Sips & Scholars: On Earthly Delights: Theorizing Paradise with Hieronymus Bosch with Rebecca Ariel Porte

Class is in session this summer! We’re partnering with the Brooklyn Institute of Social Research to offer the second annual Sips & Scholars series, free lectures set in bars, parks, cafes, and restaurants all over Brooklyn. This session, entitled "On Earthly Delights: Theorizing Paradise with Hieronymus Bosch" will be led by Rebecca Ariel Porte. 

What does Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights have to tell us about the meaning of paradise on earth in a time when "the old is dying and the new cannot be born"? Concentrating on different details in the late medieval painting's three panels--Eden, the Garden of Delights, and Hell on Earth--this lecture explores how Bosch's triptych captures the experience of living past the promised end of the world and asks why imagination turns to the collective dream house of paradise when it seems impossible to build in reality. 

Food and refreshments will be available! Please RSVP in advance. 

Everyone is welcome! Come ready to learn and open to discuss interesting questions together. Advanced reading is not required, but we encourage you to check out the suggested booklist. 

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PARTICPANT

 

Rebecca Ariel Porte is a member of the Core Faculty at Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, specializing in literature and aesthetic philosophy and theory. Her recently completed manuscript, On Earthly Delights, is a novel theory of paradise as "dream house of the collective," centered on Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, The Garden of Earthly Delights, John Milton's Paradise Lost, and the cultural and political legacies of Islamic-world garden forms. A book of essays about poems, Impossible to Take Alive, is forthcoming from University of Chicago Press.

 

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About Greene Garden

Nestled in the heart of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, the Greene Garden is a vibrant, member-run community space rooted in wellness, education, and environmental stewardship.

As part of the Brooklyn Queens Land Trust, we nurture a green oasis where neighbors gather for events and build deeper connections with one another and the land. From youth programming and wellness classes to seasonal celebrations and volunteer days, the Greene Garden is where community grows.

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About The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research

The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research is an interdisciplinary teaching and research institute that offers critical, community-based education in the humanities and social sciences. Working in partnership with local businesses and cultural organizations, we integrate rigorous but accessible scholarly study with the everyday lives of working adults and re-imagine scholarship for the 21st century.