Santa Clara University

Interim Facilitator: Phyllis Brown, English

We value love, money, fun, faith, work, thought, inspiration, community, and friendship. Why? Is it enough to say that these things help us to survive in the world, or do we value these things for reasons that are much more difficult to explain? In this Pathway, we explore a more complex and controversial motivation for human energy, an interest in beauty. It is an interest we do not always embrace, often preferring the less risky concepts of “cute” or “cool.” But while Thomas Kinkade and Kenny G might fit right in, Beethoven sonatas and Michelangelo sculptures are difficult to characterize with such perfunctory terms. We encourage students setting off on this Pathway to consider whether there is a realm of the beautiful and, if there is, identify some of its characteristics and manifestations.