Being, Seeming, Performance, and Media
The motto of Berklee College of Music is Esse quam videri, a phrase from Cicero's essay On Friendship" which translates as "to be rather than to seem." This course gives students the opportunity to focus and reflect upon the differences between seeming and being and think deeply about existence self and image. Organized around three interrelated themes: seeming vs. being; performance on stage and in everyday life; and the power of images and illusion in contemporary culture the seminar requires students to consider real world issues by exploring in depth the great works of philosophy literature and psychology. The course includes the reading and discussion of Plato's Republic Machiavelli's The Prince Shakespeare's Hamlet and Cervantes' Don Quixote. Funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities Enduring Questions grant LHUM-P410 is a unique opportunity for serious seminar-style exploration of a foundational issue in human thought.