Channels Cool Careerists John Frankfurt | John Frankfurt |
|
|
Vaclav Havel at Columbia University: "Living in the Truth""The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility." - Vaclav Havel John Frankfurt 23 Min:
Václav Havel's visit to Columbia focuses an exploration of the connection between art and citizenship. In addition to the events with President Havel, the Arts Initiative has organized a series of symposia on specific art forms (theatre, music, architecture, art, film, literature) and citizenship. Each of these will be moderated by Columbians; several are being presented in partnership with some of New York's leading cultural institutions. Here is an excerpt from a speech Havel gave at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, July 4, 1994. Titled, "Transcendence in the Postmodern World," what he said then, seems to have even more relevancy now. "This state of affairs has its social and political consequences. The single planetary civilization to which we all belong confronts us with global challenges. We stand helpless before them because our civilization has essentially globalized only the surfaces of our lives. But our inner self continues to have a life of its own. And the fewer answers the era of rational knowledge provides to the basic questions of human Being, the more deeply it would seem that people, behind its back as it were, cling to the ancient certainties of their tribe. Because of this, individual cultures, increasingly lumped together by contemporary civilization, are realizing with new urgency their own inner autonomy and the inner differences of others." "Cultural conflicts are increasing and are understandably more dangerous today than at any other time in history. The end of the era of rationalism has been catastrophic. Armed with the same supermodern weapons, often from the same suppliers, and followed by television cameras, the members of various tribal cults are at war with one another. By day, we work with statistics; in the evening, we consult astrologers and frighten ourselves with thrillers about vampires. The abyss between rational and the spiritual, the external and the internal, the objective and the subjective, the technical and the moral, the universal and the unique, constantly grows deeper." John's bio:John Frankfurt has been working with CCNMTL since 2001. During this time, he was in charge of content development for the e-seminars Shoenberg and the Modern Age (2001) and Art & Understanding (2002) as well as the multimedia study environment of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children (2003). He was the assistant project manager for The Autobiography of Malcolm X multimedia study environment (2004) and the project manager for the Art & Technology Lectures (2004) as well as the online learning environment for Peter Brook's Tierno Bokar (2005). Currently, he is the project manager for the Social Justice Movements wiki (ongoing), the Film Language Glossary (ongoing), the African-American Poets wiki (2006), the Harlem Digital Archive (2006) and Vàclav Havel, Living in Truth (2006). Václav Havel's visit to Columbia web site is produced by: Columbia University's Center for New Media, Teaching and Learning:
Interviews for "Havel at Columbia" were conducted by Mary Marshall Clark, John Frankfurt and Mark Phillipson Resources: Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning Havel at Columbia Social Justice Movements wiki Art and Technology Lectures: The Havel at Columbia site is produced by the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning in partnership with the Columbia University Arts Initiative. Collaborators include The Harriman Institute, the Columbia School of the Arts, The Oral History Office and The Rare Book and Manuscript Library.              |
Subscribe
Login
Event Calendar
TPR Sponsors
