PHI BETA KAPPA THE KEYKEY REPORTERREPORTER SPRINGSPRING 2010
SHOULD CULTURAL HERITAGE BE ON THE JUDICIAL AUCTION BLOCK? THE KEY REPORTER FROM THE SECRETARY Evaluating Eligibility
y guess is that the founders just used the stars on the key. After all, Volume 75, Number 1 that strange little hand down in the corner seems to point, not at the Spring 2010 MGreek letters but through them, to the three stars, signifying, we are told, literature, morality and friendship. The founders used them, I mean, to Editor & Designer: Kelly Gerald decide whom to invite into membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Taken together, Consulting Editor: John Churchill these stellar criteria must have led to the inclusion of good fellows (as they The Key Reporter (ISSN: 0023- were for a century) of intellectual curiosity and convivial disposition. 0804) is published quarterly by the It is interesting that as early as 1820 — I recently learned — the members Phi Beta Kappa Society, 1606 New at Union College asked for faculty guidance in making their choices, and with- Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington, in a couple of decades invitations across the chapters were largely in faculty D.C. 20009. Periodicals postage is hands. Then within a few decades more two trends brought to Phi Beta Kappa paid at Washington, D.C., and at something approaching a crisis of self-understanding. First, the number of additional addresses. IPM #1213423 chapters grew dramatically: from eight in 1847 to triple that number in 1882. Opinions expressed in this Second, the curricular consensus that had fixed the classics as the standard of publication are not necessarily those collegiate education in America crumbled away. of the editors or the officers of the The perceived need for consistency, from chapter to chapter, in qualifica- Society. Circulation for this issue: tions for Phi Beta Kappa, led to the formation of the United Chapters in 1883. 537,857. Here the historical weave of education in America is snug indeed. Who was the For nonmembers, single copies pacesetter away from the fixed classical curriculum? Charles W. Eliot, whose are available for $2; one year’s articles in The Atlantic in 1869 (saving their most fulsome praise, interesting- subscription is $5. Printed by Brown ly, for innovations at Yale), were followed by his elevation to the Harvard pres- Printing Company, East Greenville, idency later that year. And whom did the United Chapters choose as their first Pa. president? Eliot, who continued the advancement of the new “elective system” Copyright © 2010 by the Phi Beta at Harvard till the end of his 40-year tenure in 1909. Kappa Society. All rights are reserved. All that while Phi Beta Kappa was settling into its pattern of triennial The Phi Beta Kappa name, key and Councils. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that every Council gave serious The Key Reporter name are consideration to consistency in qualifications for election, and appointed a registered trademarks of the Phi Beta committee to study the problem. The next Council would receive the commit- Kappa Society. tee’s report, deplore the lack of consistency, declare the problem beyond The Society’s privacy policy immediate resolution and appoint a new committee. prohibits the distribution of member Ultimately the committees took on longer lives: the Committee on information. Fraternity Policy of the 1910s, the Committee on Chapter Policy, beginning in Postmaster: Send change-of- 1925, then the Committee on Criteria and Methods, the Committee on Chapter address notices to: The Key Reporter, Practices and Procedures and the Committee on Methods of Election, not to The Phi Beta Kappa Society, 1606 mention the Membership Eligibility Study and the Committee on Admission to New Hampshire Ave. NW, Membership. Of the commissioning of studies and the conduct of surveys Washington, D.C. 20009. there was no end. Web site: www.pbk.org Or not quite. In 1952 the Council adopted “stipulations” for eligibility for election to membership in course. Tweaked, and sometimes tweaked hard, over Circulation Policy the years since, these stipulations as to areas of study still guide chapters as All four quarterly issues of The they consider new members. But as history would suggest, Phi Beta Kappa Key Reporter are sent to members refreshes its concern as times and the curriculum change. The stipulations got who support the Society by donating their last thorough review about 1990, and their time has come round again. to FBK’s annual giving program. Whole disciplines have come into being and passed away since the last review. Checks made out to the Phi Beta Kappa Society may be sent to the A committee of the Senate is hard at work. Chapters are being consulted. Stay attention of Annual Gifts, 1606 New tuned for the next developments. Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009. Contributions are fully tax-deductible. Newly initiated members receive all four issues for one year. The spring and fall issues are John Churchill mailed to every FBK member living Secretary in the U.S. for whom the membership records office has an address. SPOTLIGHT CONTENTS
FROM THE SECRETARY Evaluating Eligibility 2
FBK NEWS New FBK Chapter Installed at Butler University in Indiana 4 FBK Visiting Scholars 2010- 2011 4 Susan R. Wolf Gives Romanell Lectures in Philosophy at UNC 5 2010 Walter J. Jensen Fellowship Winner 5 FBK Member and Nobel Laureate Carol Greider: Unlocking the Secrets of Aging Carol L. Adams (FBK, Fisk University, 1965), and Cancer CEO of the DuSable Museum. by Vanessa Schipani 6 Letters, Laurels and Keys: University of Oregon Celebrates the History of Honors Societies My liberal arts education has been the springboard by Ian F. McNeely 7 for a rich and varied professional life. The breadth of knowledge and critical thinking skills it provided Should Cultural Heritage Be on has been, at once, transferable and transformative. the Judicial Auction Block? by Laina Catherine Wilk Lopez 8 — Carol L. Adams The Artist as Reactionary, or Not . Just Flopping Along by John Howard Wilson 10
FROM OUR arol L. Adams, Ph.D., is the chief executive officer of the DuSable BOOK CRITICS CMuseum in Chicago, the nation’s first and oldest African-American History Museum. Reviews 12 As founding director of Museums and Public Schools, Adams worked with teachers and museum educators to develop curricula that utilized the museums as a living teaching resource and integrated their holdings into ON THE COVER approved lesson plans for elementary school students in Chicago Public Students traverse the University Schools. In addition, during her tenure at the Chicago Housing Authority, of Oregon campus, host site for Adams founded the Museum Consortium whose mission was for each the FBK Traveling Exhibit, major museum in Chicago to adopt a public housing development and March 20-June 12. Photo by mainstream its youth into their activities. Michael McDermott, courtesy of Adams was formerly the chairman of the African-American Studies the University of Oregon. Department at Loyola University, director of the Center for Inner City Studies at Northeastern Illinois University and the secretary of the Illinois Continued on page 11
www.pbk.org Spring 2010 3 New FBK Chapter Installed at Butler University in Indiana utler University became home to a Laura Behling, asso- Bnew chapter of Phi Beta Kappa on ciate provost for faculty Feb. 4. affairs and interdiscipli- The installation ceremony for the nary programs, commend- Theta of Indiana chapter was combined ed her colleagues’ efforts. with the university’s Founder’s Day “The focus of so many Celebration on the Butler campus, enti- Butler faculty and staff tled a “Celebration of Scholarship.” during the University’s Butler was one of four new chapters journey toward FBK sta- approved by the Society on Oct. 2 at the tus is a testament to their 42nd Triennial Council in Austin, Tx. belief that the liberal arts Twenty Butler faculty and staff and sciences offer the crit- members are FBK, including President ical perspectives, intellec- Bobby Fong. Paul Valliere, McGregor tual vigor and freedom of Professor in the Humanities, chaired the thought,” she said. L-R: Kathryn Morris, Theta of Indiana president, associate profes- committee that submitted Butler’s chap- “For more than 150 sor of psychology; Bobby Fong, president of Butler University; and ter application in October 2007. years, Butler University John Hargrove, chair of Butler University Board of Trustees, at the “Butler’s application to shelter a has focused on creating a chapter installation on Feb. 4. Photo by R. Brent Smith. chapter of Phi Beta Kappa required learning environment extensive documentation of the univer- rooted in excellence in the sity’s commitment to the liberal arts,” liberal arts and sciences and focused on ‘love of learning is the guide of life,’” Valliere said. “The College of Liberal our students. Our committed faculty Behling continued. Arts and Sciences is the oldest and take seriously their responsibility to Chapters also will be installed this largest of Butler’s five colleges, and the challenge students to their full intellec- spring at the College of Saint Benedict- same liberal arts core curriculum is tual potential, to celebrate the freedom Saint John’s University in Minnesota, required of all Butler undergraduates of inquiry and to understand, as the Phi Elon University in North Carolina and regardless of their academic major.” Beta Kappa motto articulates, that the James Madison University in Virginia.
PHI BETA KAPPA VISITING SCHOLARS 2010-2011
For more than 50 years, FBK has been sending distinguished scholars in the liberal arts and sciences to institutions where our chapters are located. They serve as ambassadors for the Society and make a substantial contribution to the intellectual life of the campus. The following scholars have been selected to participate in the program for the coming academic year. For more, write to [email protected].
Terry Castle, Walter A. Haas Professor in the Michael McCormick, Francis Goelet Professor of Humanities, Stanford University Medieval History, Harvard University Rochel Gelman, Professor of Psychology, Rutgers Ronald J. Mellor, Professor of History, University of University California, Los Angeles Jane C. Ginsburg, Morton L. Janklow Professor of Lisa M. Pratt, Provost’s Professor of Geological Literary and Artistic Property Law, Columbia Sciences, Indiana University University School of Law Kay Kaufman Shelemay, G. Gordon Watts Herbert Gintis, External Professor, Santa Fe Professor of Music and Professor of African and Institute; Professor of Economics, Central European African-American Studies, Harvard University; University 2010-2011 FBK-Frank M. Updike Memorial Jack A. Goldstone, Virginia E. and John T. Hazel Scholar Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University Peter Smith, Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Doug McAdam, Professor of Sociology, Stanford Chair in Integrative Science, University of University Arizona
4 The Key Reporter Susan R. Wolf Gives Romanell Lectures in Philosophy at UNC usan R. Wolf, professor of philoso- Sphy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, is the recipient of the Romanell-FBK Professorship for 2009-2010. Wolf will present three lectures on “Questions of Love,” March 15, 16 and 18, from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in the Hyde Hall University Room. The first lecture asks the basic questions: What is love, and why is it especially important? The second dis- cusses the possibility of conflict between love and morality: How should we think about such conflicts? Susan R. Wolf What should we do when such con- FBK and Barnes&Noble.com flicts arise? The third considers the relations among love, attention and Professorship recognizes the recipi- have joined together to offer an knowledge, drawing lessons from the ent’s distinguished achievement and online bookstore for FBK great Hollywood classic, The substantial contribution to the public members only! Shop at Philadelphia Story: What is it to look understanding of philosophy. Phi Beta www.bn.com/pbk to receive an at someone lovingly? How is loving Kappa provides a $7,500 stipend to additional 5% off of the online supplement the awardee’s salary, and attention different from careful atten- price of books, music and DVDs, tion? Finally, it considers a moral per- the professor gives a series of three spective, suggested by Iris Murdoch, special lectures open to their institu- and get free standard domestic built around the virtue of love. tion’s academic community and the shipping on orders of $25 or Awarded annually, the Romanell general public. more. See Web site for details.
2010 Walter J. Jensen Fellowship Winner Want More from he recipient of the 2010 Walter J. TJensen Fellowship for French stud- your Membership? ies is Pamela Diaz. Diaz is a graduate student at the University of California-Berkeley working in the field of French medieval studies. The title of her dissertation is “Unruly Language in the Roman de Renart.” The Walter J. Jensen Fellowship for French Studies was established in 2001 at the bequest of Professor Walter J. Jensen. The purpose of the fellowship is to Pamela Diaz help educators and researchers improve education in standard French language, literature and culture and in 2011 Jensen Fellowship is Oct. 1, Look for these icons at the the study of standard French in the 2010. United States. For more information about the top of the FBK homepage The fellowship is awarded annual- Jensen Fellowship, contact Lucinda and get connected! ly and has a stipend of at least $10,000 Morales, coordinator of Society events, and a single round-trip, economy-class at (202) 745-3235 or write to ticket to France. [email protected]. www.pbk.org The application deadline for the
www.pbk.org Spring 2010 5 FBK Member and Nobel Laureate Carol Greider Unlocking the Secrets of Aging and Cancer
By Vanessa Schipani because the inherent structure of DNA only to the aging of the cell, but also to prevents it. After a cell divides, telom- the aging of the entire organism. The n Christmas Day 1984, Phi Beta erase replenishes the chromosome with function of telomeres in aging remains OKappa member Carol Greider a shiny new telomere. Scientists were a center for serious research. solved a mystery that has plagued puzzled for decades as to why DNA Greider and Harley also investigat- molecular biologists since the 1930s. didn’t rapidly degrade to the point of ed the role of telomerase in cancer Greider, along with Elizabeth inactivity after repeated cell divisions. cells. Most cells rarely divide. Their Blackburn and Jack Szostak, won the In 1972, James Watson, co-discoverer chromosomes do not shorten, and their 2009 Nobel Prize for medicine for con- of the structure of DNA, coined the telomerase gets a lot of vacation time. tributing to the discovery of telom- term “end replication problem.” Not Cancer cells, however, are the worka- erase, an enzyme that holics of the cell world. protects our genes from For many years, degradation after cellular researchers had no idea as division. Their discovery to how cancer cells con- has widened our under- tinued to replicate at such standing of how genes abnormal rates. Greider and cells are maintained and Harley provided evi- over a lifetime, how can- dence that the gene for cer and other diseases telomerase in cancer cells proliferate throughout the was turned on, which body, and how and why facilitates endless replica- our bodies age. tion. Medical researchers Greider became a are now attempting to member of Phi Beta develop cancer drugs that Kappa in 1983, during inhibit the production of her senior year of college. telomerase. The problem After working in a diver- with this, however, is that sity of labs, she decided other cells, such as stem molecular biology fit her cells, also contain large way of thinking more 2009 Nobel laureate in medicine Carol Greider, Molecular Biology and amounts of telomerase. A than any other sect of sci- Genetics, Johns Hopkins University. drug that deactivates ence. “When you’re in telomerase production the right environment,” would also attack stem she says, “you just know it.” until Greider and Blackburn’s discov- cells, which are essential to our sur- After college, curiosity led Greider ery did scientists realize an enzyme vival. Greider and Harley’s research on to the University of California- was responsible for maintaining the telomere shortening also supports the Berkeley for graduate school. She was lives of cells. idea that having limited amounts of invited to work in the laboratory of After finishing her Ph.D., Greider telomerase in normal cells may be a Elizabeth Blackburn to study telom- began collaborating with Calvin defense mechanism to offset the wild cell eres, where eventually she would find Harley at McMaster University in division that exemplifies cancer cells. evidence for telomerase. “Curiosity Ontario, Canada. With Harley’s inter- Greider is one of only 10 women drove me to the discovery of telom- est in the cellular senescence, or the to have won the Nobel Prize in medi- erase, and continues to drive my career, loss of a cell’s ability to divide, and cine. Trained in an atmosphere that not winning prizes,” Greider says. Greider’s interest in telomeres, togeth- motivated women to pursue a career in “Having an experiment succeed is er they provided evidence that telomere science, she continues to encourage where I find fulfillment.” length was connected to cellular aging. other emerging female scientists to be Telomeres are the martyrs of the We now know that as we grow older, driven by curiosity as she was because, cell world. They are long strings of our telomeres grow shorter. The skin sometimes, it can lead to grand repetitive DNA at the tip of every chro- cells from a newborn baby, for exam- discoveries. mosome that sacrifice themselves in ple, can divide up to 90 times in cul- the place of the DNA that codes for ture, but cells from a 70-year-old can Vanessa Schipani is a science writer in vital information. When a cell divides, only divide around 30 times. Greider Washington, D.C. She holds bachelor’s the replication of DNA cannot contin- and Harley’s research also showed that degrees in zoology and philosophy ue to the tip of the chromosome telomere shortening contributes not from the University of Florida.
6 The Key Reporter Letters, Laurels and Keys University of Oregon Celebrates the History of Honors Societies
By Ian F. McNeely on a large and intellectually diverse want to know what they get in campus. exchange for their chapter dues. Much his spring, the University of Adopting such an inclusive work remains to be done in building a TOregon will host an exhibit called approach is one way to dispel the com- culture to assist undergraduates in “Letters, Laurels and Keys” celebrat- mon notion that honors are something appreciating what FBK signifies. ing the history of honors societies, pro- reserved for a narrowly defined elite. The paradox is that commitment to grams and distinctions on our campus. Oregonians have a strong populist liberal education is both deeper and Not merely a retrospective, the exhibit streak, and it’s often hard to convince wider at Oregon than at many other marks an opportunity to meet some of students here to join FBK and related public universities. Medieval studies the challenges in convincing today’s honor societies that may seem elitist or courses welcome throngs of students students that honors recogni- and the history major is bursting tions are worthwhile. at the seams. Both Teach for The exhibit is timed to America and the Peace Corps, coincide with the 50th anniver- idealistic havens for what used sary of the Robert D. Clark to be called the “B.A. general- Honors College, the oldest such ist,” are unusually popular and college at a four-year public have been for many years. Our university in the United States. large cohort of nontraditional It will showcase the sheer range students attests to the appeal of of honors opportunities avail- the arts and sciences among able at a public research univer- those returning from the “real sity, among them over 40 world.” departmental and professional Many Oregon faculty right- school honors programs. ly fear that liberal education is Professional societies like Order in crisis, yet we are met with of the Coif are included, as are reassurances on all sides. My service-oriented organizations colleagues in the professional such as Mortar Board and pro- and vocational schools are often grams for underrepresented and the most vociferous defenders first-generation students, like of intellectual well-rounded- the McNair Scholars Program. ness. The pure sciences have Scholar-athletes will gain benefited from generous philan- much-needed recognition at a thropy that also supports university whose exploits on the humanistic inquiries into the playing field all too often natural world. And the recent eclipse its academic reputation. hiring of a Sanskritist as univer- FBK’s Alpha of Oregon sity president evoked as much chapter, chartered in 1923, will Edward Alexander Bouchet (1852-1918), first African-American admiration for his philological occupy a central place in the to be elected to FBK and the first to earn a Ph.D. In 2005, Yale acumen as for his impressive exhibit. We’re taking this oppor- and Howard universities founded an honor society in his name. credentials as an administrator tunity to explain why FBK is and high-tech consultant. meaningful beyond a line on the We hope that by honoring résumé, and to profile some of our top out of touch. The fife and drum proces- student achievement in all its forms, recent undergraduates, members of the sion in which I proudly marched as an “Letters, Laurels and Keys” will draw “Oregon Six” selected each year for undergraduate back East might well attention to the profound enthusiasm their truly stellar academic breadth and strike the typical Oregon student as for liberal education shared across depth. faintly ridiculous at best. the entire university community at In all these ways, the exhibit gath- Recruiting new members is a per- Oregon. ers together information dispersed on vasive problem among chapters numerous Web sites across the univer- throughout the West, which has the Ian F. McNeely (FBK, Harvard sity and spread in large part by word of lowest induction rates of any U.S. University, 1991) is an associate mouth. For the first time, it offers a region. Our state has, in addition, a low professor of history at the University of roadmap to the many paths by which median income relative to its neigh- Oregon and president of the FBK young scholars can achieve distinction bors. Many invitees understandably Alpha of Oregon chapter.
www.pbk.org Spring 2010 7 Should Cultural Heritage Be on the Judicial Auction Block?
By Laina Catherine Wilk Lopez sponsors of terrorism” for providing In one such instance, the plaintiffs “material support” to commit an act of registered their judgment in the U.S. ere is a hypothetical. Let’s say a terrorism. At the time of the lawsuit, District Court for the Northern District HFrenchman, Mr. Rousseau, travel- the nations designated as state sponsors of Illinois. The plaintiffs selected that ing on business in Iraq, is injured by of terrorism were Iran, Cuba, Syria, court because there are three collec- U.S. missile fire. Now, let’s say that Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Sudan. tions of ancient Persian artifacts owned France permits Mr. Rousseau to sue the Today, only Iran, Cuba, Syria and by Iran or alleged to be owned by Iran United States in France for his injuries. Sudan remain on the list. in Chicago. One of the collections is Mr. Rousseau sues and wins a multi- In the Washington, D.C. case, the not a true collection but rather a smat- million dollar default judgment against Rubin plaintiffs won against Iran a tering of artifacts at the Oriental the United States. The United States multi-million dollar default judgment, Institute at the University of Chicago refuses to pay, arguing that a and the Field Museum of French court should not and may Natural History collectively not determine whether the known as the Herzfeld United States acted unlawfully Collection. The artifacts are so for its conduct in Iraq. Now let’s named because, according to say that the U.S. Declaration of the plaintiffs, noted archaeolo- Independence is on exhibit at the gist Ernst Herzfeld surrepti- Louvre. Should a French court tiously took the items from Iran order that the Declaration of in the early 20th Century and Independence be seized for judi- later unlawfully sold the cial auction – even though the allegedly stolen items to the executive branch of France University of Chicago and the protests such seizure – so that the Field Museum. Iran makes no proceeds can be used to satisfy claim to these artifacts and the Mr. Rousseau’s default judgment university and the Field against the United States? Museum vigorously defend Because the Declaration of their lawful ownership of the Independence is a national treas- items. The plaintiffs assert that ure, isn’t the answer obviously Iran nonetheless owns the “no”? If a French court did so Herzfeld items by operation of regardless of the Declaration’s an Iranian patrimony law national treasure status, wouldn’t which, according to the plain- such a seizure strain and perhaps tiffs, provides that any item even fracture foreign relations unearthed in Iran is owned by between France and the United Iran. Notably, the Rubin plain- States? Think we don’t have to tiffs also have sued Harvard worry about these questions University and the Museum of because the hypothetical sounds Fine Arts of Boston in the U.S. farfetched? Think again. Uninscribed Persepolis tablet with Aramaic seal inscription. This District Court for the District of Consider the following real- artifact is one of many at issue in the Rubin v. Iran litigation. Massachusetts alleging that life case on which I am currently those museums also have in working. In 1997, several per- their possession several items sons, including some Americans, were which Iran refused to pay. The plain- stolen by Herzfeld and hence are Iran- injured in a suicide bombing in Israel tiffs, still determined to collect their owned. Like the museums in Chicago, for which Hamas later took credit. In money, thus registered their judgment however, the Boston museums vigor- 2003, the U.S. victims of that bombing, in jurisdictions in the United States ously defend their lawful ownership of in a lawsuit entitled Rubin v. Iran, sued where the plaintiffs believed Iranian the items. Iran in a U.S. federal court in assets were located. They asked the The other two collections involved Washington, D.C. pursuant to a section courts in those jurisdictions to permit in the Chicago litigation, the Persepolis of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities them to “attach” (a legal term meaning Collection and the Chogha Mish Act in effect at the time. That portion essentially judicial seizure) the various Collection, are housed at the Oriental of the law, 28 U.S.C. §1605(a)(7), per- alleged Iranian assets, sell them at judi- Institute and are, everyone agrees, mitted Americans who suffered injury cial auction, and use the proceeds of owned by Iran. These two collections (or death) to sue those nations desig- such sales to satisfy their multi-million arrived at the Oriental Institute in the nated by the United States as “state dollar judgment. 1930s and 1960s, respectively, follow-
8 The Key Reporter ing archaeological digs. In the 1930s, the Oriental Institute sent a team of its archaeologists – led by Ernst Herzfeld – to Iran, with the Iranian government’s consent, to excavate the ancient Persian city of Persepolis. Persepolis, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, was built by Darius I in approximately 515 B.C. and destroyed by Alexander the Great in approximately 330 B.C. Though large- ly destroyed by Alexander, the site was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979 due to monumen- tal ruins which were left standing. Following the excavation, Iran agreed TOP: Elamite Persepolis tablet to loan to the Institute for study a with stamp seal. grouping of rare tablet and tablet frag- RIGHT: Aramaic Persepolis ments found in the fortifications. Some tablet. of the tablets are written in an ancient text known as Elamite, a now extinct These artifacts pictured and language understood today by a hand- others at the University of ful of people. The tablets contain Chicago are currently under administrative records of daily dispute. Achaemenid society, such as the (Images provided courtesy of amounts and recipients of food rations. the University of Chicago.) In the 1960s, the Oriental Institute sent another team of archaeologists – led by Pierre Delougaz and Helene Kantor – to Iran to excavate Chogha Mish, an archaeological site from the firm represents Iran in that proceeding. “no”? Should the treasures of a nation early fifth-millennium B.C. Iran again My colleague, senior partner Thomas currently out of favor with the United agreed to loan to the Institute for study G. Corcoran, Jr., and I have filed States be treated any differently than a grouping of artifacts discovered numerous briefs seeking to save the those of nations that are currently in there. These artifacts reveal, among artifacts from the auction block. Even favor? What are the ramifications of other things, that there was human cul- the U.S. Government, not a typical ally setting a precedent that courts may ture in that area of Persia at least one of Iran, has filed several briefs in favor seize national treasures found within millennium earlier than what was pre- of Iran’s position, including a brief urg- their borders as a form of compensat- viously known. ing the court to deny the plaintiffs’ ing victims of another nation’s alleged The study of these two collections request to auction the artifacts given wrongs? Should Congress step in and took many years longer than anticipat- the significant foreign relations con- eliminate even the possibility of judi- ed with the result that the artifact col- cerns posed by the lawsuit. To date, cial auction of national treasures? lections remain at the Oriental Institute however, because a decision in the case Perhaps the court will, in the end, today. The Institute and Iran agree, has been delayed by the need to resolve protect the artifacts from the auction however, that, pursuant to the loan other legal issues, the court has not yet block, and none of these questions will terms, the Institute will return the arti- ruled on the fate of the artifact collec- require answers. But if not, the Mr. facts to Iran’s National Museum for tions. Rousseau hypothetical of auctioning permanent housing. Given the impor- So now to pose a question – even if the Declaration of Independence or tance of Chogha Mish and Persepolis the plaintiffs were victims of state- other U.S. national treasure may, one in Persian history, Iran considers both sponsored terrorism, should they have day, also become a reality. of the collections of artifacts discov- the right to force the sale of these ered there to be national treasures. national treasures and collect the pro- Laina Catherine Wilk Lopez (FBK, Although Iran did not appear in the ceeds from the sale to satisfy the Bucknell University, 1996) is counsel underlying court proceeding in default judgment? If the answer to the at Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP. Washington, D.C., which resulted in question posed above regarding our She can be reached at [email protected]. the money judgment, it did appear in hypothetical Mr. Rousseau was obvi- the Chicago attachment proceeding to ously “no,” shouldn’t the answer to this defend these national treasures. My real-life question also be obviously
www.pbk.org Spring 2010 9 The Artist as Reactionary, or Not Just Flopping Along By John Howard Wilson The artist opposed what the English has contracted with Oxford University called “austerity” and insisted on being Press to publish Evelyn’s complete velyn Waugh, the author of primed with luxuries before producing works in 47 volumes over 15 years. EBrideshead Revisited (1945), any more masterpieces. Alexander asked me to edit A Little remarked that “An artist must be a I also examined the manuscript of Learning. reactionary. He has to stand out against Waugh’s autobiography, A Little In his autobiography, Evelyn the tenor of the age and not go flopping Learning (1964). Waugh’s novels have Waugh wrote that his education had along.” been thoroughly analyzed, but other been “the preparation for one trade Such statements have not endeared books have been neglected. The man- only; that of an English prose writer.” Waugh to the academy, which prefers uscript of Brideshead has become a His fiction also conveys the importance “progressive” politics. I sympathize case study in composition, but research of liberal rather than vocational train- with the views of colleagues, ing. In Scott-King’s Modern but I also respect the clarity of Europe (1947), Scott-King is a Waugh’s conservatism. classics teacher who returns to In his travel book about his school after misadventures Mexico, Robbery Under Law in Europe and the Middle East. (1939), Waugh proclaims that The headmaster asks him to “a conservative is not merely an teach economic history, since obstructionist who wishes to parents “want to qualify their resist the introduction of novel- boys for jobs in the modern ties.” Instead, the conservative world.” Scott-King adheres to has “positive work to do,” since the classics; however, he “civilization has no force of its asserts that “it would be very own beyond what is given from wicked indeed to do anything within. It is under constant to fit a boy for the modern assault and it takes most of the world,” and he insists that his is energies of civilized man to “the most long-sighted view it keep going at all.” is possible to take.” I was fortunate to be able Though he was never a to study Waugh’s manuscripts member, Waugh remains rele- at the Harry Ransom Center at vant to the mission of Phi Beta the University of Texas at Kappa. He believed in standing Austin in the summer of 2009. apart from the tenor of the age, Devoted to research in the as many of us do in our schol- humanities, the Ransom Center arship and service. Waugh also conserves the works of Waugh believed in conserving the past, and many other writers and the main subject of most of our artists so that they are available studies. Finally, Waugh to scholars as long as our civi- Evelyn Waugh in his library in 1950. Photo by Douglas Glass, believed in producing finely lization lasts. Research is nec- © J. C. C. Glass. crafted books that reward essary to become familiar with rereading. He is certainly a these artists, to develop new kindred spirit, perhaps even a insights into their works and to discov- reveals that A Little Learning is much patron saint. er their relevance today. more complicated. As he completed My project was entitled “Evelyn pages of manuscript, Waugh had them John Howard Wilson (FBK, University Waugh in the Military and the Church.” typed; he then cut the typescript into of Michigan, 1983) is an associate pro- I am interested in the way Waugh’s pieces and inserted them into the man- fessor of English at Lock Haven experience as a British officer in World uscript along with handwritten University of Pennsylvania. He has co- War II and as a Roman Catholic influ- changes. Waugh rewrote one paragraph edited A Handful of Mischief: New enced his fiction. I hoped that corre- on his father at least four times. More Essays on Evelyn Waugh, forthcoming spondence with his literary agent than his desire for cigars, Waugh’s from Fairleigh Dickinson University would reveal Waugh’s intentions. It painstaking revision reflects the com- Press. Wilson edits Evelyn Waugh did, but Waugh was more interested in mitment of the artist. Newsletter and Studies, an online getting his American publishers to send Waugh is likely to remain in the journal. cigars, since they were scarce and public eye for some time to come. One expensive in England after the war. of his grandsons, Alexander Waugh,
10 The Key Reporter Carol L. Adams Continued from 3 How Computers Brought Down Wall Street by Joseph Fuller Department of Human Services. Educated at Fisk University, where Brain she became a FBK member in 1965, Adams matriculated at Boston SPRING 2009 Published by Phi Beta Kappa $7.95 U.S.and Canada University, the University of Chicago, The Year of Darwin Did This and the Union Graduate School. She has Gain Man Drain also had additional courses of study at Our Lives Yale University and the John F. Kennedy of Meaning? School of Governmental Affairs at By Brian Boyd Read The American Scholar Also Harvard University. Why Art Evolved Adams has spent much of her and find out what other great Getting the Sex Out of Darwinism career engaged in cultural arts research, The Mad Hatter Who Shot minds like yours are thinking John Wilkes Booth analysis and production. Her unique Ernest B. Furgurson perspective on art and its integral role in Writing and Rewriting On Writing Well William Zinsser shaping and defining culture and com- Will Hitler Rise Again? by John Lukacs ABreedingGroundforTerrorists by Eric Calderwood Ronald Reagan Is Overrated by Matthew Dallek munity is informed by her parallel study PLUS AUTUMN 2009 Published by Phi Beta Kappa $7.95 U.S. and Canada SUMMER 2009 Published by Phi Beta Kappa $7.95 U.S.and Canada WINTER 2010 Published by Phi Beta Kappa $7.95 U.S.and Canada Franklin Breathless Twombly in Paris in Paris in Paris of sociology and Africana history and Our Mind-Boggling Stacy Schiff Paula Marantz Cohen Grant Rosenberg culture. BRAIN www.theamericanscholar.org Priscilla Long Adams is affiliated with eta Still No End in Sight Where Have All the Are these guys really Iraq’s A blast in Baghdad, best hope for peace? an injury that will not heal Creative Arts Foundation and the The Stolen Election Students Gone? John B. Renehan Bethany Vaccaro The demise of the English department An Iranian writer revisits her restless homeland PLUS Gelareh Asayesh William M. Chace Why Your Waitress Might Be Smarter Than You Mike Rose PLUS Harold Washington Research and Policy PLUS Four New Poems by Gary Snyder Mascot Keep It Shylock Rereading Depression Fitzgerald’s Madness Short and Us Ulysses Art Tax Records A Fable Hypocrisy Mystic Pizza Brian Doyle William Zinsser Paula Marantz Cohen Sudip Bose Morris Dickstein William J. Quirk Thornton Wilder Anne Matthews Rob Gurwitt Institute, among others. Her member- www.theamericanscholar.org www.theamericanscholar.org www.theamericanscholar.org ships in professional associations include: the American Sociological Get four issues for $24 and save 25 percent off the newsstand price Association, the Conference of Minority Public Administrators and the To subscribe, call 1-(800) 821-4567, or visit our Web site: Council on Blacks in Philanthropy. www.theamericanscholar.org KRSP10
www.pbk.org Spring 2010 11 From Our Book Critics
By G. Cornelissen-Guillaume political issue and Congress promul- is an invitation to engage in a construc- gated the No Child Left Behind tive conversation about the vision of (NCLB) Act in 2001, a federal legisla- what public schools ought to be. It is Reclaiming tion enacting the theories of standards- recommended not only for profession- Education for based education reform, based on the al educators but also for all citizens Democracy: belief that setting high standards and who care about the future of our chil- Thinking Beyond establishing measurable goals can dren. No Child Left improve individual outcomes in educa- Behind. Paul tion. Germaine Cornelissen-Guillaume is a Shaker and Behind such an appealing concept, professor of integrative biology and Elizabeth E. thoughtful participation in a democra- physiology and co-director of the Heilman. cy is overtaken by a misguided empha- Halberg Chronobiology Center at the Routledge (Taylor sis on standardized test results, and University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. & Francis education is geared toward serving Group), 2008. 256 pages. $45.95 economic and security interests at the paperback. expense of civics, social studies, the By Rick Eden arts and literature in an increasingly Paul Shaker, a career educator who multi-cultural globalized world. Human: The has served as teacher, teacher educator Instead of facilitating the fulfillment of Science Behind and administrator received in 2009 the each individual student’s potential in a What Makes Us American Educational Research growingly diverse population, low-per- Unique. Michael Association Award for Exemplary forming as well as gifted students are S. Gazzaniga. Research in Teaching and Teacher not receiving the mentoring they Harper Collins, Education for co-authoring this book. deserve in this “one size fits all” sys- 2008. 447 pages. His and Elizabeth E. Heilman’s con- tem. $27.50 cerns about the impact of education The book is organized in three policies on democracy are the topic parts. In the first section, Shaker and By now proba- researched in this volume. Viewing cit- Heilman examine how the current situ- bly everyone has izenship as a democratic practice, the ation came about, seeking psychologi- heard the factoid authors make the point that the intel- cal, political and economic explana- that humans and chimpanzees are lectual and ethical capacities needed to tions. In the next section, they explore almost identical genetically. This and make judgments about policies and some of the issues in more detail, such similar findings from DNA sequencing actions that affect other members in as problems with standardized tests, have given new life to some old ques- communities require thoughtful and teacher testing and the narrowness of tions about mankind’s place in the uni- challenging education. the curriculum. Problems related to verse: “How unique are we, and how The authors thoroughly review medical research sponsored by phar- are we unique?” In Human, the distin- recent education policies, how they maceutical companies have received guished neuroscientist Michael came about and what their impact has attention to the point that sponsorship Gazzaniga takes us on a wide-ranging been on professional educators. They disclosures are now required in publi- tour of recent scientific studies that provide a warning about perils faced cations. This book makes a similar bear on these questions. by American public schools. Evidence point in the context of education At over 400 pages, Human is a is presented showing how scientific research. In the last section, the authors long tour for two reasons. One is that knowledge is distorted, how reports offer visions for change, including there are many domains in which challenging conservative orthodoxy practical advice on how teachers, humans claim uniqueness. Thus, in are suppressed and how pressure to administrators and citizens can influ- Part 1 Gazzaniga addresses the brain, produce good test results hurt rather ence public education. A list of refer- the mind, language and emotions. In than improve the educational system. ences and an index provide additional Part 2 he devotes a chapter each to The authors’ outlook, however, is resources. society, morality and education. Part 3 hopeful, as they lay down ideas for Perhaps the most valuable lesson has chapters on the arts, religion and moving toward a future that reclaims may not be learning the facts them- consciousness. In Part 4, Gazzaniga public education in a democratic socie- selves, but learning how the knowledge returns to the brain, surveying tech- ty, taking examples from good teaching was acquired in the first place and how nologies by which we might extend our and good schools. to learn from it, so that innovations can cognitive capabilities, further differen- Center stage is the contest between contribute to future progress. This tiating ourselves from other species professional authority and political great book should serve as an incentive with neuroprosthetics, genetic manipu- advocacy. The authors view this divide to recognize and acknowledge the lation and artificial intelligence. widening since the 1983 report “A complexity of the problem in order to The other reason for Human’s Nation at Risk,” when education avoid further damage caused by the length is that there is so much science. became an increasingly important overly simplistic promises of NCLB. It Gazzaniga picks and chooses but his
12 The Key Reporter nine chapters still average 80 citations cy becomes more jarring. The same is goal is to explain how the brain adapts each. Because the science remains true of the three so-called wife-sister capabilities that evolved for other rea- unsettled and speculative, each chapter narratives in which Abram, Abraham sons to the demands of reading and is a loosely structured essay that strings and Isaac encourage their wives Sarai, why it is able to adapt in this way. The together varied scientific findings Sarah and Rebekah, respectively, to answer, according to Dehaene, lies in within a topic area. Chapter Three, enter harems. “neuronal recycling,” a process by “Big Brains and Expanding Social For the English text, which Crumb which the brain’s plasticity permits it Relationships,” for instance, wanders illustrates without abridgement, he to convert neurons to new purposes — through topics as varied as altruism, offers a redaction based primarily on though within limits. the origin of cooking, social group the King James Version and the 1996 Dehaene sprinkles his text with sizes, gossip, deception and lying, mat- translation by Robert Alter. Crumb’s amusing mini-tests that enable us to ing strategies and sports. only textual innovation is to eliminate experience what it would be like to par- Gazzaniga tries to keep things the numbering of individual verses. ticipate in reading experiments. He light through sophomoric asides of the This helps to smooth the narrative flow shows us, for example, that we can sort a professor might use to keep a and enables us to attend to the interac- effortlessly “raed snetneecs in which class from dozing off during a difficult tion of text and illustration. the psoitoin of ltteers is mxeid up” and lecture. Despite these attempts at levi- As Crumb makes a career move that with little time or training we can ty, however, Human is far too long, from comic books to Scripture, from learn to “DeCoDe, At An EsSeNtIaLly detailed and inconclusive to be consid- the periphery of the Western narrative NoRmAl SpEeD, EnTiRe SeNtEnCes ered a popularization. Yet, it offers canon to its center, he transports his WhOsE LeTtErS HaVe BeEn PrInTeD rewarding, entertaining and often drawing style intact. He tunes it only AlTeRaAtElY iN uppercase aNd In intriguing reading for those who are up enough to shift genre from comedy to LoWeRCAsE.” It turns out these abili- to the challenge. drama. The anatomical features of his ties provide important clues as to how Biblical figures, for example, are exag- the brain manages to read at all. The Book of gerated but less so than those in the Ironically, no one would call this Genesis burlesque world of his underground book on reading an easy read. For one Illustrated by work. There is nothing raunchy or thing, as Dehaene admits, it is often R. Crumb. outré about his visual treatment of the dense with technical detail about the Translated by revered material. His representations of structure and operation of the brain. Robert Alter. Biblical events are respectful and, in Also, much space is devoted to review- Notes and illus- their persistent literalism, compelling. ing science that is outdated and refut- trations by I recommend this book highly. It ing views that Dehaene considers mis- Robert Crumb. belongs on your shelf beside Art taken. Nevertheless, for anyone inter- Norton, 2009. Spiegelman’s Maus: A Survivor’s Tale. ested in the act of reading per se, 224 pages. including teachers, Dehaene’s synthe- $24.95 Reading in the sis is critical to becoming current with Brain: The a newly emerging, empirically-based This wonderful volume — resem- Science and science of reading. bling a large format graphic novel — is Evolution of a no more or less than what its title sim- Human Rick Eden is a senior analyst and the ply states: the first book of the Bible, Invention. associate director of research quality or Torah, illustrated by the legendary Stanislas assurance at RAND, a nonprofit, non- underground comic artist Robert Dehaene. Viking, partisan research institution headquar- Crumb. Though the pairing seems 2009. 400 pages. tered in Santa Monica, Calif. incongruous, concerns about tasteful- $27.95 ness and intent prove unfounded. As Crumb himself notes in the introduc- In this intrigu- By Jay Pasachoff tion, he approached the project “as a ing and insightful book, the French straight illustration job.” The result is a psychologist Stanislaus Dehaene remarkable achievement. Crumb’s reveals the neural bases for reading, The Sun, The drawings illuminate the ancient text integrating recent findings from neu- Earth, and and make it seem fresh, like an Old roimaging with other research Near-Earth Master’s oil painting freed from layers advances. A decade ago, in his book Space: A of varnish. The Number Sense, published in Guide to the Among other effects, the illustra- English in 1999, he performed a simi- Sun-Earth tions sharpen our awareness of the tex- lar service in explaining the neural System. tual problems that have been stumbling bases for our mathematical abilities. John A. Eddy. blocks for literalists. To read two dif- Dehaene begins by noting that the NASA, 2009. ferent accounts of the creation of Adam human brain could not possibly have 301 pages. may be confusing, but when they are evolved the capability to read: reading $66.00 hard- illustrated side by side the inconsisten- is simply too recent an invention. His cover; $63.00 paperback.
www.pbk.org Spring 2010 13 Just as many of us get daily Catch a Falling nucleosynthesis science . . . I believe it weather forecasts that include tem- Star: A Life was my emotional urge to explore the perature and the chance of precipita- Discovering Our origins of things that made me so moti- tion, there are also space weather Universe. vated in this quest. One thing is sure; I forecasts that include the chance of Donald D. would love science forever. The spirit- solar flares and that passengers in Clayton. ed interplay that built nucleosynthesis high-flying aircraft, especially those iUniverse, 2009. theory had won my heart.” in polar routes, would be affected. 600 pages. $33.95 We learn about life for the young Solar storms also lead to problems paperback. graduate student and then postdoc in with GPS satellite communications, 1950s and 1960s Pasadena, Calif., a far surges on power lines and aurorae Secretary of cry from his Iowa farm boyhood given that have been known to be seen as State Dean his experiences with Feynman, Gell- far south as Texas. Acheson’s memoirs were famously Mann and other legends. In fact, his Jack Eddy, especially known for titled Present at the Creation, but wife, Mary Lou, wound up playing a his pointing out the 70-year gap in astrophysicist Don Clayton was pres- key transcription role in the Feynman sunspots from 1645-1715 and its ent at the creation of our knowledge of lectures on physics, and Clayton correlation with the Little Ice Age in the creation of the elements. His mem- helped informally by assisting his wife Europe, has put together a wonderful oir mixes his personal history with the in picking out the physics words from and readable book on behalf of scientific history of early Caltech days the tape, as Feynman himself was NASA’s Living with a Star Program. of the science of nucleosynthesis and unavailable. Supplementary material, Not only is the text nicely readable shows the reader how exciting it can be including photographs, is available at but also the choice of images and to do science. www.claytonstarcatcher.com. diagrams of the Sun, the Earth, inter- Clayton’s early life was not unin- stellar space, solar spacecraft and teresting, but the book catches fire Grace Hopper other relevant subjects is especially when his Southern Methodist and the dramatic and well chosen. The whole University professor suggests that he Invention of book is printed on heavy stock, was meant for physics and should go to the giving the photos especial beauty. Caltech. At Caltech, “Willy” Fowler Information Over two dozen spacecraft now had just come back from Cambridge, Age. Kurt W. monitor the Sun, as do several obser- England, where he had worked with Beyer. MIT vatories on mountains around the Geoff and Margaret Burbidge and Fred Press, 2009. world. Eddy, who died last year as he Hoyle in an epochal paper on the for- 408 pages. finished this book, surveys not only mation of the elements widely known $27.95 what we know about the Sun itself as B2FH. (Geoff Burbidge died early in but also about its interaction with 2010. Fowler, who shared a Nobel Those inter- Earth and with the people on it. He Prize in 1983, died in 1995.) Fowler, ested in the history of computing know doesn’t even limit himself to such one of the most delightful physicists about Grace Hopper, whose pioneering people; he also discusses hazards for ever, took on Clayton as his first grad- roles at in the early 1940s at the astronauts traveling to Mars and uate student, and we learn what it was Harvard Computing Center with the points out that the Apollo astronauts like to revel in the discoveries as they Mark I computer are legendary. And who visited the Moon during 1969- were made. Fowler gave Clayton both those interested in how a female at the 1972 were lucky to have been there theoretical and experimental projects, period could survive, advance and when no major flares occurred, since in case the former didn’t work out — prosper in a harsh Navy environment they would have had minimal chance though in the end, they both did. will also be interested in Kurt Beyer’s of protecting themselves. Fowler set Clayton into research in detailed book about computing’s early Eddy describes how the solar the then-new field of nucleosynthesis, days. constant isn’t really constant, and how the elements were made. The Which “computer” was the first is how that measurement, now known B2FH paper had explained how adding still the stuff of debate, but clearly as the total solar irradiance, interacts neutrons to heavy elements provided Mark 1 was at least a competitor. With with Earth’s weather and climate. the steady-state abundances for many its mechanical relays, its cycle time February 2010 brought the launch of the chemical elements that, Jesse was about one-third second, incredible by NASA of its Solar Dynamics Greenstein soon showed, could be to us in a time of petaflop computers, Observatory, which is making full-disk measured in stars. (Some dozen years but it had been estimated that enough images of the Sun in x-rays and other later, Fowler started me off on the of the thousands of vacuum tubes in parts of the spectrum. Eddy’s book light-element side of the picture.) The the competitive Pennsylvania design puts all such observations in context. overall picture was intertwined with would fail too soon to make that With images from Dürer and the acceptance of the big bang as the entrant useful. Galileo to recent spacecraft, Eddy’s origin of the Universe. In 1934, Hopper was the first book about the Sun tells us interest- Clayton writes, “My scientific life woman to get a doctorate in mathemat- ingly and nicely about the star we became the breathless interplay of the ics from Yale. She was ensconced in a live with. 1950s between three essentials for tenure-track appointment at Vassar as a
14 The Key Reporter popular professor. In 1940, she went on verse narratives of Nezami and Hafez leave to NYU to work with the mathe- By William Riggan to the latter-day poetry and prose of matician Richard Courant, whose Omar Khayyam and Sadeq Hedayat. name now graces that institute, and Other literatures are invoked as well, when Pearl Harbor came, she joined Censoring an especially Russian and Soviet fiction, the Navy, the WAVES (Women Iranian Love with the former’s frequent focus on Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Story: A Novel. large moral and ethical issues and the Service). After Midshipmen’s School, Shahriar latter’s continual struggles for sheer she was assigned to work at the Mandanipour. survival under severe ideological con- Automatic Sequence Controlled Knopf, 2009. straints. Wise but spectral old poets Calculator at Harvard, the brainchild of 295 pages. pop up as curious street vendors and Howard Aiken. $25.00 gnomic shopkeepers, hunchbacked She is credited with many firsts, dwarfs (a motif from Hedayat’s including the invention of subroutines S h a h r i a r acclaimed 1936 novel The Blind Owl) and even of high-level programming. Mandanipour’s appear mysteriously and menacingly More jocularly but also widely cited is multilayered behind shrubs and shadowy alleys, the her lab notebook from Sept. 9, 1945, novel — a self-censored love story two modern-day lovers’ travails fre- with a big moth pasted in with the label within a modern Iranian love story that quently echo those of the principals in “First actual case of bug being found.” draws heavily upon the conventions of Nezami’s 12th-century classic In 1947, she was one of the founders of seven centuries of Iranian-Persian Khosrow and Shirin, and the censor the Association of Computing verse and prose narratives, all wrapped charged with vetting the fictional Machinery, still the leading organiza- in a devilishly clever and often darkly author-narrator’s love story bears the tion in the computing field. Later, she humorous work of metafiction — must pseudonym Porfiry Petrovich, after was responsible for the success of the have presented as many challenges to Dostoyevsky’s clever detective in programming language COBOL. the actual author as the various internal Crime and Punishment. Bookish ele- Beyer’s book is more detailed than stories did to their respective authors ments predominate throughout in other I would like on many subjects, but the and narrators, and as the production as ways as well, through almost constant overall thrust of the story is important a whole presents to readers at each references to titles and authors from and well told. level. world literature and through devices in Hopper retired from the Navy as The primary conceit here involves the story line itself, as when Dara commander in 1967, but then received the effort of a modestly successful employs specific library texts (The a six-month active-duty appointment writer of acceptably bland, program- Little Prince, Dracula, etc.) to commu- that wound up lasting 20 years. She matic short fiction to produce a gen- nicate secretly with Sara via a coded toured widely and continued many uine, moving love story that will pass system of underlinings and markings. activities; in the process, as a result of the scrutiny of censors at the Ministry The novel’s overall effect, while a joint resolution of Congress, her rank of Culture and Islamic Guidance and certainly entertaining and often quite was made commodore, and later eventually find its way into print. amusing (as in the scenes where the changed to rear admiral. What readers of the novel see on the Culture Department’s blind film censor When I saw her lecture at Williams page are two interwoven narratives: passes judgment on various movies as College, which she did in full-dress uni- one in boldface with numerous strike- they are described to him by his aides), form, she inventively gave out “nanosec- throughs of words and phrases deemed is somewhat ambiguous. The stifling onds” to the audience — pieces of wire offensive to public sensibility and rep- repression depicted here leaves one all the length that light travels in a nanosec- resenting (mostly) the self-censored but in despair, yet the efforts of so ond. When she was involuntarily retired story as it will presumably one day be many, the fictitious author-narrator and in 1986 at the age of 79, she was the old- published; and another in regular face his two lovers among them, to keep est officer on active duty in the Navy, containing the larger, freer narratives dreams and love and even mirth alive which in 1997 named a guided-missile of both the fictitious author’s efforts to amid so many social-political-ideolog- destroyer after her. complete and polish and publish his ical constraints are heartening. If even story and of the two fictitious virginal the cold-eyed moral watchdog Astronomer and author Jay Pasachoff “lovers” Dara and Sara’s attempts to Petrovich can ultimately be moved by is the director of Hopkins Observatory explore their nascent attraction without the chaste longings and loveliness of and Field Memorial Professor of overtly violating the social and reli- the young Sara, as seems to have Astronomy at Williams College. gious constraints of present-day Iran occurred by novel’s end, perhaps there and bringing shame (or worse) upon is hope yet for the reemergence and FBK members and all other authors are themselves and their families and ascendance of the more humane ele- welcome to submit their books for friends and colleagues. ments of Iranians’ minds and souls. possible review in The Key Reporter. In constructing this palimpsest of Mail copies to The Key Reporter, 1606 texts, both Mandanipour and his alter- Author and critic William Riggan is the New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington, ego author-narrator make liberal use of retired editor of World Literature Persian literature’s richly florid and Today at the University of Oklahoma. DC 20009. allusive tradition, from the medieval
www.pbk.org Spring 2010 15 THE KEY REPORTER Periodicals Postage THE PHI BETA KAPPA SOCIETY P A I D 1606 New Hampshire Ave. NW at Washington DC Washington, D.C. 20009 and at additional mailing addresses Tel: (202) 265-3808 Fax: (202) 986-1601
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