Upcoming Events
Philosophy Study Group
We will continue our study of Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein by reading §§134-315, covering rule-making and private languages. And while we encourage our members to participate in our sessions in ways that correspond to what we’re studying, this discussion will not be done in pig latin.
Curt
Surviving a Massacre
A massacre is the killing of several people at one time. Sometimes, these horrendous events follow civil rights movements. Why do massacres happen? What happens to the survivors? How do they recover and live with the trauma? How does a society recover from these horrendous events? In Teresa Ortiz’s presentation, she will share her experience as a survivor of a massacre when she was a young student activist, in Mexico City, in 1968. She will also talk about how in 1997 she listened to and reproduced the testimonials of the survivors of a 1997 massacre of indigenous Maya people in southern Mexico, while she was doing research for a book on the Zapatista movement in Chiapas.
Why I chose to write psychological literary fiction and what I have done as a writer
When I was young, I was a voracious reader. I fell in love with the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald in high school, happened upon Dostoyevsky in a bookstore the summer after I graduated from high school, and discovered Proust a year later. These are three of the greatest authors of psychological literary fiction. I also developed an interest in psychoanalysis when I was young. My senior year in high school, my psychology teacher gave me a book by Freud to read, so we could talk about the possibility of him including the book in his course the next year. I read the book, became fascinated by Freud, and by the time I finished undergraduate school, I’d read most of Freud’s major works. When I was a French professor, I taught courses on Proust, as well as other authors of psychological literary fiction, and on Freud—the influence of literature on Freud, and Freud on literature. And when I retired from academe, I finally had the opportunity to write my own psychological literary fiction. It has been quite a voyage, and I intend to replicate that voyage with you.
Bulletin Board
New Editor needed for the MISF Journal!
Evelyn Klein, long-serving Board member and Editor of the semi-annual MISF journal, The Minnesota Scholar, is stepping back as journal Editor after nine years of volunteering, and we are sorry to see her go. Anyone having interest in filling this volunteer position (with Evelyn's help and advice), please respond via the "Contact Us" link on the left-hand column of this page.