by Brian Volck | Jul 13, 2022 | amnesia, art, history
History is a messy business, an exercise in imposing order on contradictory information, a series of provisional efforts to select signal from noise, and is best understood, as Steven Shapin wrote about the sciences, “as if it was produced by people with bodies;...
by Brian Volck | Aug 6, 2021 | poetry, Uncategorized
A poem for the Feast of the Transfiguration As We See “The transfiguration of our Lord, that is the radiancein which he was bathed at the pinnacle of Mount Tabordid not manifest a change in him, but a changein those who saw him.”-Isaac the Least Suppose the Holy One...
by Brian Volck | Jun 30, 2021 | Uncategorized
It’s been more than fifty years since der Kniefall von Warschau, Willy Brandt’s spontaneous embodiment of German remorse and responsibility for the annihilation of Poland’s Jews. When asked after the event why he knelt, he said, “Unter der Last der jüngsten...
by Brian Volck | Feb 6, 2021 | poetry
Join me Wednesdays in March for the Inaugural L’Engle Seminars featuring poets, scientists, and mathematicians from both sides of the Atlantic. Details and registration here.
by Brian Volck | Jan 7, 2021 | Violence, words
Much has already been written or said about yesterday’s violent assault on the US Capitol building. Some have noted the date, January 6, celebrated by Catholics, Orthodox, and several Protestant traditions as the Feast of the Epiphany. The word, “epiphany,” comes from...
