Working-class students want both training and academic excellence; career programs are well suppo... more Working-class students want both training and academic excellence; career programs are well supported, but those who advocate retreat from the ,liberal arts tradition are not giving their best to the masses.
L. Steven Zwerling is director of one of the experimental inner colleges at Staten Island Communi... more L. Steven Zwerling is director of one of the experimental inner colleges at Staten Island Community College in New York. Prior to that he was director of open admissions at Staten Island. He has a masters in English from Columbia University and has done doctoral work in English at Rutgers University. Along with Dabney Park, Jr. he is authoring a book, Second Best, to be published later this year by McGraw-Hill, expanding on the ideas presented in this article.
In the Old Testament, Uzzah the Israelite is killed angrily and violently by God for touching the... more In the Old Testament, Uzzah the Israelite is killed angrily and violently by God for touching the Ark of the Covenant. During the Middle Ages, various theologians and canon lawyers interpreted this event as a warning to lay persons against criticizing the clergy. Dante refers to the Uzzah story briefly in Purgatorio 10 and more extensively in Epistola 11, his letter to the Italian cardinals. In the letter, Following the tradition of the sermo humilis, Dante positions himself as a humble person who must speak truth to power. He clearly distinguishes himself from Uzzah's transgression by saying that he is not concerned with the Ark (the substance of the church), but with the oxen (the cardinals) who are leading the church on the wrong path.
Working-class students want both training and academic excellence; career programs are well suppo... more Working-class students want both training and academic excellence; career programs are well supported, but those who advocate retreat from the ,liberal arts tradition are not giving their best to the masses.
The city of Montpellier on the river Lez was the commercial and intellectual center of the Langue... more The city of Montpellier on the river Lez was the commercial and intellectual center of the Languedoc in 1289 when Peter of John Olivi made his way back to his home territory of southern France.2 The city was only a few centuries old, with no ties back to Greece or even Rome. The original settlement at Maguelone received an episcopal see as early as the sixth century, but the destruction of the town in the eighth century moved the community upriver to the area that became Montpellier.3 The city had emerged as a new trading port in the eleventh and twelfth centuries under the leadership of the lords of Montpellier, an unbroken line of eight men named Guillaume who reigned from 986 to 1204. The surviving heiress of all these Guillaumes, Marie of Montpellier, married King Peter II of Aragon, with the result that Marie’s dowries of Montpellier, Roussillon, and their dependencies, including the cities of Béziers and Narbonne, were absorbed into the Aragonese crown.4 These lands were ruled by Marie’s husband Peter II (d.1213) and by their son James I of Aragon (d. 1276).5 In his will, James I awarded the recentlyconquered island of Majorca and the lands in Languedoc to his second son, whom he made King of Majorca as James II (d. 1311). His first son, King Peter III of Aragon, was not happy with this arrangement until he was able to force his younger brother to take an oath as his vassal.
Working-class students want both training and academic excellence; career programs are well suppo... more Working-class students want both training and academic excellence; career programs are well supported, but those who advocate retreat from the ,liberal arts tradition are not giving their best to the masses.
L. Steven Zwerling is director of one of the experimental inner colleges at Staten Island Communi... more L. Steven Zwerling is director of one of the experimental inner colleges at Staten Island Community College in New York. Prior to that he was director of open admissions at Staten Island. He has a masters in English from Columbia University and has done doctoral work in English at Rutgers University. Along with Dabney Park, Jr. he is authoring a book, Second Best, to be published later this year by McGraw-Hill, expanding on the ideas presented in this article.
In the Old Testament, Uzzah the Israelite is killed angrily and violently by God for touching the... more In the Old Testament, Uzzah the Israelite is killed angrily and violently by God for touching the Ark of the Covenant. During the Middle Ages, various theologians and canon lawyers interpreted this event as a warning to lay persons against criticizing the clergy. Dante refers to the Uzzah story briefly in Purgatorio 10 and more extensively in Epistola 11, his letter to the Italian cardinals. In the letter, Following the tradition of the sermo humilis, Dante positions himself as a humble person who must speak truth to power. He clearly distinguishes himself from Uzzah's transgression by saying that he is not concerned with the Ark (the substance of the church), but with the oxen (the cardinals) who are leading the church on the wrong path.
Working-class students want both training and academic excellence; career programs are well suppo... more Working-class students want both training and academic excellence; career programs are well supported, but those who advocate retreat from the ,liberal arts tradition are not giving their best to the masses.
The city of Montpellier on the river Lez was the commercial and intellectual center of the Langue... more The city of Montpellier on the river Lez was the commercial and intellectual center of the Languedoc in 1289 when Peter of John Olivi made his way back to his home territory of southern France.2 The city was only a few centuries old, with no ties back to Greece or even Rome. The original settlement at Maguelone received an episcopal see as early as the sixth century, but the destruction of the town in the eighth century moved the community upriver to the area that became Montpellier.3 The city had emerged as a new trading port in the eleventh and twelfth centuries under the leadership of the lords of Montpellier, an unbroken line of eight men named Guillaume who reigned from 986 to 1204. The surviving heiress of all these Guillaumes, Marie of Montpellier, married King Peter II of Aragon, with the result that Marie’s dowries of Montpellier, Roussillon, and their dependencies, including the cities of Béziers and Narbonne, were absorbed into the Aragonese crown.4 These lands were ruled by Marie’s husband Peter II (d.1213) and by their son James I of Aragon (d. 1276).5 In his will, James I awarded the recentlyconquered island of Majorca and the lands in Languedoc to his second son, whom he made King of Majorca as James II (d. 1311). His first son, King Peter III of Aragon, was not happy with this arrangement until he was able to force his younger brother to take an oath as his vassal.
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