Labyrinth concept map 2

This thing you are now reading is a [[hypertext labyrinth]] that shows the relationship of ideas in our humanities class on labyrinths. A labyrinth is a place for wandering around. Click on the links below and follow the paths and read around and get a sense of the topics we will encounter this semester. As you do so, in a virtual sense, you'll be inside a labyrinth, so you can feel what that's like (namely, disorienting or even baffling). Some big picture ideas about labyrinths: * A (multicursural) labyrinth or maze entails [[decision-making|decision]], since you have to decide which way to go -- left or right -- at the end of every hall. * Making a labyrinth is an act of [[craft]]. Recall the "original" labyrinth was created by Daedalus, the mythological craftsman from ancient Greece Labyrinths can be made out of [[stone]]. * We will hear about a "web of stone" in [[Jorge Luis Borges|borges]]'s poem //Labyrinth//. * [[Kerdroya|kerdroya]] in Cornwall in England is made out of stone, in the ancient [[craft]] tradition of Cornish hedging. * We will see the stone labyrinth on the floor of [[Chartres]] cathedral in France. Walking the labyrinth was like a mini pilgrimage to Jerusalem. For purposes of this class, and because every humanities class needs some music to listen to, I suggest a [[pipe organ]] is a labyrinthine instrument. Going through a labyrinth could be a [[transformative experience]].

In his Dream, Lucian decides to "go to college" and pursue //paideia// rather than apprenticing in stonework and becoming a sculptor. In other words, he chooses college over [[craft]]. A decision can mark the start of a [[transformative experience]] -- for example the decision to go to college.

One big theme of the class regards craft: * In Week 1, we see Lucian reject the life of [[stonework|stone]], a grubby banausic career, and instead choose to "go to college" and pursue [[paideia]]. * In Week 3, we take on craft head-on, with the ideas of John Ruskin, a 19th century British writer and thinker. For Ruskin, the handmade is more beautiful than the machine made, and it's more beautiful in part because it reflects the lives of workers who are living full human lives before the degradation of factories arrives with the Industrial Revolution. Ruskin's prime example is the medieval Gothic [[stonework|stone]]work from Venice. * Also in Week 3, we will consider the craft of [[pipe organ]] manufacture. * In Week 4, in the museum visit, we can look for examples of quality craftsmanship. * In Week 7, we will look at [[Kerdroya|kerdroya]], a walkable labyrinth recently constructed in Cornwall, in the southwest of England, with traditional stoneworking techniques * The craft we will practice in this class -- the craft of humanities -- will be creating a concept map and from it a [[hypertext labyrinth]]. (The thing you are reading right now is a hypertext labyrinth.) ** As a craft, we will start with old fashioned pen on paper, with a concept map, and then use Twine software to turnt the concept map (on paper) into a hypertext labyrinth (on the computer).

One of our big weekly topics this semester relates to stone, and stonework, and sculpting. Working stone is of course an example of [[craft]], which is another big semester theme. Week by week -- Week 1 -- Polycleitus, an ancient Greek sculptor, and the idea that mathematical proportions are at the heart of the beauty of the human body, just as in music Week 2 -- Edmonia Lewis, an American sculptor, who fled to Italy to escape racism Week 3 -- Venetian Gothic, that is, the medieval Gothic style of architecture, especially as described by a 19th century British writer and thinker named John Ruskin, in his "The Stones of [[Venice|venice]]." Week 4 -- Baroque stone carving at Mission San José in San Antonio Week 5 -- Chartres cathedral in France, a medieval Gothic cathedral, with a walkable labyrinth design on the floor, and with lots of windows and colored glass for letting light inside Week 6 -- The Farnese Hercules, a larger than lift sculpture of a man who has done his work and is tired (like the college student in about week 6 of the semester :) Week 7 -- [[Kerdroya|kerdroya]] , a stone labyrinth in Cornwall, in the southwest of England, recently opened (2026).

Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine writer of the 20th century who is more closely associated with the [[labyrinth]] than any other writer. We will read just one short poem, entitled "Labyrinth." We will also see walkable labyrinth in [[Venice|venice]] whose design spells out BORGES.

Kerdroya is a walkable classical labyrinth recently constructed in Cornwall in the southwest of England. It just opened in 2026, after seven years of construction. Kerdroya is made out of Cornish hedging, which is a traditional [[craft]] of making [[stone]] walls in Cornwall.

Every humanities class needs some music, and for us it is going to be the pipe organ. For one thing, the pipe organ is a fairly [[labyrinth]] ine instrument -- with all those connections between * Week 1 -- The Stalacpipe Organ in Luray Caverns, Virginia. Not actually a pipe organ, but rather a lithophone, that is a percussion instrument whose sound comes from [[stone]]. * Week 2 -- Introduction to the pipe organ with an "organ phenom" named Anna Lappwood, a rising star (as of 2026) in the field of organ music performance. We'll also trace the pipe organ's invention back to ancient Greece, with the //hydraulis// or water-flute. * Week 3 -- The [[craft]] of organ building, in an organ building studio in Tennessee. * Week 5 -- The organ at Notre-Dame de Paris, the famed medieval Gothic cathedral that burned in 2019, slightly damaging the organ, which has been removed and completely overhauled and reinstalled * Week 6 -- Wanamaker pipe organ in Philadelphia -- the largest pipe organ in the world. We will also see what a [[craft]] it is to keep the organ up and running. * Week 7 -- A performance of heroic, triumphal pipe organ music -- fitting for the end of the semester -- the finale of a symphony for organ by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns.

*This* thing you are reading right now is a "hypertext labyrinth," as we are using the term in this course. It's like a concept map, but it can contain more information, since it is created on the computer, instead of on paper. It was created using the Twine software. For your capstone project, you'll use Twine create your own hypertext labyrinth. Precise instructions are elsewhere -- but this thing you're reading right now is the kind of thing you'll be creating for the capstone assignment. Think of it like the [[craft]] we are learning this semester. Our craft will be creating a hypertext labyrinth, starting with pen on paper and a concept map.

As we go through life, we change. Children and adults differ in more than just size; we are different kinds of people. Going through a labyrinth was a transformational experience for [[Theseus]] -- a young man who went off to meet his fate, a dangerous initiation, but as a hero, he survived. When it's done right, college is a transformational experience -- from regular joe to educated person.

//Paideia// is humanities, let's say. //Paideia// is education in citizenship, rooted in speaking well. //Paideia// is *not* job training! //Paideia// is often seen as the opposite of [[craft]] -- including by Lucian, who tells us that he chose //paideia// and "going to college" over a career in stonework. In this class, we are connecting //paideia// with liberal arts and with humanities itself. We can hope that an encounter with //paideia// will lead to a [[transformative experience]] -- i.e. a transformation into being an educated person. By virtue of signing up for humanities, we have all made the same choice that Lucian did.

Venice is a city in Italy, famous for its waterways and gondolas and barcaroles. * John Ruskin loved Venice for its medieval Gothic architecture, which he wrote about in "The [[Stones|stone]] of Venice." * There is a walkable [[labyrinth]] in Venice that spells out the name [[Borges|borges]]

Theseus entered the [[labyrinth]] on Crete to kill the Minotaur. He entered a child, he came out a man. He had a [[transformative experience]] He had help -- Ariadne, the daughter of the king, gave Theseus a ball of string so he could find his way out.

The cathedral of Chartres in France is one of the great examples of medieval Gothic architecture. The cathedral has a [[stone]] [[labyrinth]] on the floor -- a place for the religious worshiper to make a mini-pilgrimage.