These essays and capstone papers were submitted by students who took Arts One in 2019-2020 and selected to be published in this annual journal of Arts One student work, entitled ONE. Please see this page for more information about the journal.
Though the essays are provided here for public reading, they are all still copyrighted to their respective authors (listed on each article) and may not be reused or reposted without express permission of those authors. Of course, paraphrasing or quoting from them with proper citation is encouraged!
A Return to the Sea
July 28, 2020
By Shan-Li Barkovich
Edna Pontellier’s story culminates in death, but not in destruction. The last pages of Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening detail Edna’s final moment on the shore of Grand Isle in a position that may indicate her defeat as one who has attempted to break free from the conformities of what it means to be a woman in 19th-century America, but may also represent her success in accepting the impossibility of her situation and taking control of the one thing she has power over: her mortality.
American Madmen: Oppenheimer, Teller, and the Purpose of Science
July 27, 2020
By Camryn Traa
When considering where to lay blame for the hypothetical end of the world, it can be hard to decide whether responsibility lies with the creators of the means of destruction or those who actively put these means to use. This struggle is present throughout Heinar Kipphardt’s play, In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Eichmann, Oppenheimer, and the Perils of Blind Obedience
July 21, 2020
By Erfan Hakim
In Plato’s Republic, Thrasymachus makes the disconcerting claim that “justice is nothing other than the advantage of the stronger” (Plato 338c).What is fascinating about Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil is that Adolf Eichmann falls prey to Thrasymachus’ problematic conception of justice.
Nietzsche and Arendt’s Warnings Against Totalitarianism
July 21, 2020
By Gabriel Cameron
Friedrich Nietzsche and Hannah Arendt have both been misinterpreted with regard to their attitude toward the Nazis, but in fact they both hold very strong and uncompromising anti-Nazi views. I believe Nazism is a version of the ascetic ideal, an ideal which Nietzsche abhors.
What Does Justice Look Like for the “Banal” Adolf Eichmann?
July 8, 2020
By Nola Boasberg
Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil is nothing short of terrifying. The striking candor with which Arendt uses Adolf Eichmann’s 1961 trial to bring to light the horrors committed under the Third Reich is so irreconcilable with what we want to be true about the moral compass of mankind that it may be easier to pretend these events are all fiction, just an appalling thought experiment as to how far a society is able to go towards injustice and evil under the right circumstances.
