Monday, April 25, 2022 - The inaugural event!
"Six or Seven Lessons I Have Drawn from My Long Walk with Soren Kierkegaard"
Gordon Marino, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Curator of The Hong Kierkegaard Library, St. Olaf College
Gordon Marino earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and B.A. from Columbia University. His areas of specialization include History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, and Kierkegaard. He teaches philosophy and related courses as a professor at St. Olaf College and holds a position as the curator of the Kierkegaard Library.
n 2018, Marino published his most recent book, “The Existentialist’s Survival Guide.” He has authored and co-authored numerous works, including “Kierkegaard in the Present Age.” His articles have appeared in internationally acclaimed news sources and periodicals including Atlantic Monthly, New York Times Magazine, Wall Street Journal and the American Poetry Review. He is also a veteran boxing trainer and an award-winning boxing writer.
Having a speaker series is important to share wisdom, especially in a time when the humanities are being cut at many educational institutions,” Marino said. “I am sure the much-beloved Professor Moosa would agree that we need to show the ways in which the study of the humanities helps us become human.”
Moosa, who died in December 2020, was born in Africa and moved to Canada at age 16. He had a degenerative eye disease, which caused him to lose his eyesight in 2006.
In an interview for a university series titled Shaping Minds, Moosa talked about what he enjoyed about teaching:
“The highlight of my classes is when we are opening our souls, when we are talking about life in its rawness. When we are now philosophizing in a passionate way. It’s almost a Zen-like experience,” Moosa said. “When students really start talking and revealing and asking and probing and questioning and they take possession of the material and I become only accessory to the discussion. I’m not a professor anymore, I’m just part of the group. Those are the high points in the classroom.”