Wendell Berry is a former university professor turned farmer, writer/poet, and social commentator. Having written over several decades in multiple genres and addressing an expansive number of areas of human experience, Berry's unique voice converges around two intertwined big ideas: an agrarian vision of life and a focus on the shared life of communities. In short, his agrarianism addresses matters of the common good. This reading group will probe a wide range of Berry's writing to ponder the ways that he works out his agrarian understanding in specific areas of the common good, including economics, ecology, community, and technology.
Reading selections will be drawn mostly from The Art of Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry. Please order a copy from the bookseller of your choice. Some selections will also be available online.
The group, led by Todd Best and Tim Schubert, will meet for the first time on September 25th from 5:15 to 6:15 in the CSC classroom. Details below.
First Session
Topic: "Introducing Berry’s Thought: Agrarianism as Whole Cloth Vision"
Readings: "The Agrarian Standard" and "Damage" and "Healing."
Optional: Watch Bill Moyers interview Wendell Berry on his hopes for humanity for further insights into Berry's unique perspective.
Second Session
Topic: "Agrarian Economics for the Common Good"
Readings: 1. "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front," 2. "Faustian Economics," and 3. "The Pleasures of Eating."
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