A Passion for Learning

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Welcome to A Passion for Learning, sponsored by the Provost’s Office of Mount St. Mary’s University. A Passion for Learning draws on the ideas and interests of Mount St. Mary’s faculty, students, and alumni who are “inspired by a passion for learning.” We


    • May 12, 2022 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 44m AVG DURATION
    • 14 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from A Passion for Learning

    Passion for Learning, Great Eight, S2. E4: Flannery O'Connor

    Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2022 50:50


    Emma Weinheimer talks with Professor Mary Johnson about the literary works of Flannery O'Connor, known as a Southern, Catholic writer.

    Passion for Learning, Great Eight, S.2.E.3. Plato, the Republic

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2022 58:04


    Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild talk with Dr. John Hersey, Professor of Philosophy at Mount St. Mary's University.Their topic: Plato's Republic.

    Passion for Learning, Great Eight, S.2. E.2. Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2022 51:10


    Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild bring us episode 2 of season 2 of the Great Eight. They talk with Dr. Christopher Anadale, Professor of Philosophy at Mount St. Mary's University. 

    Brain Awareness Week

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 14, 2022 13:35


    Passion for Learning, Great Eight, S.2. E1. Arthurian Legends

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2022 47:07


    Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild return for another season of the Great Eight. They talk with Dr. Susann Samples, Professor of World Languages at Mount St. Mary's University.  Dr. Samples entered the world of King Arthur through her study of German, particularly the High Middle Ages. She compares the German and British traditions and brings to life the Arthurian ideal of fellowship and virtue. 

    Passion for Learning S1. E8: Epic Poems, Beowulf and Song of Roland

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2021 40:23


    Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild speak with Prof. Stephen McGinley, who teaches philosophy at Mount St. Mary's University and farms his land in Emmitsburg. See https://goodsoilfarmllc.com/. Good Soil Farm practices regenerative agriculture in line with Catholic social thought. Prof. McGinley discusses Beowulf, an epic of the 7th century, and Song of Roland from the 11th. Along the way connections are made with Aldos Huxley's Brave New World and G.K. Chesterton's The Ball and the Cross. What pulls it all together? Celebration.

    Message from the Editor

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2021 0:41


    David McCarthy gives a quick word on Season 2 and a few stats about our listeners across the globe.

    Passion for Learning S1. E7: Sophocles's "Antigone" and "Philoctetes"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2021 42:54


    Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild discuss Greek tragedy with Dr. Kurt Blaugher, long-time theatre professor at Mount St. Mary's University. Dr. Blaugher draws out the enduring themes of two plays, "Antigone" and "Philoctetes," and he focuses on the ritual and performative aspects of theatre for the Greeks and for us today. Along the way, we learn some interesting Mount history and that Emma has caught the theatre bug.

    Passion for Learning S1. E6: Augustine's Confessions

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 4, 2021 55:33


    Emma Weinheimer talks with Dr. Paige Hochschild about Augustine and his Confessions. Dr. Hochschild is a historian of the early Church and a systematic theologian, as well as the chair of the department of theology at Mount St. Mary's University.  She studies Augustine in particular. In the Confessions, Dr. Hochschild avers, we find Augustine framing his whole life -- and life itself -- in the light of the grace of God.

    Passion for Learning S1. E5: Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2021 56:15


    Emma Weinheimer and Joshua Hochschild, Ph.D., talk with Dr. Barrett Turner of the Theology Department at Mount St. Mary's University. Dr. Turner is a moral theologian with expertise in political theology. He guides us through Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, from the perspective of a Catholic tradition that goes through Thomas Aquinas, fellow Dominican Fransisco de Vitoria, and St. Robert Bellarmine, SJ.  Dr. Turner explains that Hobbes's work is not well received by his contemporaries and yet shapes much of modern political theory that follows. 

    Passion for Learning S1. E4: Confucius, "The Analects" and more

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 19, 2021 54:50


    Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild have a discussion with Dr. Joshua Brown, theology professor at Mount St. Mary's University. Dr. Brown studies Chinese philosophy and does so in relationship to Catholic systematic theology.  Dr. Brown guides Emma and Dr. Hochschild through a Confucian journey, and they gather insights on how to "think about the world God has made and our place in it."

    Passion for Learning S1. E3: Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2021 47:33


    Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild discuss Thomas Aquinas and his Summa Theologiae with Dr. Justin Matchulat from the Philosophy Department at Mount St. Mary's University. Dr. Matchulat introduces us to the work of Aquinas, saint and doctor of the Church.  Emma and Drs. Matchulat and Hochschild go over the structure of the Summa, its purpose, its "disputed questions" approach, and Aquinas's subtle humor.

    Passion for Learning S1. E2: Machiavelli's "The Prince"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2021 54:13


    Season One: Great EightEmma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochshild, from Mount St. Mary's University, discuss another "book that is great." Dr. Greg Murry provides a review an analysis of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince. "Yes," says Dr. Murry, "it is a great book, and Machiavelli is wrong."Listen to the second episode of a series on great books, or as Dr. Murry phrases it, "books that are great."

    Passion for Learning S1. E1: Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2021 55:03


    Season One: the Great EightEmma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild host a series of discussions on great books, which in episode 1 is a great play -- William Shakespeare's, "The Merchant of Venice." Emma and Dr. Hochschild are joined by Dr. Sean Lewis who presents "The Merchant of Venice" in its historical back ground and enduring significance for us today. Toward the end, Dr. Lewis weaves together the play and the Gospel of Luke, chapter 6. You will have much to think about and ponder after listening.

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