Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum

Scholars without Walls: How our book came to be and why
2019-06-22 10:00 - 11:30 UTC | Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419
We will introduce our new book, Scholars without Walls: The History of the Minnesota Independent Scholars’ Forum. The book, which will be available for purchase at this event, tells how a group of unemployed academics became a current-day organization with monthly meetings, study groups, a regular newsletter, and fiscal agency assistance. In addition to a history of the organization, this new book includes examples of writing by independent scholars—on subjects from health insurance to history.
Authors Lucy Brusic, Evelyn Klein and Mike Woolsey will introduce the book. We will talk about what inspired us to write the book and what we hope to accomplish by publishing it. Copies of the book will be available for sale.
Lucy Brusic is a writer and editor; Evelyn Klein is a writer and editor; Mike Woolsey is an independent scholar and grant writer.

Board Meeting
2019-06-20 16:00 - 17:30, 2019-05-15 19:00 - 21:00, 2019-02-27 16:00 - 17:30, 2018-11-28 19:00 - 21:00 | Highland Park Library, 1974 Ford Pkwy, St Paul, MN 55116
MISF Members welcome!

Philosophy Study Group
2019-06-05 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We will finish our reading of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
By the time we’re done you should be in tune with nature, in the present moment, and ready to become the next Emperor of Rome.

What is Poetry?
2019-05-25 10:00 - 11:30 | Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419
For those who are wondering what poetry truly is, Evelyn Klein will examine its nature, perspectives, and renditions as they developed over the centuries. She will answer the question of whether it is rhyme and meter or anything the writer wants to express. From Aristotle to Carl Jung, from Greek philosophers to modern thinkers, she will shed light on the literary form that has some modern readers mystified. Brief examples of poetry from Chaucer to Billy Collins will shed light on the discussion.
At the end of her presentation, she will give opportunity for a brief writing exercise that will inspire both experienced writers and newcomers. After the presentation, an open mike will follow, and attendees are invited to read their own poetry or that of their favorite poet.
Evelyn Klein has a B.S. in Secondary Education and an M.S. in the Teaching of English. She has taught literature and writing in the public schools, at Century College and, most recently, at the Loft Literary Center. A prize winning poet, her articles and poetry have been widely published, and she is author of three books of poetry, essays, and illustrations, including Seasons of Desire. An independent scholar, she is also editor of The Minnesota Scholar.

History Study Group
2019-05-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We are are going to move on to Part II of John Adams by David McCullough. This is a typical McCullough book: engrossing, thoughtful, and penetrating. Just like the MISF History Study Group.

Philosophy Study Group
2019-05-15 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
For the next couple of meetings we will be reading a book you may already have in your library, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. If you don’t have it, you can find it at most any bookstore or online for only a few dollars. An ebook costs about a dollar, and, best of all, you can find it for absolutely free online. Try gutenberg.org or classics.mit.edu.
For the 15th we will read the first half (books 1 – 6) of this book of classic stoic philosophy. Hopefully, we’ll become happier and more virtuous by doing so. Hopefully.

The Writing Life
2019-04-27 10:00 - 11:30 | Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419
As someone who has been an active writer for more than half a century, I have benefited from the prestige and authority conferred on the general culture by the invention of the printing press. Since that time books have had a short 500-year run, and a mixed success, as cultural influences. While the book’s influence seems to be in decline since the advent of the digital age, we ironically have more books being published today than at any other time in history. What roles do contemporary writers now fulfill, and how should a “serious” writer define this role? I hope to address these issues from my own personal experiences as writer and editor, in the hope that my example is at once typical in some basic ways and therefore instructive.
Emilio DeGrazia, a long-time resident of Winona, Minnesota, taught at Winona State University from 1969 to 2002, and continues to write and edit from his home there. He founded Great River Review in 1977, and it currently is the official literary journal for the creative writing students at the University of Minnesota. He has had a long and varied history as a writer. A first collection of short fiction, Enemy Country (New Rivers Press), was selected by Anne Tyler for a Writer’s Choice Award, and a novel, Billy Brazil (New Rivers Press), was chosen for a Minnesota Voices award. A second story collection, Seventeen Grams of Soul, received a Minnesota Book Award in 1995, and a second novel, A Canticle for Bread and Stones, appeared in 1996. In the past few years DeGrazia published Burying the Tree, his first collection of essays, a memoir (of sorts) called Walking on Air in a Field of Greens, Seasonings, a first collection of poetry, and Eye Shadow, creative non-fiction. He also has had two plays produced and has served two terms as Winona’s Poet Laureate.

Philosophy Study Group
2019-04-24 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We are going to be returning to Being and Time by Martin Heidegger. We will read the first three chapters of Division I of Part I, (through “The Worldhood of the World”).
This is up to page 149 in the Macquarrie and Robinson translation, the “standard” English translation which, once again, can be found for free online (http://pdf-objects.com/files/Heidegger-Martin-Being-and-Time-trans.-Macquarrie-Robinson-Blackwell-1962.pdf). Used copies are also plentiful. This is asking a lot. It is 80 pages of difficult reading. Do the best you can. Regardless, we are expecting a phenomenal discussion.

History Study Group
2019-04-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We are continuing through our list of member-voted books by reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, John Adams (2001) by David McCullough, starting with Part I. This book can be had for around $18 in paperback and $15 as an ebook. However, since this is a prize-winning book by a popular author and has been around for a while, used copies are numerous and cheap.
Those of us who have also been around for a while, and those who haven’t been around for quite so long, and those who haven’t been around very long at all, and the numerous of us who are also cheap: we hope to see you all on the 18th.

Philosophy Study Group
2019-04-03 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We have decided to try a different tack into the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and examine his idea of phenomenology. He disagreed with Edmund Husserl, the person who is most credited with establishing phenomenology as a modern discipline. We will try to take a look at exactly what Heidegger’s disagreements were and what it means for coming to understand his concept of Being.
Our principal source will be Heidegger’s The Basic Problems of Phenomenology (1975), a series of lectures he gave in 1927, shortly after the publication of his Being and Time.
You do not have to purchase the book, however (unless you really want to), since we are only going to discuss the Introduction, which can be found online. The URL for this is listed at the end of this announcement along with some other sources for phenomenology in general. While the only required reading for this meeting is the Introduction, it is suggested that you spend some time with one or more of the other sources to understand how Heidegger’s existential phenomenology differed from that of Husserl and others. His approach is also refered to as hermeneutical phenomenology, so any examination of hermeneutics may also be useful.
This exercise has the advantage that when people ask you what you are up to, you can tell them that you are studying the Heideggerian hermeneutical approach to existential phenomenology. They’ll probably leave you alone after that.
Introduction, The Basic Problems of Phenomenology by Martin Heidegger
https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/heidegge.htm
An outline of The Basic Problems of Phenomenology (appears to be of only a part of the book)
https://www.academia.edu/4009954/Outline_of_Martin_Heidegger_The_Basic_Problems_of_Phenomenology
SEP article on Phenomenology
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/phenomenology/#Bib
IEP article on Phenomenology
https://www.iep.utm.edu/phenom/
Wikipedia article on Phenomenology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_(philosophy)
Wikipedia article on hermeneutics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeneutics
2007 lectures on Heidegger by Hubert Dreyfus (thanks to Cathy for telling us about this)
Phenomenology looks like it is covered in the first few of the 28 lectures
https://archive.org/details/Philosophy_185_Fall_2007_UC_Berkeley/Philosophy_185_Fall_2007_UC_Berkeley_Lecture_01_Phil_185-Lecture_1_20422.mp3
It is also at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaIWz_87Kz0
Handouts for the Dreyfus 2007 lectures
https://web.archive.org/web/20170911095625/http://socrates.berkeley.edu:80/~hdreyfus/185_f07/html/HandOuts.html
Later lectures on Heidegger by Hubert Dreyfus (probably from the same class in 2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywuNea7-1Q8

History Study Group
2019-03-28 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
There were two books which were tied for second among those nominated and voted upon by our members. Of these two we chose Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time (1995) by Dava Sobel as the next one to read.
The British Book of the Year in 1997, it is available in paperback for less than $14 and as an ebook for no more than $12. Since it is relatively short and we have an extra week to read it, we are going to only spend one session on the book. So we will see you on the 28th at 93.277518 W (and 44.926556 N).

Ignatius Donnelly: Ultimate Independent Scholar
2019-03-23 10:00 - 11:30 | Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419
Ignatius Donnelly; poet, promoter, politician, orator, and author; was arguably the most interesting figure in Minnesota history. Although today he is largely dismissed as a crank, Donnelly was an indefatigable champion of the nineteenth century’s underdogs. His writings were both a reflection of the times and of his moods. His 1890 Caesar’s Column was the first great dystopian novel and a best seller in spite of its populist pessimism. Donnelly’s non-fiction ceded no field to the experts. His Atlantis: The Antediluvian World led to scientific speculation and many fantasy novels. Despite his numerous defeats, many of his ideas eventually came to fruition, creating an impressive legacy.
Patrick Coleman has been the Acquisition Librarian at the Minnesota Historical Society for the last three decades. In that curatorial position he has been responsible for adding approximately 100,000 volumes to the library, making it the premier place for scholarship on all Minnesota topics. He is especially proud of the MHS library’s growth in the previously neglected areas of Minnesota fiction, poetry, fine press, and artist’s books. Coleman writes and lectures on topics related to Minnesota’s culture and history. He served as the President of the Library of Congress’s Minnesota Center for the Book, presided over the Minnesota Book Awards, is on the boards of Coffee House Press and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, and received the Kay Sexton Award in 2009 for his contributions to Minnesota’s community of the book. Currently, he serves as an Executive Leadership Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Integrative Leadership. His avocational interest include Irish literature (collecting one of few complete sets of the Cuala Press, run by the sisters of W. B. Yeats,) wilderness canoeing, cross-country skiing, and backpacking.

Philosophy Study Group
2019-03-13 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We are going to dip our toe into Martin Heidegger’s seminal work, Being and Time. First published in 1927, Being and Time is considered one of the most important philosophy books of the 20th century. This book is neither short nor easy, so we will read and discuss the introduction to see how far we want to delve into it.

The Power of Landscape Art
2019-02-23 10:00 - 11:30 | Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419
Minnesota Public Radio frequently mentions the power of classical music. Bob Brusic will adapt this theme and talk about The Power of Landscape Art. He will discuss the various ways in which the genre of landscape painting has been used to communicate ideas and evoke emotions. The talk will be illustrated.
Brusic has been a docent at MIA for ten years. Previously he was the pastor at Luther Seminary. He has degrees from Dartmouth and Harvard and is a longtime member of MISF.

History Study Group
2019-02-21 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We will conclude the book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus (2006) by Charles C. Mann. This has been a really great book. I can think of one-thousand-four-hundred-and-ninety-one reasons you should read it and then come and share your views. I will be glad to recount them all on the 21st.

Philosophy Study Group, Session 2
2019-02-20 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
The MISF Philosophy Study Group will once again meet in two sessions. Session 1 will be on Monday, February 18, and session 2 will be Wednesday, February 20. Both will discuss Part IV, the last section of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert Pirsig. Pirsig, a Minneapolis native, wrote this surprise bestseller in 1974, which has so far sold more than five million copies.
It has become a classic and an important touchpoint for many, while others regard him as a pseudo-philosopher in the same class as Ayn Rand and Carlos Castaneda. Here’s your chance to toss in your opinion. (Tossing note: opinions only.)

Philosophy Study Group, Session 1
2019-02-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

Philosophy Study Group, Session 2
2019-02-06 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
The MISF Philosophy Study Group scheduled for Wednesday, January 30, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, February 6. It will be at 7:00 pm at Curran’s Restaurant in Minneapolis. We will be discussing Part III of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert Pirsig. No matter how you feel about the book, this meeting is something that you should value highly.

Philosophy Study Group, Session 1
2019-01-28 19:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
The next MISF Philosophy Study Group meeting will be in two sessions. Session 1 will be on Monday, January 28, and session 2 will be Wednesday, January 30. Both will be at 7:00 pm at Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis, and both will cover the same ground: Part III of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert Pirsig. You can come to either one or to both.
Persig is now getting into the heart of his arguments about quality. Want to see quality in action? Then come and experience the amazingly clever and insightful ripostes of our members as they skillfully wield their intellectual bludgeons on each other.

The Romansh in Minnesota
2019-01-26 10:00 - 11:30 | Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419
Among the mid-19th century waves of immigrants from northern Europe to the U.S, and Minnesota, the Romansh people from Switzerland were a small but influential group, Often counted with Swiss immigrants as a whole, or with German, French, or Italian immigrants, their story in Minnesota, though carefully saved in family histories, has not been well known publicly.
Barbara Sommer, with support through a Gale Library Fellowship from the Minnesota Historical Society, has researched and written a short history of the move of Romansh people from the canton Graubünden to Stillwater, Le Center, St. Paul and other areas of Romansh settlement in Minnesota.This program will cover information gathered by Sommer about Minnesota’s Romansh immigrants and their families, including the story of her great-great grandmother.
Barbara is a 4th generation Minnesotan, a public historian with a specialty in oral history, and a published author. She became interested in her Romansh heritage when told by a family member many years ago to remember “We are Roman” – a statement often made by people of Romansh background. Interested in learning more about what this meant, in 2017 she applied for a Gale Library Fellowship from the Minnesota Historical Society. With this support, she researched and began to document Minnesota’s little known Romansh story. The results of her work are available on MNopedia (http://www.mnopedia.org/group/romansh-minnesota).

History Study Group
2019-01-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
Our new book is 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus (2006) by Charles C. Mann. This book can be had for around $15 in paperback and $14 as an ebook. For the 16th we will read the first five chapters. The author uses recent research to upset many of the assumptions that people have had about Native Americans before the arrival of European explorers.
You will not be upset, however, by reading and discussing this book with the literate, intelligent, witty, cosmopolitan, friendly, gracious, and good-looking folks who show up at our meetings. And you could be one of them by just coming.

Board Meeting
2019-01-16 16:00 - 17:30 | Highland Park Library, 1974 Ford Pkwy, St Paul, MN 55116

Philosophy Study Group
2019-01-07 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We will start reading one of the most influential books written by a native of Minneapolis, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974), by Robert Pirsig. This book may already be in your library or, if not, it can be had for less than $8 (the 25thanniversary paperback edition of 2006), or for $8 as an ebook. For January 7th we’ll read Parts I and II.
This is an ambitious assignment: about a chapter a day. But the chapters are short and the book is basically a philosophical novel. Do the best you can and we’ll adjust next time if necessary. Please note that attendees are expected to supply their own tools. And be sure to wear clothes you won’t mind getting dirty… just kidding. Really, all you have to do is bring your motorcycle.

History Study Group
2018-12-19 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We will conclude our book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. This will be an opportunity to forget the busyness of the holidays with all its commercialism, family scheduling, meal planning, and figuring out what to give to whom; and spend some time talking about murder, corruption, and our abuse of Native Americans.

Philosophy Study Group (session 2)
2018-12-13 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We are turning to the topic of philosophy of science with an examination of a book considered a classic in this field: The Logic of Scientific Discovery by Karl Popper. First published in Germany in 1934, Popper rewrote it for the English edition in 1959. He later added chapters on quantum mechanics and corroboration as well as more appendices. We will cover Part I for this meeting. The price of this book new is all over the place, but it is generally available in paperback for around $17. As an ebook, it is for sale in epub format on Google books for $16, but is $26 for Kindle (or rent it for $8 for a month). It can be found for less – but not a lot – as a used book. Note, however, that not all editions contain the extra material. The best deal, easily, is on archive.org: free. Another great deal: We don’t charge anything to come to our meetings, unless you include reading the book…which you will surely do.

Philosophy Study Group
2018-12-10 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We are going to discuss Plato’s dialogue Phaedrus for this meeting. If you don’t already have a copy of this dialogue, it is readily available online. Project Gutenburg (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1636) has it in several different ebook-type formats, but if you prefer plain text or PDF, you can go to http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedrus.html.
There are also summaries and outlines available, such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaedrus_(dialogue) andhttp://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/Phaedrus-outline.html. Commentaries on the dialogue are so numerous that you have probably been deleting them from your inbox. If you don’t have time to read the entire dialogue, reading a summary is acceptable. Feeling guilty about doing so is also acceptable.

Philosophy Study Group
2018-11-26 19:00 - 21:00 | Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We will finish our book, Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things that Matter, by Peter Singer. The sections we haven’t read yet are Sex and Gender; Doing Good; Science and Technology; and Living, Playing, Working. If any of these interest you, be sure to join us.
