Fall 2014: Reading and Meditation

Instructor: John Lyons

Throughout history and in many cultures people have observed moments of quietness during which they have directed their thoughts away from the urgency of everyday life. Some writers and artists have given us a glimpse of this practice in poems, essays, paintings, photography, films, and music. This course, while considering many representations of meditation, will concentrate on the relations among meditation, reading, and writing. We will discuss the relationship of reading and writing to time, place, and the development of independence and interiority. As students in the College, you have four years of unusual freedom to read, think, observe, and write. The texts we read in this course will give you examples of how others have used moments for thoughtful contemplation. The course will culminate with an essay on one of the representations of meditation that we encounter during the semester.