Leonard Cohen Listening Party Kait Pinder (FYP Tutor

spend the whole section exploring the religious and philosophical debates that gripped Europe in this period; looking at the tremendous artistic and literary legacy of the age that gave us Botticelli, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, and Marlowe; or considering the encounters between European modes of thought and the wisdom of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.

As it is, the section offers students a sequence of lectures that introduce them to each of those strands of the Renaissance, while remaining unified by the theme of the Renaissance self: its possibilities, contradictions, triumphs, and failures.

I hope that students will emerge with a sense of this period as a time of thrilling, terrifying possibility and change whose debates and struggles still shape our world—for good and ill. That sense of being part of a huge, ongoing transformation is what makes me so excited to dive into this section! ❧ *Dr. Roberta Barker is also this year’s Chapel Theologian. In the two photos immediately below, Roberta is discussing poetry with students on the chapel retreat to Mersey River near Kejimkujik Park.

ABOVE: KAIT PINDER AND THE LEONARD COHEN LISTENING PARTY GATHERED IN THE SENIOR COMMON ROOM. PHOTO BY MIKE BENNETT.

LEONARD COHEN LISTENING PARTY

BY KAIT PINDER

FYP TUTOR

On the evening of November 16 close to 50 members of the King’s and Dalhousie community gathered in the Senior Common Room to celebrate Leonard Cohen’s life and to discuss his final album, You Want It Darker. Paisley Conrad and I planned this event after Cohen’s album was launched in October. Initially conceived as a party to celebrate Cohen’s latest achievement, after Cohen’s death on November 7, the event became a celebration of an unparalleled life in art. Cohen was 82, and his oeuvre, from Let Us Compare Mythologies to You Want It Darker, spans seven decades. I struggle to name another artist with Cohen’s longevity, or his grace.

As many have noted, Cohen had impeccable timing. His death on November 7 came on the eve of Trump’s election in the United States, and it is perhaps a gift of mercy that such a prophet of love, a poet who spent the mid-60s studying the “authoritarian psychology” that haunted his Jewish community, did not live to see the catastrophic finale of Trump’s hateful campaign. As nearly 50 of us listened to his album in silence and as we discussed the intimacy of the experience afterwards, King’s students found space for some fragile light amid the darkness. Students noted Cohen’s constant confrontation with the dark characteristics of our human condition, his condemnation of the powers that demean human dignity, and his struggle—even in this final spiritual expression—to know for sure that the God he has addressed across his many works will come to him in the end. In “Loneliness and History,” a speech Cohen gave in 1964, he explained the isolation of the prophet and his relation to community. Positioning himself as

(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: HOLOGRAPHIC ZOETROPE, HOLOGRAPHIC ZOETROPE (INTERIOR) 2013, FORGOTTEN FUTURES 2015.

PHOTOS BY ANDREW MILNE.

RUINS OF AN IMAGINED FUTURE

The Artist, Andrew Milne is a current FYP Science student who also studies Physics, Calculus and the History of Science and Technology. Andrew’s installation “The Halifax Constellations” was featured in this year’s Nocturne. PHOTOS BY ANDREW MILNE.

Can you describe how your artwork relates to attending FYP?

The work that I create now realises cutting edge optical technologies by combining computer automated manufacturing and design with obsolesced materials and optical techniques. These re-invented devices create an imagined obsolescence that pulls a contemporary technology from a ‘future’ space into an imagined historical context.

In creating this work, I increasingly felt that I needed a deeper awareness of history to be able contextualise the work, as well as an expanded knowledge of math and physics to open a wider range of technologies that I could engage and discuss. Attending FYP and the History of Science and Technology program will make it possible to do just that.

So, it is as if you are trying to invent a future that has already passed? Yes, at least, I think that’s what is happening.

Can you describe how that process came about? I began making art with an ambition to discuss the emergence of the cyborg body using physical computing and performance. Physical computing is the integration of performing body with sensor based computer controlled systems, typically to generate real-time video and audio. In performing these works, I found that I received as much enthusiasm to access or acquire the technology that had been created as there was an engagement with ideas that the work was attempting to explore. This led me to ask whether there was a way to contextualize technological desire in a way that didn’t directly perpetuate it. Intuitively that led to working with mechanical systems that can be understood through a direct engagement.

Can you give an example of one of these devices?

Absolutely, in 2015 I created a series of augmented reality viewers (above), that were made from wood, mirrors and printed images. A little crank on the side is turned while a person looks through the eyepiece and animated images are seen that appear to exist as part of reality in-front of the viewer.

The photographs on the wall show a ruin in eastern Manitoba and the viewers superimpose a fictional future technology into the photographs. After operating the viewer, there is a sense in which the photograph becomes a ruin of future technology.

Is there anything in FYP which has impacted the way you think about your work, or is it too soon to tell?

The truth is that everything has had an impact, but Aristotle stands out. I had previously felt a link between philosophy and mechanism, but the way that Aristotle is working out ideas not only reinforces this association but extends it to ethics as well. ❧

“There is a crack, a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in” –Leonard cohen

a prophet, Cohen claimed, “I am glad to be alone. A man must be alone before he can declare: We are not alone.” On that dark evening in November, Cohen united us through precisely our loneliness, through the vulnerability and isolation that we share with him and each other. Without escaping the darkness of these days, we nonetheless found the shelter that Cohen promised in “Anthem,” where he sang that “Every heart to love will come, but like a refugee.” ❧

HYPSTER TO FYPSTER:

AN INCOMING FYP STUDENT WRITES TO HER PEERS.

HYP (Humanities for Young People) is a residential summer programme for high school students at the University of King’s College. Here, Nicole Keeping writes of her experience in the inaugural year of HYP. George Elliott Clarke, Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate, was HYP’s first

keynote speaker. PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF HYP.

HUMANITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Know someone who would find a home in HYP? For more information on HYP or to apply online, visit

hyp.ukings.ca

“I even discovered that if you love the work you’re doing, you won’t think of it as work, you’ll think of it as an opportunity to broaden your mind.”

Hello, my name is Nicole Keeping and I am currently in my last year of high school in Corner Brook, Newfoundland! Humanities for Young People (HYP) at the University of King’s College is a phenomenal program in which students get the opportunity to experience firsthand what university life is like, to learn an abundance of different things, and to make connections and friendships that will last a lifetime. I was fortunate enough to be accepted in to this program during the summer of 2016. It was, without a doubt, the most amazing trip of my teenage years!

For someone like me, with a passion for theatre, literature, writing, and learning new things, HYP felt like a home away from home.

During grade 11, I began to realize that university life and adulthood were just around the corner. Like most, I’d been

“A lot of times in high school, kids feel like they are out of place or that the people around them just aren’t into the same things as them. I often feel this way myself. I realized very quickly that this wouldn’t be the case at HYP.”

DR. JANNETTE VUSICH NIGHT FYP

Dr. Jannette Vusich speaks on Ancient Art in our ongoing Night FYP initiative. Night FYP was made possible by a generous donation from an alumna. Please join us for one of the Night FYP Humanities in the evening this coming term.

pushing the thought of growing up way down to the bottom of my mental toy trunk, hoping the Barbie dolls and sock monkeys would keep it far, far away. However, when I was sent an email promoting this program, I felt as though I’d been presented with an opportunity. Maybe by studying at a university for a week would make me less nervous about going there after high school! Boy, was I right! I instantly fell in love with the campus, the food, the professors, the library, the dorms, and EVERYTHING about King’s! I even discovered that if you love the work you’re doing, you won’t think of it as work, you’ll think of it as an opportunity to broaden your mind. I loved it all so much that I hope to become a King’s student this fall!

Also during this trip, I got to learn so many different things about the world we live in today. Whether it was learning about Greek writers and plays (my personal favourite), or how to debate, or how relationships have been displayed through portraits for hundreds of years, I was always interested and hungry to learn more.

However, not everything you learn at HYP is from lectures. After every lecture we would join a tutorial group with about a dozen or so more HYPsters to discuss our opinions and ask questions on the day’s topic. It was amazing how many different viewpoints there were. I was able to open my eyes and empathize the opinions and sentiments of others. I guarantee you won’t find a wiser group of teenagers anywhere else in the country.

Perhaps the best part of this trip was meeting so many amazing, intelligent, and overall great young people. A lot of times in high school, kids feel like they are out of place or that the people around them just aren’t into the same things as them. I often feel this way myself. I realized very quickly that this wouldn’t be the case at HYP. Everyone was so mature (something that isn’t always the case at school!) and we all had so much in common! It was as if we had all known each other for years. It was as if the conversations we were having mattered. It was as if we could all make a difference if we worked together. Its relieving to know there are so many young people out there with the same passions as you

HYP was an absolutely spectacular experience. I will never forget the friends I made, the things I learned, or the experiences I had. I recommend it to everyone I know who isn’t in their last year of high school! For someone who loves English and history and theatre, who loves to learn, and loves to meet new people, there could not be a better program. If it’s something you’re considering, you should most definitely apply. I guarantee you will not regret it! Nicole Keeping, age 17. ❧

ANNOUNCEMENTS

AL TUCK WITH THOMAS MCCALLUM

VICTORIA GODDARD MUSICIANS IN FYP

Al Tuck (FYP 1985-86) recently released his album Fair Country, available on line at altuckmusic.bandcamp.com/album/ fair-country.

Thomas McCallum (FYP 2009-10) recently released his album Crocus Song, available at the King’s Co-op Book Store.

Ben Caplan (FYP 2005-06) released his album Birds with Broken Wings. Follow him at http://bencaplan.ca/.

Becky Siamon (FYP 1998-99) recently released her album, Breakfast Epiphanies, online at beckysiamon.bandcamp.com

BLESSED CHEESEMAKER

Congratulations to Dr. Victoria Goddard, Medievalist, Farmer, Novelist, Cheese Monger on the opening of the “Charlottetown Cheese Company”. PHOTO BY SUSAN DODD.