Magazine - summer 03 - St. John's College

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On Swift What does it mean to be human? is one of the questions often discussed in St. John’s seminars. In a seminar on Gulliver’s Travels, the question could be expressed in this way: Are human beings good and rational creatures, or just a step above wild beasts? Gulliver’s odyssey begins among the tiny Lilliputians who fight with their neighbors over whether an egg should be broken on the small end or the big end. Finding himself a tiny being among giants in Brobdingnag, he suffers the indignity of being carried away by a monkey. Among the ridiculous scholars of the Academy in Lagado, he learns of a scientist’s eight-year attempt to draw sunlight from cucumbers. By his final stop in a land where horses are gentle, rational beings, and men are vile, greedy brutes, he has seen enough to conclude bitterly that man falls far short of the ideal. Swift was born of English parents in Dublin on November 30, 1667. His father died shortly before Swift was born, leaving him dependent on the generosity of uncles. (He feared poverty throughout his life and was quite a penny-pincher.) Swift studied at Kilkenny Grammar School and at Trinity College in Dublin, and later received an M.A. from Oxford. At the age of 22, he went to live at Moor Park in Surrey, where he served as a secretary to Sir William Temple. There he began a very close friendship with Esther Johnson, the daughter of Temple’s housekeeper, that lasted until her death. (Swift had another long relationship with a woman, Esther Vanhomrigh, but he never married.) In 1695, Swift was ordained in the Church of Ireland in Dublin. During the reign of Queen Anne, Swift was a celebrated figure in the literary and political life of London, becoming editor of the Tory journal The Examiner in 1710. He harbored great aspirations for a political career, but when Anne died in 1714, and George I came to power, the Tories lost their influence and Swift found himself outside the political power structure. He reluctantly returned to Ireland, where he was dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Though he felt like an exile in Ireland, Swift identified with the poverty and misery of the Irish people. Few anthologies of satirical literature fail to include Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” written in 1729, which sets forth a logical argument for ending Ireland’s poverty by breeding infants for food. Swift suffered from Ménière’s disease, which left him dizzy—a “giddiness” as he described it— that he feared was madness. He was declared senile in his last years, and died on October 19, 1745. In many ways, Gulliver is a model traveler. He endeavors to understand the local customs and the native language of his captors and companions, and he is patient and diplomatic. In describing his culture to others, he gains insights into his own. Because he recognizes that Yahoo qualities persist in supposedly civilized men, Gulliver returns from his last voyage with a profound disgust for humanity. He can no longer tolerate the sight of his fellow man—even his own wife and children: “[M]y memory and imagination were perpetually filled with the virtues and ideas of those exalted Houyhnhnms. And when I began to consider that by copulating with one of the Yahoo species I had become a parent of more, it struck me with the utmost shame, confusion, and horror.” In this issue of The College magazine, intrepid Johnnie travelers share their perceptions about living in a new and unfamiliar culture. Their observations of interesting sights and sounds and experiences are made richer by the questions they pursue about themselves in other cultures. —RH The College (usps 018-750) is published quarterly by St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD and Santa Fe, NM Known office of publication: Communications Office St. John’s College Box 2800 Annapolis, MD 21404-2800 Periodicals postage paid at Annapolis, MD postmaster: Send address changes to The College Magazine, Communications Office, St. John’s College, Box 2800, Annapolis, MD 21404-2800. Annapolis 410-626-2539 reharty@sjca.edu Rosemary Harty, editor Sus3an Borden, managing editor Jennifer Behrens, art director Advisory Board John Christensen Harvey Flaumenhaft Roberta Gable Barbara Goyette Kathryn Heines Pamela Kraus Joseph Macfarland Jo Ann Mattson Eric Salem Brother Robert Smith Santa Fe 505-984-6104 alumni@sjcsf.edu John Hartnett, Santa Fe editor Advisory Board David Levine Andra Maguran Margaret Odell Roxanne Seagraves Mark St. John Magazine design by Claude Skelton Design
College The Fall 2004 Volume 30, Issue 3 The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College Annapolis • Santa Fe {Contents} page 8 Eastern Classics Santa Fe’s once-controversial graduate program is going strong after a decade. page 10 Johnnies Abroad From China to Colombia, wandering Johnnies relish new experiences amid different cultures. page 18 The Story-tellers Alumni who work as curators and in other interpretive roles make history tangible. page 22 Commencement Tutor Chester Burke (A74) and University of Chicago Professor Danielle Allen gave graduates more questions to ponder. page 26 Homecoming in Santa Fe Parties, picnics, and piñons. page 10 page 18 d e p a r t m e n t s 2 from the bell towers • The long-lost California campus. • Annapolis dedicates Gilliam Hall. • Our man in Iraq. • New tutors in Annapolis and Santa Fe. • Summer interns are satisfied customers. • An honorary alumnus makes a generous gift. 7 letters 28 bibliofile • Writer Natalie Goldberg (SFGI74) on the great books, Zen, and writing. • Annapolis alumnus pens children’s poetry. 32 alumni notes P R O F I L E S 30 Finding a pattern in conjunctions told Carole Chaski (A77) that police had a killer on their hands. 36 Sara Roahen (SF94) carves out a niche as a restaurant critic in the Big Easy. 42 alumni voices Santa Fe alumni Paul and Laura Cooley on life without a car. 46 alumni association news 48 st. john’s forever page 26 on the cover Jonathan Swift Illustration by David Johnson
Page 1: College The F a l l 2 0 0 4 St. Joh
Page 5 and 6: {From the Bell Towers} 3 Gilliam Ha
Page 7 and 8: {From the Bell Towers} 5 Satisfied
Page 9 and 10: {Letters} 7 Free Thought and Reason
Page 11 and 12: {Eastern Classics} 9 and people int
Page 13 and 14: “The city—and a lot of the coun
Page 15 and 16: {Johnnies Abroad} 13 understood her
Page 17 and 18: {Johnnies Abroad} 15 “The guerill
Page 19 and 20: {Johnnies Abroad} 17 bellows invita
Page 21 and 22: {Culture and Context} 19 From the c
Page 23 and 24: {Culture and Context} 21 “The Naz
Page 25 and 26: {Commencement} 23 david trozzo but
Page 27 and 28: {Commencement} 25 david trozzo No c
Page 29 and 30: {Homecoming} 27 Opposite top: Futur
Page 31 and 32: {Bibliofile} 29 The Man in the Moon
Page 33 and 34: {Alumni Profile} 31 This painstakin
Page 35 and 36: {Alumni Notes} 33 practitioner, an
Page 37 and 38: {Alumni Notes} 35 more efficiency,
Page 39 and 40: {Alumni Notes} 37 2004 and will be
Page 41 and 42: {Alumni Notes} 39 After graduating
Page 43 and 44: {Obituaries} 41 tion of the heart.
Page 45 and 46: {Croquet} 43 Clockwise: Johnnies ad
Page 47 and 48: {Alumni Voices} 45 method less fuel
Page 49 and 50: {Alumni Association News} 47 Passio
Page 51 and 52: {Alumni Events Calendar} Clockwise

Magazine - summer 03 - St. John's College

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