Augmentations and Rulings of Legendrian Knots

A connection between holomorphic and generating family invariants of Legendrian knots is established; namely, that the existence of a ruling (or decomposition) of a Legendrian knot is equivalent to the existence of an augmentation of its contact homology. This result was obtained independently and using different methods by Fuchs and Ishkhanov. Close examination of the proof yields an algorithm for constructing a ruling given an augmentation. Finally, a condition for the existence of an augmentation in terms of the rotation number is obtained.Comment: 21 pages, 16 figure

Bratt\u27s By the Vision of Another World: Worship in American History (Book Review)

A Review of By the Vision of Another World: Worship in American History, edited by James D. Bratt. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012. 213 pp. $25.00. ISBN 978-080286710

Core Aspects of Dance: Schiller and Dewey on Grace

Part of a larger project of constructing a new, historically informed philosophy of dance, built on four phenomenological constructs that I call “Moves,” this essay concerns the third Move, “grace.” The etymology of the word “grace” reveals the entwined meanings of pleasing quality and authoritative power, which may be combined as “beautiful force.” I examine the treatments of grace in German philosopher Friedrich Schiller, who understands it as playful, naive transformation of matter; and in American philosopher John Dewey, for whom it represents rhythmic organism/environment reversal. I conclude by showing how “grace” can be used in analyzing various types of dance, which in turn suggests transformational potential for philosophy, dance, and society as a whole

Fearless: Josh Griffiths

Continually a strong voice for the underrepresented on campus, working with other students and faculty to take initiative in changing campus policy and culture toward the LGBTQ community, and serving as a leader in multiple groups and organizations on campus, Josh Griffiths ’14 fearlessly advocates for members of our campus community, making Gettysburg a more open and welcoming space. [excerpt

Revalorized Black Embodiment: Dancing with Fanon

This article explores Fanon's thought on dance, beginning with his explicit treatment of it in Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth. It then broadens to consider his theorization of Black embodiment in racist and colonized societies, considering how these analyses can be reformulated as a phenomenology of dance. This will suggest possibilities for fruitful encounters between the two domains in which (a) dance can be valorized while (b) opening up sites of resignification and resistance for Black persons and communities-including a revalorization of Black embodiment as a kind of empowering danced experience

Slanted Truths: The Gay Science as Nietzsche's Ars Poetica

This essay derives its focus on poetry from the subtitle of Die Fröhliche Wissenschaft: “la gaya scienza.” Nietzsche appropriated this phrase from the phrase “gai saber” used by the Provençal knight-poets (or troubadours) of the eleventh through thirteenth centuries — the first lyric poets of the European languages — to designate their Ars Poetica or “art of poetry.” I will begin with an exploration of Nietzsche’s treatment of poets and poetry as a subject matter, closely analyzing his six aphorisms which deal explicitly with poets and poetry. Having considered The Gay Science as a text about poetry, I will then briefly explore three further ways in which The Gay Science can be thought of as itself a kind of poetry. The result of these analyses is an understanding of Nietzsche’s own understanding of philosophy (and of the best way to live) as also a form of poetry

Core Aspects of Dance: Condillac and Mead on Gesture

This essay—part of a larger project of constructing a new, historically informed philosophy of dance, built on four phenomenological constructs that I call “Moves”—concerns the second Move, “gesture,” the etymology of which reveals its close connection to the Greek word “metaphor.” More specifically, I examine the treatments of gesture by the philosophers George Herbert Mead and Etienne Bonnot de Condillac, both of whom view it as the foundation of language. I conclude by showing how gesture can be used in analyzing various types of dance, which in turn suggests transformational potential for philosophy, dance, and society as a whole