JISCMail - ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC Archives

There are 4 messages totaling 1125 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

1. Fwd: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Harvard, we have a problem... [THE
    CHALLENGES IN INSTITUTIONAL SUBSCRIPTION TO ACADEMIC JOURNALS]
2. One last try: charles rennie mackintosh (3)

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Date:    Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:10:46 +0100
From:    OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Fwd: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Harvard, we have a problem... [THE CHALLENGES IN INSTITUTIONAL SUBSCRIPTION TO ACADEMIC JOURNALS]

See full post at link in the title
Harvard: we have a
problem<http://occamstypewriter.org/scurry/2012/04/23/harvard-we-have-a-problem/>
Posted on April 23,
2012<http://occamstypewriter.org/scurry/2012/04/23/harvard-we-have-a-problem/>
by Stephen <http://occamstypewriter.org/scurry/author/stephen/>

This is astonishing. Harvard is one of the
best<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_University#Rankings>and one
of the
wealthiest<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_the_United_States_by_endowment>universities
in the world but last week its Faculty Advisory Council*
announced<http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k77982&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup143448>that
it can no longer afford to maintain its subscriptions to academic
journals.

The announcement was made online by the Council as a message to the
academic staff at the university. I have taken the liberty of quoting it in
full below.

The message is notable since it bears out many of the factors — in terms of
costs — that have been highlighted by the Elsevier boycott (though no
particular publisher is mentioned in the communiqué).

------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:15:20 +0100
From:    Justin McKeown <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: One last try: charles rennie mackintosh

HI Nick,

Sorry for slight delay, I've been away.

I don't know Bob Gilbert. Is he an art historian? Where's he based?

Best

Justin

On 26 Apr 2012, at 10:07, Nicholas Campion wrote:

Hi Justin,

Art historians tend to shy away from their subjects’ esoteric interests, except for the odd mention (e.g. ‘so and so dabbled in theosophy’), following the general academic resistance to such topics (am just reading Wouter Hanegraaff’s excellent book, Esotericism and the Academy). I would therefore default to the position that this is virgin territory.

Have you asked Bob Gilbert? He is the only person I know who might have some background. I am not even sure where he is now, though.

Nick

From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Justin McKeown

Sent: 24 April 2012 20:05

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] One last try: charles rennie mackintosh

Thanks Dave & Nick,

I may have access to some private primary archives on this subject and I was debating whether it was worth following. If there's a lot of work on this subject then it may not be worth the toil to essentially re-hash an area I'm unaware of. However, if it is relatively untouched then it might be worth the labour. I know I'd find it interesting but I'm so busy these days interest is only one criteria that needs fulfilled when deciding whether to do something or not.

Thanks for your responses!

Justin

On 24 Apr 2012, at 19:23, Nicholas Campion wrote:

Justin,

I can't help, I'm afraid, but this is astonishing - I had no idea,

Nick

-----Original Message-----

From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic

[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Justin McKeown

Sent: 24 April 2012 19:12

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] One last try: charles rennie mackintosh

On the off chance my question got lost in all the cross fire, I'm going to

have one last go. 'No' or 'I have no idea' would be as equally as useful an

answer as would a plethora of references.

I am wondering if any of you know of any academic work on the artist charles

rennie mackintosh's involvement in the Golden Dawn?

For the record, my PHD had nothing to do with religion or magic. It had to

do with art and within my field at least there is no notable work on this

subject and so I wondered if it had popped up in someone else's?

Best regards,

Justin

Sent from my iPhone

Hi Justin

Darcy Kuntz has also produced some good source materials on the Golden Dawn (Collection of personal correspondence between RR&AC members for example) so he may be have some knowledge of Mackintosh’s involvement.

Bw

Jon

C J Sharp

Head of Learning & Teaching Services

Room 0.27 - Registry

University of East Anglia

Norwich Research Park

NORWICH NR4 7TJ

[log in to unmask]

Office: 01603 597374

Mob: 07795 666 465

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From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nicholas Campion

Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2012 10:07 AM

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] One last try: charles rennie mackintosh

Hi Justin,

Art historians tend to shy away from their subjects’ esoteric interests, except for the odd mention (e.g. ‘so and so dabbled in theosophy’), following the general academic resistance to such topics (am just reading Wouter Hanegraaff’s excellent book, Esotericism and the Academy). I would therefore default to the position that this is virgin territory.

Have you asked Bob Gilbert? He is the only person I know who might have some background. I am not even sure where he is now, though.

Nick

From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Justin McKeown

Sent: 24 April 2012 20:05

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] One last try: charles rennie mackintosh

Thanks Dave & Nick,

I may have access to some private primary archives on this subject and I was debating whether it was worth following. If there's a lot of work on this subject then it may not be worth the toil to essentially re-hash an area I'm unaware of. However, if it is relatively untouched then it might be worth the labour. I know I'd find it interesting but I'm so busy these days interest is only one criteria that needs fulfilled when deciding whether to do something or not.

Thanks for your responses!

Justin

On 24 Apr 2012, at 19:23, Nicholas Campion wrote:

Justin,

I can't help, I'm afraid, but this is astonishing - I had no idea,

Nick

-----Original Message-----

From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic

[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Justin McKeown

Sent: 24 April 2012 19:12

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] One last try: charles rennie mackintosh

On the off chance my question got lost in all the cross fire, I'm going to

have one last go. 'No' or 'I have no idea' would be as equally as useful an

answer as would a plethora of references.

I am wondering if any of you know of any academic work on the artist charles

rennie mackintosh's involvement in the Golden Dawn?

For the record, my PHD had nothing to do with religion or magic. It had to

do with art and within my field at least there is no notable work on this

subject and so I wondered if it had popped up in someone else's?

Best regards,

Justin

Sent from my iPhone

--------------------------------------
Dr. Justin McKeown
York St John University
Lord Mayors Walk
York
YO31 7EX
UK

web: www.justinmckeown.com

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:41:23 +0100
From: Justin McKeown <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: One last try: charles rennie mackintosh

Hi Mikelle,
Thanks for the info and the book you mention.

You're right about how the historicisation of various art groups have ignored their interest in the occult. There has been some mention of this in relation to surrealism, though - a bit like the discussion of politics - it often tends to be no more than a literary tactic to add colour and bravado so as to keep the bored intellectual titillated and turning pages. The true substance of these subjects is often ignored.

The popularisation of Chaos magic has seen some more attention drawn to these subjects in art, though mainly by artists rather than by historians. Perhaps the rise of the popularity of occult as subject matter may have something to do with the way in which Chaos magicians cite the influence of Spare on the development of their current. This and the questioning of self and identity in response to the demands of globalisation may be playing a hand as well. Either way, we live in interesting times.

Best regards,

Justin

On 26 Apr 2012, at 14:34, Mikhelle Taylor wrote:

Hello, Justin,

I haven't looked too much at Mackintosh himself, but have been working a bit on the ties between the Arts & Crafts movement and various esoteric groups/movements of the time period, particularly the Whare Ra Golden Dawn group, and the English Socialism crowd that produced quite a few notable ritualists. I am currently waiting for my turn with our library's copy of Timothy Neat's Part Seen, Part Imagined: Meaning and Symbolism in the Work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald (Edinburgh: Canongate Press, 1994), so I'm not sure to how much detail his involvement is discussed there. I, for one, would welcome more people working on it, especially if you have access to private archival material that could better reveal interactions between artistic work and esoteric study.

I'm a straight up Interdisciplinarian :), but much of my current work takes me into art history, where I agree - it seems to be fairly recently that artists' involvement with the esoteric or occult has been treated as a legitimate influence in their work rather than just a personal eccentricity.

All the best,

Mikhelle

--------------------------------------
Dr. Justin McKeown
Senior Lecturer, Fine Art
York St John University
Lord Mayors Walk
York
YO31 7EX
UK

web: www.justinmckeown.com

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End of ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC Digest - 27 Apr 2012 to 28 Apr 2012 (#2012-98)
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