Spinning Circles Round the Sun in Arkansas

Digest No. 2 - October 2023

The previous monthly round up post was surprisingly popular (it is, to date, my most read post), so I’ll give round 2 a try.

On Reading & Researching

I’ve been reading a lot of Edgar Rice Burroughs lately. The books are straightforward in prose and plot. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the sixth Barsoom book, The Master Mind of Mars. And I’ve started the Pellucidar series, finishing the first and second books following David Innes. Burroughs knew how to create a world and compel you to want more. If the Burroughs Estate wants to do right by these works in film, I’ve got some ideas for them.

My projects at the Classical Education Research Lab are well underway. The grade reporting survey has started to receive responses. I won’t have a full picture on this one until May though. My work on hiring practices is plodding along and I might have something concrete to report on that by the end of the year. I’m also brainstorming how to get alumni to respond to surveys. If I crack this one, I might win a Nobel Peace Prize or something.

On Writing

I sent my revisions off to PIETAS journal on Stuart Sherman and the New Humanists. The edits took more time than I anticipated, which I attribute to the fact that their suggestions were helpful and correct. The essay is being reviewed again before it will be approved for publication, so I might have a few more changes to make. I am grateful for any chance to encourage people to read about Sherman, or even better, to read his works. When I first read his essay on Shakespeare in On Contemporary Literature, I knew immediately that I’d found a kindred mind. I’d like to do more work on his writings in the future.

My review of Thales Press's Writing and Rhetoric, vols. 1-2 is finished. It’s a nice curriculum and I think it has some commendable aspects for the Classical classroom. I’ll link to the review once it is published.

The James G. Martin Center is awaiting an essay I’ve written on classical education. George Leef asked me to write something up after we met at the Fall ‘23 Philadelphia Society meeting. The JMC is an interesting group and I hope the piece will meet their standards.

I continue working on the edited collections of essays, the first centered on The Neverending Story and the second about Ernest Hemingway. I hope to have both manuscripts complete and in the hands of the publisher by the end of the semester.

Looking to next year, I’ve started working on an essay for The Ciceronian Society’s annual conference. I’m part of a panel on The Inklings and Classical Education, and my specific talk is on Charles Williams. I enjoyed reading a bunch of Williams’s novels the last couple of months and I am looking forward to the conference.

Charles Williams

On Publishing

Disney and the Moral Imagination hit the shelves back on September 21. You can purchase it here. If you’re interested in acquiring a copy from me directly, just shoot me an email: hadleyonfire@substack.com.

Batman’s Villains and Villainesses, published by Lexington Press, is also out and available for purchase. I don’t own any copies of this one, but you can always ask your local Library to purchase a copy.

On Traveling & Speaking

I went to Philadelphia Society Fall meeting and met a lot of great people, as well as saw a few friends. I hope to attend the Spring 2024 conference in Tampa.

On September 29th, I was at Ozark Catholic Academy where I gave two professional development talks. The first was an overview of the Liberal Arts Tradition and can basically be thought of as a giant plug for Clark and Jain’s excellent book on the topic. The second consisted of thoughts and advice on how to use commonplace books effectively in the classroom. As someone who was initially skeptical of this practice, I have spent a lot of time considering how best to use it and now consider it an essential aspect to classical pedagogy.

I have a couple of conference proposals out in the ether, so I may have more to report on this front next month.

I also did some family traveling, as well. We spent the past weekend in Memphis, TN (10/20-10/22). We visited the Brooks Museum of Art, the Memphis Botanic Gardens, and the Novel Bookstore. The BMA has a decent number of exhibitions, though many were not available as the museum relocates to a new building on the Mississippi River. This piece was one of the unexpected highlights of the visit:

Light of the Incarnation, Carl Gutherz (1888)

Part of the motivation for this trip was to meet Stephan Pastis, the creator of Pearls Before Swine. He gave a fun talk at Novel bookstore, and afterwards signed some things for the attendees. All four of our kids got something signed. There was a decent turnout for the event; any more people and it would have been too many.

We have some more travel coming up in November, so I’m sure to have more to share next month.

On Listening

Truthfully, I’m still listening to a lot of Counting Crows but that’s because it is a way of life at this point. I have also listened to a lot of Nickel Creek of late; perhaps the result of being somewhere that approximates the mountains of my youth? Their new stuff has been great, and the title track of Celebrants is particularly worth your time.