Thursday, July 10, 2008

Reading Lolita in Tehran...



...and reading Philosophy on my couch have been some of my more decadent pleasures this summer.

My grad class at MSU started last week. And I am loving it. Sometime I will encounter a class I don't enjoy so deeply, I am sure. But thus far, Music Learning Theory, Music Psychology, and Music Philosophy have been stimulating and fun. The almost two-hour drive (besides being expensive) is a peaceful and exhilarating space for me. Azar Nafisi's stories and her voice are captivating as she reads her memoir, 'Reading Lolita in Tehran' to me (through my cassette player). A wise and loving professor, her philosophies about the value and complexities of stories...her insights into the greatest works of English Literature and all of life are brilliant.

My feelings toward my Music Philosophy professor are similar. Without actually 'saying' a lot, she has invited us to think deeply, to question why we believe what we do about music, to ask important questions...

It seems that learning has the same effect on my mind as caffeine.

2 comments:

Sean said...

I just got this book! A lady at work said it was very good.

Anonymous said...

Who do you have for your classes? I'm more curious than anything else.