Emerson Circle – Documents and Schedule

Selected Commentators
Then and Now in America
and Eastern Europe

Part 1: Programs and Schedule
Part 2: Essays and Commentaries (links and downloads)
Part 3: Special Authors This Season
Part 4: After-Session Summaries (progressive archived results)

FOR INFORMATION
Contact Sharyn Esposito at 516-627-6560
or Herb Klitzner at klitzner@nyc.rr.com
(Long Island/Metro NY)

Part 1: Programs and Schedule
Scroll Down For Other Sections

PDF Poster - The Relevance of Emerson (full page size and printable)

NOTE
Meeting Times:
Mondays: Oct. 17, Nov. 7, Dec. 12,
Jan. 9, Feb. 13, Mar. 12, Apr. 9, May 14, June 11,
7:30 to 9:30 pm in RE Wing Room 19.

The Emerson Circle at Shelter Rock is a group devoted to Emerson,
his writings, and his relationships and relevance to other thinkers, writers,
poets, and scientists of the 19^th Century and even of the 20^th Century.

The group meets monthly for reading, discussion, and group activities.
New members are welcome at any time.

Our aim is to produce an evolution of personal thought in each of us,
which we can express and share in a group setting.
In this way, also, we see each other more deeply.

Monthly Programs (2011-12 season)

Month	Topic	Session Leader	Readings and Comments
October (2011)	Emerson Essay: Circles	Herb Klitzner and several members of the group	This session introduces the Three-Session theme of Emerson and Europe (Oct, Nov, Dec) Circles essay by Emerson (includes summary guide by Barry Andrews) – essay is from Carl Bode collection of Emerson essays. Essay excerpt by Ross Posnock (Emerson, Philip Roth, literary thinking of key contemporary writers in Eastern Europe – Kundera, Havel, etc.)
November	Emerson and Mickiewicz (Eastern Europe) OVERVIEW: Book sources for these readings, and comments: Book-Sources_Mickiewicz-and-Emerson.doc	Herb Klitzner	MAIN READINGS - EXPLORE Adam-Mickiewicz-Selected-Poetry_On-Ralph-Waldo-Emerson.pdf (1955) Adam-Mickiewicz-Selected-Poetry_Preface-Life-of-Mickiewicz.pdf (1955) Mickiewicz-and-the-West_Mickiewicz-and-Emerson.pdf by Edmund Ordon (1956) Mickiewicz-Poet-of-Poland_Mickiewicz-and-Emerson.pdf by Manfred Kridl (1951) Mickiewicz-Poet-of-Poland_Adam-Mickiewicz-and-Margaret-Fuller.pdf by Manfred Kridl (1951) CULTURAL ENRICHMENT -- OPTIONAL Mickiewicz-Poet-of-Poland_Few-Words-on-Pan-Tadeusz-by-George-R-Noyes.pdf (1951) Mickiewicz-Poet-of-Poland_Mickiewicz-and-the-Jewish-Problem.pdf by Prof. Abraham Duker (1951) Mickiewicz-Poet-of-Poland_Pan-Tadeusz-by-Jozef-Wittlin.pdf (1951) The Lithuanian poet Abraham Sutzkever (20^th Century, seen as holding similar views to Emerson: · The restorative, prime power of Nature · Beauty is absolute, cannot be tarnished by bad events and experiences, and, like truth and goodness, has no polar opposite, no equal offsetting balance.
December	Emerson and Nietzsche	Jeannette Blaquiere	Book excerpt by Lawrence Buell (Comparison of Emerson and Nietzsche) Two books by Nietzsche are used as reference: (1) The Birth of Tragedy (2) [fill in]
January (2012)	Cancelled Session
February	Emerson Essay: Self-Reliance, and Nature (tentative essays)	Sandra Frank	Discuss the famous Emerson essay, the Over-Soul · The-Over-Soul-Essay-by-Emerson.pdf
March	Emerson and Dewey	Arthur Rifkin	Emerson: A Philosopher of Democracy Dewey (1902), in John Dewey (Middle Years) – Complete Works Felix Adler Address on Emerson (1903), from American Ethical Union Archives: · Felix-Adler-Address-on-Emerson-Oct_18_1903.pdf Arthur Rifkin discussion papers on Emerson and Dewey for Emerson Circle session: · John-Dewey-and-Emerson.doc · John-Dewey-and-Spirituality.doc
April	Follow-up session: Discuss points from special guest Dan McKanan’s book talk, Prophetic Encounters, in Spring (Sat March 31) for the congregation.	· Rev. Paul Johnson (organizer of Dan’s visit) · Janet Swinburne (Walt Whitman · Herb Klitzner Rutherford B. Hayes’ liberal observations of Emerson and other Unitarians writers and speakers	Discussed Radicalism and Religion (collaborations mainly in 19^th Century but also later). · Conscience Society (countering conclusions of Social Darwinism · Free Religion Association (became IARF internationally .. International Assn for Free Religion). Felix Adler resigned as its President to become head of the American Ethical Culture movement. · Coalitions of Radical and religious groups for various purposes. Books and Collections: · Prophetic Encounters (Dan McKanan, Harvard Divinity School, Emerson/UUA Lecturer) · R.B. Hayes Presidential Center and Library (Letters and Diary): o http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/library/display.asp?id=876&subj=library A President’s Library o http://www.ohiohistory.org/onlinedoc/hayes/index.cfm (Diaries & Letters) · Hayes: Model of a Modern Ex-President Leslie H. Fishel, jr. In mid ... (Mohonk Conf 1885)
May	Emerson and Nietzsche (Part 2)	Jeannette Blaquiere	Advanced Session, by popular demand · Nietzsche matures and renounces the more extreme statements of his earlier young work. · Issues
June	Emerson and Music: An evening of music, poetry, readings, and discussions	Co-Chairs of Event: · Sandra Frank and Herb Klitzner	· Who Is Emerson? Music about Emerson (Charles Ives) · What were his own preferences among composers? (Liszt and Wagner, plus others) · Who were his successors in understanding the role and responsibility of the artist, and in his aesthetics. (Louisa May Alcott, G.B. Shaw)
Special Event in Spring Saturday March 31	Radicalism and Religion · This was Dan’s Book talk and discussion (followed up on April 9 with an Emerson Circle discussion among the members)	Dan McKanan, Harvard Divinity School	Book: Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition Harvard Profile: http://www.hds.harvard.edu/people/faculty/dan-mckanan

Grouping of Present (boldface) and Future Topics by Theme

Theme	Topic	Comments
Writers	Emerson and Walt Whitman Ross Posnock (Emerson and Eastern Europe) – Phillip Roth, Vaclav Havel Washington Irving Carlyle Robert Browning	Ross Posnock (Literary Criticism) – Essay: Planetary Circles: Philip Roth, Emerson, Kundera in Shades of the Planet, ed. Lawrence Buell
Philosophy	Emerson and Dewey Emerson and Nietzsche	Emerson: A Philosopher of Democracy Dewey (1902), in John Dewey (Middle Years) – Complete Works Felix Adler Address on Ralph Waldo Emerson (Oct 18^th, 1903) Arthur Rifkin Discussion Paper on Dewey and Emerson
Culture and History	Emerson and Music Emerson and Carlyle Emerson and Robert Browning Emerson and Dickinson Emerson and the Civil War	Randall Fuller: From Battlefields Uprising – How the Civil War Transformed American Writers
Economics and Social Justice	Dan McKanan: Emerson and the American Left Henry Ford	Book: Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition Self-Reliance
Religion	Dinner with President-to-be Rutherford B. Hayes (c.1870). Jefferson Bible. Eastern Religions.	Letters of Rutherford B. Hayes. Jefferson Bible (Forrest Church).
Eastern Europe	Adam Mickiewicz Kundera	Mickiewicz: On Emerson Posnock: : Planetary Circles: Philip Roth, Emerson, Kundera Edmund Orden: Mickiewicz and Emerson, in Mickiewicz and the West (1956), ed. B.R. Bugelski Shevcenko on Emerson
Western and Central Europe	Emerson and Nietzsche Emerson and Carlyle Emerson and Robert Browning	The Birth of Tragedy

Part 2: Various Other Documents, including Essays, Commentaries, and References

To be filled in

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Part 3: Special Authors Drawn Upon This Season (partial list)

Authors
Dan McKanan Harvard Divinity School Emerson-UUA Senior Lecturer in Divinity Major Topic: Emerson and the American Left Book: Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition Harvard Profile
Lawrence Buell Harvard Book: Emerson (2003) (Biography) Harvard Profile
Ross Posnock Essay: Planetary Circles: Philip Roth, Emerson, Kundera --in book: Shades of the Planet (Dimock & Buell, 2007) Columbia Profile
Randall Fuller Drury University (Missouri) Book: From Battlefields Rising: How the Civil War Transformed American Literature (2010) Book: Emerson’s Ghosts: Literature, Politics, and the Making of Americanists (2007)
Adam Mickiewicz   John Dewey Essay:                                    Essay: Emerson - A Philospher of Democracy (1903) On Emerson (1843)                third picture Dewey 1902

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Part 4: After-Session Summaries (progressive archived results)

Month	Topic	Summary File (link) W/Shared Ideas and References	Comments
June (2011)	Favorite Emerson Passages	List of our Favorite Emerson Passages – lists contributions for which copies were made Three Passages (in DOC Format) 1. Society and Solitude (Janet Swinburne) 2. Nature (Arthur Rifkin) 3. A Larger Sphere (Barry Andrews) Emerson Immersion (DRAFT IMPLEMENTATION of Jeannette Blaquiere slide-show on impressions of Emerson)	Farewell party for Barry Andrews – each person was invited to bring in and share a favorite excerpted Emerson paragraph.
October (2011)			Programs\Emerson-Circle-Program-for-October-17-2012.doc
November
December
January (2012)	Cancelled
February
March
April
May
June

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Founder and Cultivator of the Emerson Circle

Rev. Dr. Barry Andrews

Award for Excellence in Religious Education
[ District Awards, Presentation Ceremonies on May 6-7, 2011 ]

– For Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Lifespan Religious Education

The Rev. Dr. Barry Andrews, Minister of Religious Education at the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock (Manhasset NY), accepting the award. Chris Buja, District trustee, presented the award.

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