During last weekend’s admitted student’s event in Annapolis, students and families that attended the overnight or arrived on Friday were treated to a Friday Night Lecture, delivered by our own Daniel Harrell.

Mr. Harrell, who received his PhD from Emory University, is in his twentieth year on the faculty at St. John’s College. As it happens, his lecture, entitled “The Wonder in the Word “Open,” was inspired by our admissions materials.

Our brochure and view book feature the word prominently on the cover. On the brochure, it is repeated in French and Attic Greek–the two languages studied by all of our students.

Mr. Harrell’s lecture explored the various things we can mean by the word open, and the importance of the role of openness in inquiry. It was a perfect lecture for incoming Johnnies and their families, inviting them to consider the ways in which they would learn here at St. John’s, and draw connections to the class discussions many of them had observed in the prior days.

An audio recording of the lecture has been published by our library, and can be found here: http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/show/3819

Happy listening!