Episodes
Professor Kozlowski produces an odd, unfocused lecture for an odd, unfocused topic.
Published 09/15/24
Published 09/15/24
Professor Kozlowski goes over the syllabus for the online Summer '24 session of Love and Friendship.
Published 07/02/24
CW: Suicide and Mental Illness Professor Kozlowski concludes his discussion of Goethe's The Sufferings of Young Werther by examining the causes (and the effects) of Werther's death. Goethe's treatment of Werther's case is careful and multifaceted - we'll look at some of the different perspectives Goethe offers us for understanding why Werther kills himself, and how we should interpret this act.
Published 06/21/24
CW: Mental Illness and Suicide Professor Kozlowski discusses the first half of Goethe's The Sufferings of Young Werther, including character introductions, an examination of typically Romantic characteristics, and discussion of mental illness and suicide.
Published 06/20/24
Professor Kozlowski examines the final speech of Plato's Symposium and examines some of the *many* ways it might be interpreted as a contribution to Plato's understanding of love.
Published 06/11/24
At long last, it's time to hear Socrates' justly-famous theory of love.
Published 06/10/24
Professor Kozlowski takes on the justly famous speech-myth of Aristophanes and how it appeals to modern audiences. (Also Eryximachus and Agathon...)
Published 06/10/24
Professor Kozlowski discusses the opening and first two speeches of Plato's Symposium, examining not just the content of the speeches, but the context Plato offers to provide depth to the characters' understanding.
Published 06/04/24
In our first Patron-requested topic of the summer, Professor Kozlowski throws caution to the winds and addresses the contemporary state of American Christianity in politics and society: How did we get here? Why do Christians believe what they believe? Are these beliefs consistent? Can these convictions be changed, and how might we go about changing them? To challenge Professor Kozlowski to a duel, threaten his well being, or otherwise demand that he stop making podcasts, visit his...
Published 05/28/24
A brief discussion of what you can expect from Professor Kozlowski Lectures in the coming months and years. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected].
Published 04/16/24
Professor Kozlowski concludes his discussion of Dostoevsky's Demons and his series on Russian Nihilism. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected].
Published 04/16/24
Time to party with the Demons. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected].
Published 04/16/24
Finally we get to see Pyotr Stepanovich bustle about and put his dubious plans into motion. Today Professor Kozlowski contrasts the careers and adventures of Pyotr Stepanovich and Stavrogin, examines the literary origins of each, and considers the censored "At Tikhon's" chapter as it reflects on our understanding of these characters.
Published 04/08/24
Professor Kozlowski continues his discussion of Dostoevsky's Demons by deeply examining the newly-revealed characters of Nikolai Vsevolodovich Stavrogin and Pyotor Stepanovich through their interactions with many of the other radicals and townfolk. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected].
Published 04/01/24
Professor Kozlowski continues his discussion of Dostoevsky's Demons with an examination of many of the minor characters introduced so far, and how their relationships are revealed, piecemeal, through careful details and subtle interactions. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected].
Published 03/21/24
Today Professor Kozlowski discusses the first two chapters of Dostoevsky's Demons, introduces three of our primary characters, and connects them to their archetypes in 1860s Russian society. Also jokes. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected].
Published 03/12/24
Professor Kozlowski attempts to recount the developments in the Russian literary world between 1864 and 1871 (when Demons is written), including a brief summary of Crime and Punishment and its relevance to the literary representation of Russian Nihilism at the time. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected].
Published 03/06/24
Professor Kozlowski tackles the second half of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, with special attention to exploring the references to 1840's Russian literature (and to Chernyshevsky's What is to Be Done?) found throughout this section. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected]. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at:...
Published 02/29/24
At long last, Professor Kozlowski confronts Dostoevsky's most widely discussed and controversial creation: Notes from Underground. Come for the tortured consciousness of the underground man, stay for the literary skullduggery and speculations about censorship. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected]. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at:...
Published 02/22/24
Professor Kozlowski muses on the Utopian hopes and missing realities of Chernyshevsky's promised revolution at the end of What is to Be Done? To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected]. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future...
Published 02/15/24
Now that we've gotten all the rage sweats cleaned up, it's time for Professor Kozlowski to take a deep dive into Chernyshevsky's convictions and ideology, both to appreciate the merit of those convictions, and to examine the similarities between radical idealism of the 1860s in Russia and in the years since. Hopefully this will be a bit more even-handed than last time, but we're never going to have *no* angry biased grumpiness. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his...
Published 02/07/24
Professor Kozlowski offers his first impressions of Chernyshevsky's What is to Be Done? Despite his efforts to be even-handed and charitable, there is still a great deal of hand-wringing, criticism, and outright swearing. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected]. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at:...
Published 01/24/24
To conclude his General Humanities class (again), Professor Kozlowski examines the broad-strokes legacy and theming of the James Bond franchise as an artifact of the Cold War and late Twentieth Century art and popular culture. UPDATE: A friend of the show, patron, and library archivist apparently took it upon herself to track down the text of Film Critic Hulk's James Bond essay on Wayback Machine: I include the links...
Published 01/22/24
Professor Kozlowski concludes his examination of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons with a deep-dive look at Bazarov's painful relationship with his parents, his ignominious final acts (and death), and Turgenev's complicated relationship with Russian ideology, both within the novel, and as Russia reacted to it. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected]. And please consider...
Published 01/21/24