Plutarch: “How to Be a Good Leader”
A Series of Conversations with UClub Favorite
Giacomo Calabria
Wednesday Evenings In Person at the UClub
11/3, 11/17, 12/1, 12/15
When
Wednesday, November 3, 2021 at 6:00 PM EDT-to-
Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at 7:30 PM EST
Add to Calendar
Attend one or all four - whatever your schedule allows!
The University Club of Albany Foundation, with the support of Humanities New York, is pleased to present a series of talks on Plutarch: “How to Be a Good Leader,” with UClub favorite Giacomo Calabria.
We are pleased to present these conversations safely in person, with adequate space for physical distancing.
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS: This series is to analyze and discuss the Ancient Greek philosopher Plutarch’s most famous writings on leadership. We will read essays on leadership from Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, discuss them, and compare the historical figures and situations covered to US history. The goal is to give participants a better understanding of leadership, which aspects of it remained favorable throughout history, and what lessons can be learned from Plutarch to better understand and practice good leadership.
Audience participation is both welcome and encouraged! Please feel free to bring questions for open discussion.
SYLLABUS
Session 1: Introduction: Plutarch on Leadership
How to Be a Leader, by Plutarch & Jeffrey Beneker (intro)
Session 2: Plutarch on Education
“To an Uneducated Leader,” by Plutarch
Session 3: Plutarch on Success
“How to Be a Good Leader,” by Plutarch
Session 4: Plutarch on Age
“Should an Old Man Engage in Politics?” by Plutarch
The cost is $12 per session or $40 for all four.
PRESENTER:
Name: Giacomo Calabria
Email: Jacopo.della.Quercia@gmail.com
About the Presenter:
For a dozen years, Calabria has taught aspects of history, literature, and the arts. He has lectured on Machiavellian political psychology at New York University, on William Shakespeare at the Mark Twain House & Museum, on Abraham Lincoln at the New York State Museum, and on narrative medicine at Albany Medical College. He is leading several reading and discussion programs in and around the Capital Region as a scholar for Humanities New York.
Calabria’s published works (under the pen-name Jacopo della Quercia) include two novels:
- License to Quill (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2015); and
- The Great Abraham Lincoln Pocket Watch Conspiracy (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2014).
Other published writings include:
- “A Machiavellian Discourse on Game of Thrones,” in Game of Thrones vs. History (Wiley, 2017);
- “6 Myths About The US Constitution Too Many People Believe” (Cracked, 2016); and
- “Abraham Lincoln’s Steampunk Presidency” (Slate Magazine, 2014).
Calabria’s writings, which he says are aimed at making scholarly research accessible and enjoyable for all audiences, have appeared in publications ranging from Readers Digest to The New York Observer to the Sociedad Tolkien Española Noticias (Spanish Tolkien Society News).