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Philosophy talks, Chorale performance, Great Decisions

by Barry McNamara

Monmouth, IL (03/08/2019) —

Pair of lectures to celebrate legacy of legendary Monmouth professor Thompson

This year's Monmouth College Samuel M. Thompson Lecture will bring back to campus two former students of the legendary philosophy professor.

Ann Garry '65 will deliver the Thompson Lecture at 7 p.m. March 18 in the Morgan Room in Poling Hall. The next day, Charles Courtney '57, a past Thompson Lecturer who is returning to campus to hear Garry's talk, will deliver a lecture on philosophy and social justice at 4 p.m. in the Pattee Auditorium of the Center for Science and Business. Both talks are free and open to the public.

A 1924 Monmouth graduate who served in his alma mater's philosophy department for 46 years, Thompson earned a master's degree and a doctorate in philosophy from Princeton University. Most notable among his publications were two popular textbooks: A Modern Philosophy of Religion and The Nature of Philosophy. Thompson died in 1983.

Garry and Courtney both followed Thompson's career path, becoming philosophy professors.

Garry is professor emerita at the California State University, Los Angeles, where she was the founding director of the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexualities.

Courtney is professor emeritus at Drew University in Madison, N.J., and is former president of the U.S. chapter of The Fourth World Movement, a nonprofit organization which aims toward the eradication of chronic poverty through a human rights-based approach.

Garry's Thompson Lecture is titled "Is Philosophy, Even Feminist Philosophy, Able to Do Intersectional Work?"

"One of Ann's areas of research is intersectionality - thinking about race and gender and class and sexuality and age as not separate from each other, but intersectional," said Monmouth philosophy professor Anne Mamary. "Each one of us has all those things, but they affect us differently depending on who we are."

Mamary said Garry was "a logical choice" to become interim editor of Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, when the journal experienced some controversy related to transgender issues. She held the post until earlier this year.

Titled "Tribe or Human: Must We Choose?," Courtney's talk will explore how "tribes" - such as Monmouth College's Fighting Scots and Knox College's Prairie Fire - can exist side-by-side without being in opposition to each other.

"We need multiple identities working together to make us both stronger," said Mamary.

Monmouth College Chorale to perform 'home' concert March 15 in Dahl Chapel

MONMOUTH, Ill. - After a one-week tour of Texas, the Monmouth College Chorale is coming home.

The Chorale will present its tour performance in a "home concert" at 7:30 p.m. March 15 in the Kasch Performance Hall of Dahl Chapel and Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Under the direction of Associate Professor of Music Tim Pahel, the Chorale performed over the College's spring break at three Texas churches and also sang at notable landmarks in the Lone Star State, including the Open-Air Rotunda at the State Capitol Building in Austin, and the Alamo and the River Walk in San Antonio.

Some selections for the March 15 concert - which will include works by a range of classic and contemporary composers - will be sung by the Chamber Choir, a group of highly skilled vocalists chosen from the Chorale membership.

The highly selective, 33-member Chorale maintains an active and demanding rehearsal and performance schedule. In addition to serving as centerpiece for the annual "Christmas at Monmouth" concert, it performs regularly both on and off campus. The Chorale engages students from nearly every major at Monmouth, giving its members well-rounded musical experiences with high expectations for performance and competency.

The Chorale has toured extensively, visiting nearly half the states in the country, including a performance in New York City's Carnegie Hall in 2017. It also tours internationally, including a recent trip to Italy, where the group performed at the Vatican. On its spring break tour in Europe in 2020, the ensemble will travel to Salzburg, Vienna and Prague.

Pahel holds a bachelor's degree from Lawrence University, a master's degree from the University of Illinois and a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Iowa, where he studied conducting with the internationally renowned Timothy Stalter.

'The United States and Mexico' is topic of College's next Great Decisions discussion

The relationship between the United States and Mexico will be the topic of the next Great Decisions program at Monmouth College on March 13.

Monmouth political science professor Andre Audette will introduce the topic at 7:30 p.m. in Room 276 of the College's Center for Science and Business.

The bordering countries have a long, intertwined history, with both the United States and Mexico prominently featured in each other's politics and agendas. The war on drugs, immigration and trade issues have taxed the relationship over the years.

Among other questions, Audette and the Great Decisions group will discuss what impact new leadership in both countries will have on the crucial U.S.-Mexico partnership.

Called "America's largest discussion program on world affairs," Great Decisions is a nationwide program sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association, a non-partisan, non-governmental association that works to increase Americans' understanding of foreign policy issues.

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On its spring break tour of Texas, the Monmouth College Chorale made a stop in San Antonio, where the group sang on the city's famous River Walk and also at the Alamo, which was celebrating the 183rd anniversary of its famous time in Texas history.

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