Professor Kozlowski Lectures

Dostoevsky (and Professor Kozlowski) once again turns his attention to Brother Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov - but where is he?  Three months have transpired and it seems that Alyosha keeps missing him, though his effects are felt everywhere that he goes.  What is going on with Brother Ivan? If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/

Professor Kozlowski looks at this sudden and seemingly-inexplicable tangent in Dostoevsky's storytelling: a diversion from the main story and characters to consider an otherwise unmet character, only partially-related to the secondary plot of the novel, three months after the (unjust?) arrest of Dmitri Karamazov.  Why does Dostoevsky make these choices, and why does our plot now rest on a thirteen- (two weeks from fourteen!)-year-old kid? If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/

Professor Kozlowski looks at the investigation and interrogation of Dmitri Fyodorovich Karamazov through three interpretive lenses: that of the popular detective novel or police procedural, the social/psychological novel, and the thematic lens discussed in prior lectures.  The result is another layered, nuanced set of chapters in a complex novel, but we must be sure to resist the temptation to over-simplify its role here. If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/

Professor  Kozlowski discusses the latter half of Mitya's chapter, including his confrontation with (and generosity toward) the two poles, his success with Grushenka, and his remorse about killing (?) Grigory - just in time for his arrest and questioning in the next section. If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/

Professor Kozlowski confronts Dostoevsky's Russian Nationalism in the light of Putin's war on Ukraine, as well as the whole of Dostoevsky's legacy - good and bad - in the hopes of justifying the celebration of a Russian writer despite current Russian aggression (perhaps unsuccessfully).  He also discusses Mitya's frantic efforts to extricate himself from his dire circumstances, even to the point of murder(?). If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/

Professor Kozlowski discusses the funeral of Elder Zosima, and what Dostoevsky reveals about the nature of Christian hypocrisy, as well as tracking the development of Alyosha Karamazov through despair, rebellion, and redemption.  For next week, we break Book Eight ("Mitya") in half - Chapters 1-5 for next week; Chapters 6-8 for the week after. If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/

"The Grand Inquisitor" may be the most-discussed passage from The Brothers Karamazov, but the Life, Talks, and Homilies of Father Zosima is almost certainly the thematic center of the whole book, unsexy though it may be.  Today Professor Kozlowski talks about that unsexiness, and the unsexiness of Christian theology altogether, along with how Zosima's (and Dostoevsky's) teachings in this book manage to be boring, straightforward, and profound - all at the same time. If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/

At last, it's the moment we've all been waiting for: Professor Kozlowski discusses Rebellion and The Grand Inquisitor - Ivan's long speech to Alyosha about philosophy, freedom, suffering, and proto-existentialism.  Pack a lunch; this is going to be a long one. If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/

Professor Kozlowski turns his attention to the villains and victims of Dostoevsky's characters in The Brothers Karamazov: Fyodor Karamaov at his most terrible, Katerina Ivanovna at her most manipulative, and the "castle" of Captain Snegirov as they desperately cling to some fragmentary sense of pride. If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/

Professor Kozlowski discusses Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov as it returns to Dostoevsky's comfort zone: Alyosha bustling about, bumping into other characters and listening to their problems.  Today we'll finally be introduced to the nihilistic Smerdyakov, get a better glimpse of Dmitri's personal struggles, and watch fights break out between father and son, rival lovers, and in the comments section. If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/