The Heart of the Matter
Literature & Biology
July 17-23, 2022 | Annapolis, MD
“Her heart did whisper,” writes Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice. What moves the heart? The heart is lauded for bringing about great acts of love, but the heart is known equally well for being fickle and impulsive. Through great literature and philosophy by Austen, William Shakespeare, Dante Alighieri, Eudora Welty, and others, we will consider how the heart can be a cause for both suffering and joy. Through William Harvey’s treatise on human biology that culminates in the discovery of the circulatory system, we will explore the physiological function of the heart. Students have an opportunity to take a closer look at the heart by dissecting a cow heart and sheep pluck. Discover how the heart can move us toward love, vice, barbarism, truth, sacrifice, and more.
Sample readings include Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Dante’s Inferno, Montaigne’s “Of Cannibals,” Pascal’s Pensee, Welty’s “A Worn Path,” and Harvey’s On the Motion of the Heart and Blood.
Classes and Readings
Seminar
- Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
- Molière, The Misanthrope
- Dostoyevski, “Grand Inquisitor”
Language
- Dante, Inferno
- Montaigne, Of Cannibals
- Pascal, Pensées
- Borges, Funes the Memorious
Lab
Harvey, On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals
Example Workshops
Croquet, Swing Dancing, Painting/Drawing
Example Excursions
Visits to Washington DC and local museums
Summer Academy Sessions
July 10–16, 2022
Equality and Inequality: Justice and LawJuly 17–23, 2022
The Heart of the Matter: Literature and BiologyJuly 24–30, 2022
Revolution and Rebellion: When Justice Opposes LawJuly 17–23, 2022
The American Experiment: Foundations of DemocracyJuly 24–30, 2022
The Art of Seeing: Literature and the Visual Arts
At the St. John’s College Summer Academy, the community formed among students is a natural extension of the friendships and ideas formed in the classroom. To this end, Summer Academy students experience life at St. John’s by taking lessons in croquet, swing dancing, sailing, and choral singing. Students’ conversations about justice, nature, and law will continue as they are taken on a tour of the Maryland State House and attend a performance of Shakespeare’s The Tempest by the Annapolis Shakespeare Company.