Hello -- I enjoyed Peter's op-ed.  I'm in a fairly rural part of a reddish purplish state, NC, which was nonetheless a swing state.  It divided itself in that it went for Trump, but it it looks like our governor who supported the notorious HB2 law (against transgender bathrooms) has lost his election, along with a key state representative who also promoted the bill.  There are other reasons for the governor's loss, notably the strength of his opposition.

To pull this back into the realm of interpretation of literature:  Peter makes an assertion that Prospero "learns from his mistakes".  Does he?  What is the evidence?   Are we to presume that his forgiving nature on the island will translate back to the "real world" in some regard?  Or would people wager that, being academically minded, he's most comfortable returning to his study in retirement?  Or would he go crazy, make daisy chains, and try to protect Miranda from execution?  How would you write the novel of Prospero's last days?

[I ask this also because I wonder what Obama will do next, especially since he can't expect being appointed to the Supreme Court anytime soon, and he seems keenly interested in setting himself up as a public intellectual.]

Sincerely, Thomas



Thomas Herron
Department of English
East Carolina University
(252) 328-6413

Editor, Explorations in Renaissance Culture (published with Brill per 2015. More at www.brill.com/erc)
Writer/Director, Centering Spenser:  A Digital Resource for Kilcolman Castle
http://core.ecu.edu/umc/Munster/
________________________________________
From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Penny McCarthy [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2016 5:00 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The Renaissance and Trump

May I say how sorry I am for what you are all going through. It is truly frightening, but I trust in the strong institutions of democracy and law built up for so long. And people’s courage.
We have had one Member of Parliament assassinated immediately after Brexit (O.K. a deranged culprit, probably, but . . . ), one Polish man killed by a group and another badly hurt in the same affray, and many insulted and frightened people. With three non-Brit daughters- or sons-in-law, we have worries close to home, as well as for the way the country is going. (Two have recently taken the test to become British citizens - a safeguard.) Can you imagine the threat of having your family disrupted by deportation? You must now know or know of scores of people who feel that threat.

It is certainly a wake-up call. So glad to see so many awake professors and teachers and others.

Penny


On 13 Nov 2016, at 18:32, Peter Herman <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:

Thank you for your kind words, and thank you for sharing the letter. I also spent the better part of my two classes talking about the election. We are not supposed to let politics enter the classroom, but my students really wanted to talk, so how could I prevent them? I also needed to talk, so I think we helped each other.

pch

On Sun, Nov 13, 2016 at 7:27 AM, Jessica Riddell <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Thank you so much for sharing this article with us.

In the days following the election, I have found the classroom to be a rich space for conversations about finding our humanity through the humanities. In fact, I cancelled my planned lectures on Wednesday and instead talked about how Paradise Lost and King Lear are lenses through which we can look to understand what happened in the American election. My students were so gracious that they encouraged me to share a letter I wrote them after our class on PL more widely, and University Affairs published in Friday:

http://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/paradise-lost-election-donald-trump/

When the word "elite" becomes pejorative, and academics are derided for their inability to read the pulse of a nation, it is time for us to re-engage. OpEd pieces are a wonderful intervention into a conversation we so desperately need to have.

yours sincerely,

Jessica

Dr. Jessica Riddell
Chair, Department of English, Bishop's University
3M National Teaching Fellow (2015)
Chair, Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC)
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>


Bishop's University
2600 College
Sherbrooke, Québec
Canada J1M 1Z7
www.ubishops.ca<http://www.ubishops.ca/>

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________________________________________
From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] on behalf of Peter Herman [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
Sent: November 13, 2016 9:22 AM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: The Renaissance and Trump

Hi Dan,

Really glad you liked my little article. SDSU also had a smaller version of what you describe. A Muslim woman wearing a hijab was mugged in broad daylight in a parking lot, and the assailants shouted anti-Muslim words. They not only took her backpack, but when she went back to the lot with the cops, her car as well. Trump has unleashed a horror, and it is so telling that he has been notably silent about it. (Of course, some on our side haven't exactly acted with maturity and probity; how rioting and smashing a storefront window advances the cause, I don't know). Instead, he tweets that after a "fair" election (so much for all the "rigged" rhetoric), it's "unfair" for people to protest.

Maybe you should lead a public session on what the Renaissance can teach us about the present situation? It sounds like you've got a lot to say.
pch

On Sun, Nov 13, 2016 at 5:55 AM, Lochman, Daniel T <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>> wrote:
Peter,

Thanks for forwarding the article. Not only does it make an excellent point about the relevance of the works at hand, but it reminds me that the Renaissance, with so many cross-currents affecting social and aesthetic movements--for every Raphael a Savanarola--can, if not shouted from the housetops as Hythlodaeus says of truth, at least be brought to open, thoughtful discussions at public libraries, on op-ed pages, outside the university. We all know that what we study and teach says much about us--as Sidney writes, in both the "ethic and politic consideration." Yet I, for one, can become so preoccupied by courses, duties, and moments carved out for research and writing that connecting what I do directly to public interests is often eclipsed.

The connection between our work and the broader public was brought home this week when at Texas State we witnessed the fear, even tears, of students, staff, and faculty as a so-called "vigilante" group posted flyers around campus (as reported in the NY Times, Chronicle, and elsewhere) that, using the vilest, most degrading language possible, threatened the lives of minorities and those who support diversity and inclusion. An investigation is underway. It's not yet known whether the perpetrators were from on- or off-campus. This happened at a campus of 38,000 with a near majority-minority demographic and with a long, proud tradition of teaching diverse first-generation college students. Here and elsewhere, it is apparent we must do what we can--more than we do presently--to show the public as well as our students that, though what we teach is about the writings of people living in the Renaissance (or any other time or place), it is therefore, importantly, about us.

Thanks for writing the piece, Peter. We need more of the same.

Daniel Lochman
Chair, Department of English
Texas State University-San Marcos
San Marcos, TX 78666-4616
512-245-2163<tel:512-245-2163><tel:512-245-2163<tel:512-245-2163>>
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
________________________________
From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>] on behalf of Peter Herman [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>]
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2016 9:11 PM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Re: The Renaissance and Trump

Hello All,

A bit off-topic, but I thought members of this listserv might be interested in my latest op ed: http://timesofsandiego.com/opinion/2016/11/11/whats-next-for-democrats-advice-from-the-renaissance/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__timesofsandiego.com_opinion_2016_11_11_whats-2Dnext-2Dfor-2Ddemocrats-2Dadvice-2Dfrom-2Dthe-2Drenaissance_&d=BQMFaQ&c=OrYO-caJHQE1g_AJU3az1awi55It-bjDIQrtRiZ6WBk&r=UTsGCxY43Sh6HV2Yzb6jKssfF_j7Z_z4T9o7H_nDWYY&m=LnzxrpLXaij5Q12KMintQoGPLTzyCg8fOhm9cal5QyI&s=OYWv6CSr_OcnQlLTRrAqTzSuDXDwSekxZDE1I2TaEvk&e=>

Hope you enjoy it,

pch