By Roger Seidenman
The nature of truth and beauty---that does set the mind racing. We were discussing that in class last week after the book we’ve been reading made a reference to John Keats’ Ode on a Grecian Urn. The poem didn’t really have anything to do with the course work, other than anytime you dissect literature, truth and beauty have some place in the conversation. We batted the concepts around for a good forty-five minutes and perhaps our greatest epiphany was that these long-time pinnacles of the human state are very temporal in nature. Whether as a group we were right or wrong is open for anyone to judge-- just like the aforementioned qualities-- but our work to reach a conclusion was energizing.
It is one of the greatest gifts in my life that Park allows me to teach an Upper School English course in addition to fulfilling my responsibilities as Director of Development. The students, and my fellow faculty members, serve as a constant source of inspiration for Park fundraising efforts. Sometimes alumni lament that the school has changed since their day. As a graduate from ’85, I know that the physical plant may be unrecognizable to some. Perhaps you didn’t even graduate at the Brooklandville campus. But Park School has never been about those things. It has and remains to be about minds figuring things out, making meaning out of something, and following a path of intellectual energy.
So, after a good ninety minutes spent discussing literature with these remarkably able students, who wouldn’t want to help the institution thrive? Will this blog help? Beats me. I’m not going to ask you to give on this blog. Of course, I hope that you will, and if one of the purposes of this blog is to serve as a forum for questions about fundraising, I’ll be glad to respond. Ultimately, I just want to communicate about today’s Park School. I’ll be asking other faculty members to provide posts here and share their insights about the school, the curriculum, and students. I do hope you will continue to check in here to read some personal observations about Park.
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Fabulous Blog! I look forward to reading many more from you.
ReplyDeleteAnd the search for truth and beauty can be free... (this use of the word isn't meant to impugn fundraising!). By free, I mean that the liberal arts dont have to have a function that is anything more than what you've mentioned. We sometimes try to link our curriculum to social action or specific skill development or to sustainability in order to somehow create cache or 'relevancy.' These are all good things, no doubt, but what you seem to have experienced in the classroom is the freedom to explore ideas, and that itself is freeing. It is at the center of what liberal arts means. It does not need to justify itself with such contemporary labels.
ReplyDeleteRoger, I would recommend that you keep the blog in your voice. Just my two cents. You have plenty to share on your own to make this more than a worthwhile read for your audience. Have fun and keep writing!
ReplyDeleteRuxton Rifle
Roger, your skills as a fundraiser certainly excel, but I truely believe your true calling is as a leader, coach, and mentor of children. Your love of teaching is clearly visible. Keep blogging.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you stumble upon something random on the internet, and it changes your life. I know, for me, this blog is one of those times. Excellent insights, excellent writing. I can not wait for more entries. Rodger, you write both with truth and beauty.
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