What Is Being? LHUM P-410 An "Enduring Questions" Seminar at Berklee College of Music Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

Welcome to the blog for What Is Being? LHUM P-410, an "Enduring Questions" Seminar at Berklee College of Music Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in Spring 2011.


Course Description

The motto of Berklee College of Music is Esse quam videri, a phrase from Cicero’s essay “On Friendship,” which translates as “to be, rather than to seem.” The course “What is Being?” gives you the opportunity to focus and reflect upon the differences between seeming and being, and think deeply about existence, self, and image. Organized around three interrelated themes: seeming vs. being; performance on stage and in everyday life; and the power of images and illusion in contemporary culture, the seminar requires students to consider realworld issues by exploring in depth the great works of philosophy, literature and psychology. The course includes the reading and discussion of Plato’s Republic, Machiavelli’s The Prince, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, Alcott's Behind A Mask. Funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities Enduring Questions grant, “What Is Being?” is a unique opportunity for serious seminar-style exploration of a foundational issue in human thought.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

• synthesize diverse perspectives,
• evaluate a text for its argument and underlying assumptions,
• articulate their own points of view in writing and orally,
• and discuss their ideas in a wider historical and cultural context.

The grant provides books, theater tickets and films for the students, and support for faculty development for the design and teaching of this course.