Early Modern Russian Letters

Early Modern Russian Letters: Texts and Contexts brings together twenty essays by Marcus C. Levitt, a leading scholar of eighteenth-century Russian literature. The essays address a spectrum of works and issues that shaped the development of modern Russian literature, from authorship and philosophy to gender and religion in Russian Enlightenment culture. The first part of the collection explores the career and works of Alexander Sumarokov, who played a formative role in literary life of his day. In the essays of the second part Levitt argues that the Enlightenment’s privileging of vision played an especially important role in eighteenth-century Russian self-image, and that its “occularcentrism” was profoundly shaped by Orthodox religious views. Early Modern Russian Letters offers a series of original and provocative explorations of a vital but little studied period

A case study of the modern orthodox and ultra orthodox sectors of Johannesburg Jewry with special reference to their educational institutions

Bibliography: pages 346-384.The study aims to portray the way of life and culture of the Modern Orthodox and Ultra Orthodox sectors of Johannesburg Jewry. It strives to show how this is translated into educational systems, and examines the attitudes and values of pupils at Johannesburg Jewish religiously orientated schools both towards their own education, as well as towards elements of Jewish and secular culture. An overview of Johannesburg Jewry is presented, and Jewish educational systems in Johannesburg are outlined. Although much of the study is descriptive and ethnographic, the focal point is the statistical analysis and discussion of the responses to a questionnaire which was administered to 159 pupils of four religiously orientated high schools. An overriding conclusion is that the samples exhibit a common pride in their Jewish heritage. The general level of religious practice and belief of the pupils of each school corresponds with that subgroup of Johannesburg Jewry with which the school is aligned. Thus the Ultra Orthodox are more comprehensive in religious practice than the Modern Orthodox. The level of religious practice of the pupils often exceeds that of their parents. This implies that the schools are, in certain cases, operating contra parentem

Early Modern Russian Letters

Early Modern Russian Letters: Texts and Contexts brings together twenty essays by Marcus C. Levitt, a leading scholar of eighteenth-century Russian literature. The essays address a spectrum of works and issues that shaped the development of modern Russian literature, from authorship and philosophy to gender and religion in Russian Enlightenment culture. The first part of the collection explores the career and works of Alexander Sumarokov, who played a formative role in literary life of his day. In the essays of the second part Levitt argues that the Enlightenment’s privileging of vision played an especially important role in eighteenth-century Russian self-image, and that its “occularcentrism” was profoundly shaped by Orthodox religious views. Early Modern Russian Letters offers a series of original and provocative explorations of a vital but little studied period

Scientism, Satire, and Sacrificial Ceremony in Dostoevsky\u27s Notes From Underground and C.S. Lewis\u27s That Hideous Strength

Though the nineteenth-century Victorian belief that science alone could provide utopia for man weakened in the epistemological uncertainty of the postmodern era, this belief still continues today. In order to understand our current scientific milieu--and the dangers of propagating scientism--we must first trace the rise of scientism in the nineteenth-century. Though removed, Fyodor Dostoevsky, in Notes From Underground (1864), and C.S. Lewis, in That Hideous Strength (1965), are united in their critiques of scientism as a conceptual framework for human residency. For Dostoevsky, the Crystal Palace of London\u27s Great Exhibition (1862) embodied the nineteenth-century goal to found utopia through the means of scientific progress. Though the Crystal Palace offers this hope for man, Dostoevsky shows that palace\u27s monological design is ultimately uninhabitable for humans, who are dialogical beings. Writing a century later, Lewis explores the implications of scientism within the National Institute for Coordinated Experiments (otherwise known as the N.I.C.E.), which offers the same conceptual framework as the Crystal Palace. Like Dostoevsky, Lewis exposes the monological myth of scientism and both present hearty critiques of scientism as a way of life for man. They use satire, exaggeration, and wit to show the absurdity of a conceptual framework built on the foundations of a naturalistic philosophy of science

Music in Haredi Jewish Life: Liquid Modernity and the Negotiation of Boundaries in Greater New York

In this dissertation I seek to understand tensions regarding boundary maintenance, music, and cultural continuity among the contemporary Haredi (“Ultra-Orthodox”) Jewish community of Greater New York in the context of sociologist Zygmunt Bauman’s theory of liquid modernity. While Bauman suggests that modernity has melted familiar institutions and created an unstable and rapidly shifting world, I argue that for Haredim, the non-liberal religious community and its cultural productions solidify social bonds. While many Haredi Jews strive to continue the musical practices of pre-WWII Europe, some Haredi musicians push or disregard the boundaries of accepted practice by experimenting with Western popular music to varying degrees. This has led to vibrant debate that often invokes rhetoric of spiritual health and danger. This dissertation examines four spheres of music making in order to better understand how these negotiations play out in contemporary cosmopolitan environments. First, I examine Hasidic niggunim, with a focus on composer Ben Zion Shenker and the Modzitz Hasidic dynasty in order to show the manner in which they are believed to encapsulate an idyllic Haredi life. Second, I study tensions over traditionalism and assimilation in the context of Haredi popular music, particularly a watershed moment involving Hasidic singer, Lipa Schmeltzer. In this chapter I offer an example of music as a site of public reasoning in which the inherently pluralistic Haredi community continually negotiates its identity. Third, I look to Haredi boys choirs, arguing that they stage a secure future through the display of cultural continuity in the next generation of Haredi Jews. Finally, I examine music of the “Haredi periphery.” Individuals in this community have one foot in the Haredi world and the other in the larger host culture, a negotiation that they believe ultimately enhances their religiosity. Through examining these four domains of music making, I demonstrate that Haredim are adept at negotiating boundaries and that their cultural productions help them to reinforce social bonds within their community

Putin's Grand Strategy: Russia's Campaign of Controlled Instability in Ukraine and Beyond

This thesis addresses the great lengths to which Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation have gone to foster “controlled instability” in the former Soviet Union. It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and with Western policy makers who appear unwilling to act on intelligence regarding Russian actions as well as incontrovertible evidence of Putin’s aggressive strategy, this Western failure to learn has contributed significantly to a repeat of various Russian behaviors during past conflicts. Russian actions pose a clear and present danger to the stability of the global community. Because many of the current events are not yet published in texts or are classified, the author has had to depend heavily upon open-source references from the internet to provide key events as they chronologically happened, particularly when analyzing the crisis in Ukraine. In writing the thesis, my observations have been validated by Russia’s recent incursion into Syria to fortify the Russian leadership’s interests as a result of the continued inaction of Western policy makers. As a result, we will see significant additional instances of controlled instability from Russia in the future