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Parent Series
Schedule for 2010-11 October 9 The topics for 2010-11 will be available shortly. Please check back often. What is the Parent Series? Who is welcome to attend? When? Where? How? Why? October 17, 2009 In his Regensburg talk, Benedict XVI spoke of dehellenization—meaning the loss of reason, the gift of the Greeks—as one of the West’s main problems. Less well known is the dehellenization that has afflicted Islam—its denigration of and divorce from reason. The pope alluded to this only briefly, though it became a source of major controversy. The dehellenization of Islam is less well known because it was so thorough and effective that few are aware that there was a process of hellenization preceding it – especially during the 9th and 10th centuries. It was a pivotal period for Islam and the world. As the late King Hussein of Jordan said in his last interview, it was then, toward the end of this period, that the Muslim world took a decisive turn in the wrong direction. We shall see what the struggle was about and what its consequences are for the Islamic world and the West. Islam's dehellinization is responsible for many, if not most, of the woes in the Islamic world today. January 23, 2010 Anthony Esolen Professor, noted author and translator, Dr. Esolen will give a talk on The Epic of Gilgamesh -- an epic whose subject is not the making of this or that civilization, but of civilization itself. Central to that task is the forging of a powerful friendship between two men, Gilgamesh and Enkidu; when that friendship is forged, it issues forth in action taken to benefit the city that Gilgamesh rules. In the absence of that friendship, Gilgamesh is a formidable but reckless and ruthless king, and Enkidu a mere savage, an animal leading a life of mere subsistence in the wilds. The two men, before the friendship, are archetypes of the principal ways in which males can go bad; but after the friendship, we have the possibilities for building a genuine civilization. W. Bradford Wilcox From the prison yard to the school yard, men and boys are not doing as well as their female peers. Females now outperform males in many domains of social life, and one of the key factors driving this growing gender divide is the breakdown of marriage in the United States. In this lecture, UVA Professor W. Bradford Wilcox will talk about the unique benefits of marriage for boys and men, the social forces driving the breakdown of marriage, and steps that couples can take to strengthen their marriages. W. Bradford Wilcox is Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and a member of the James Madison Society at Princeton University March 13, 2010 Explore some vignettes about the current frenetic college application process with senior counselor Larry Kaiser. Learn how, with some reflection in advance, you can not only assist your child in this process, but gain insight into your crucial role as Heights parents in an increasingly coarse society. April 24, 2010 A panel of Heights teachers will discuss how a study, understanding and appreciation of nature help to form young men. The natural world offers a stimulating, truth-filled and enriching paradigm for healthy human development, and boys these days crave such an outlet. Legends tell that samurai warriors would contemplate koi fish in placid pools to find balance and harmony in their existence. The fluid movements of these underwater, mail-clad creatures would serve as remote preparation for the intense tumult of battle wherein the samurai would weave fearlessly into the enemy. Nature's bounty is limitless, and no matter how disconnected we humans get nature is always there to nourish and rejuvenate us! In the words of Gerard Manley Hopkins "That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire", always changing yet always wonderful.
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