Pharos October+November 2018

Monday October 29, 2018 at 7:30 pm
Upper Hall, Hellenic Community Centre
4500 Arbutus Street, Vancouver, BC

Michael Griffin, UBC

Exploring Socrates and the Buddha

Socrates of Athens and Siddhartha Gautama are regarded as founders, respectively, of European philosophy and Buddhism. They were also near-contemporaries, who taught by lively question and answer, upended many of the cultural assumptions of their time, and established traditions of scientific and religious inquiry that would last for millennia. In this talk, I’ll explore some of the similarities and differences of these philosophers and their continuing influence today


Monday November 26, 2018 at 7:30 pm

Upper Hall, Hellenic Community Centre
4500 Arbutus Street, Vancouver, BC

Maxwell Cameron, UBC
Aristotle, Practical Wisdom (Phronesis) and Democracy

Aristotle believed that those who occupy public office should possess the character and judgment—what he called “practical wisdom” or phronesis — to figure out the right things to do in a particular situation, and to do it in the right way and for the right reasons. Drawing on his recent book, Max Cameron argues that we need practical wisdom more than ever as we grapple with populism, polarization, hyper-partisanship, and the decline of civility in politics.

Pharos April 2018

Monday April 30, 2018 at 7:30 PM
Upper Hall, Hellenic Community Centre, 4500 Arbutus Street, Vancouver
An Evening of Poetry and Music

Phillip Resnick - Poet, Kate Gerson - Clarinet, Erika Gerson - Percussion,  and Laura Blumenthal - Santouri   

Poems about Greece ~ Music from Greece

Phillip Resnick, a political scientist by profession, began writing poetry as a young man in Montreal.  His marriage to Andromache resulted in numerous stays in Thessaly – in Volos and in a village on adjacent Mt. Pelion - and rekindled his poetic inspiration.  He has published several collections of poems, many of which deal with his Greek experiences and memories.  For Pharos, Phillip will read an assortment of his Greek-themed poems, including several from his just-published book, Passageways.  Musicians Kate Gerson, Erika Gerson, and Laura Blumenthal are members of the Vancouver-based band Musiki Parea which specializes in traditional Greek and Turkish Music.  They will present musical interludes with songs from Epiros and Macedonia.