting to figure out... my confusion. I don't know how I feel abt. being here yet. The drugs and alcohol threw me off. I feel uncomfortable w/ them. I do indeed like the ppl. I've met so far though.

rt on North
left on Cory
~~~~~~~~

the 30th?

This is the real thing. ppl here have children, are married, have arrest records. the plato (euthyphro) sem. class rocked...I'm still thrown off by the pot/alcohol use but... went to a picnic by the lake. later on we all swam naked in the beach. there's a guy here named XXXXX, intuition man, who is really, really, cool. XXXX, XXXXX, (censored), XXXX, XXXX...everyone is really cool. went grocery shopping, did more unpacking, had some fun.
-------
31st

he said...it's bad to visualize to try to change the future. he said__ God, he said so many things so full of insight. really hit close to home. well i guess it's okay that luke is sleeping in my bunk with amy beside him my comforter on their lap. my blanket

and that i feel like a stranger in my own room + someone would do me the service of going in + telling them

*snip*

September 8th
school is interesting. am learning and questioning more than i ever fathomed. it's scary that ppl. understand me and what i say to the pt. that they argue abt. it so much I just have to TOTALLY change it.

went w/ jason stahl to get a drum the other day but he didn't like it and charlie came and drove my car and almost killed us 3 times.

he was mad that i said if it was womyn in lord of the flies they would've just braided each other's hair. (he said) it was sexist + wrong of me to say that.

it was also a joke.

being + nothingness. we can confuse ourselves here. i like it, it's challenging. only a bit frustrating. i keep forgetting he has a hard time talking to people. that maybe he's as nervous as i am.

9/13
I can't believe I'm about to go to church with the Dean. That's so weird. This school is crazy. I hear he did a lot of acid and had affairs with students but that he is married now + it's all good.
~~~

Well I went + it was really great. His wife came too. We sat, said nothing for an hour except one womyn who spoke abt how we were united in the Spirit and in silence and not distracted by the outside world/noise and it was so beautiful. I couldn't get my mind to shut up but the silence really helped. Then they introduced the Sunday school kids who explained what they did that day (the oldest group talked abt. which word they'd never utter and about what it means to be gay, etc.) They listed off a lot of activist stuff they did. I just really like Quakers, they've done so much w/ gay rights, womyn suffragists, native people, conscientious objectors to war, underground railroad, etc.
-----------------

It was cool reading this because just last Friday I was teaching my 8th graders about Quakers after we read a textbook story about Harriet Tubman...all these years later!!

I will look for more interesting excerpts...

Mini Globe and President

Okay, I’ll fill you in on as many interesting happenings at Shimer that I can muster before I go to sleep…cool things going on at Shimer…well, my favorite “cool” thing is (literally) the miniature “Cool Globe” that Shimer students, faculty, and staff designed and created to increase global warming awareness. The following text is from the e-newsletter I sent out today…

“Shimer has been awarded one of 10-20 “Mini Cool Globes” in response to our submission of the artistic vision “Read the Earth: Great Books and Great Art Supporting Environmental Stewardship.” Shimer students, faculty, and staff have covered the oceans of this miniature globe with quotes about the environment from influential texts, including selections from Maria Montessori, Albert Einstein, Pindar, Darwin, Heraclitus, Lao Tze, Aristotle, and Alice Walker. The continents feature naturalistic images including those of Leonardo DaVinci, Carl Linnaeus, Maria Sibylla Merian, and the Cave of Lascaux.

Shimer’s mini-globe will be auctioned along with larger globes on October 5th at the Auditorium Theatre, at an event hosted by activist/comedian Al Franken. Tickets for the auction are $75.00 (you can also bid online – for general information about the auction, visit www.coolglobes.com). We would like a Shimer alum to win the globe at auction, so if you are interested in bidding, please contact either Stuart Patterson (s.patterson@shimer.edu) or Julia Mossbridge (j.mossbridge@shimer.edu) to receive a free ticket…first come, first serve, but serious bidders only, please!”

The next cool thing occurring to me is that, with a remarkably quick turnaround time, Shimer has named Ron Champagne the Interim President. He has worked closely with Shimer in his past role as Vice President of Development at Roosevelt University, and is President Emeritus at St. Xavier. He’s also a likeable, respectful, kind, responsible, well-read and intelligent guy, at least in my dealings with him so far. Here are some words from the e-newsletter on Ron…

“Shimer’s President Emeritus Don Moon tells us, ‘As President during the Roosevelt negotiations, I met with Ron and got to know him. More importantly, he got to know Shimer and its mission, which he and the then president of Roosevelt held in high regard. I have confidence that Ron Champagne will provide excellent leadership for the College during the coming year.’

Shimer’s Academic Dean David Shiner agrees, adding ‘The transition is being managed at the Board level by Chair Chris Nelson, the President of another Great Books college. Like Ron Champagne, he is a longtime friend of Shimer. Both Ron and Chris should be stable, positive forces at Shimer while we search for the next Shimer President during the coming year.’”

…Now I have to sleep…my kid is sick and I’m afraid I don’t feel altogether vibrantly healthy…more on the Marshall Field donation, The New Digs at 3424, Fall Lecture Series, etc. later. By the way, if you want this kind of news more regularly (albeit a bit more formally), please sign up for the e-newsletter at http://www.shimer.edu/alumninetwork/eletter.cfm . I send one out around the 15th of every month, and there’s no way your email address will be traded/sold/packaged/mutilated/turned into an electronic widget of any kind, at least as far as I can control such things.

Shimer on the Street

I really enjoyed this.

Evolution is a 24 hour process.

Overwhelmed with options...what would be interesting?

Hi Shimerians,

I'm physically new at Shimer, but philosophically old. My parents, aunts, uncles, step-parents, graduate advisor, and good friends all either attended Shimer or work here. I, on the other hand, went to Oberlin because my parents told me they feared Shimer would go bankrupt before I graduated.

Wrong, of course...and that's part of why I'm here. I want to become a full-time natural sciences professor/facilitator/teacher/whatever at Shimer, but there isn't enough money to pay for a new faculty hire. So I'm here as a marketing/PR consultant to get the word out about Shimer...and I'm here as an adjunct faculty member to get a sense of what it means to profess/facilitate/teach at Shimer.

Sara invited me to blog because, in my role as PR/marketing person, I have a sense of the goings-on here and I'd like alums to know about them. We've got an email newsletter and of course the Symposium paper thing...but a lot of folks don't read those. SO...I have a lot to share...some amazing cool stuff happening in this place that both is and isn't Shimer (I loved that post). I'm overwhelmed with ideas about what to share, so I'm taking requests...do you want to hear about Shimer's entry into the mini-cool globe project (www.coolglobes.com), the guerrilla marketing effort underway this summer, plans to create a Crucible-like play with actual readings from the McCarthy era, the new Shimer viewbook, Marshall Field donation of Art Institute memberships to Shimer students, the IIT/Shimer academic cross-fertilization experiment...something else I'm forgetting to mention?

If so, post here or (better) send an email to me at j.mossbridge at shimer.edu.

Groove on Shimerians of many eras...

Julia