The Ethics of Poetry

Speaker: Anne Klaeysen

Once upon a time, everyone loved and recited poetry. It was the language of life. The meter and rhythm of poems helped people to remember them and thus pass along their images, stories, and values from generation to generation. Poetry’s meaning isn’t obscure, but it isn’t simple either; sometimes it takes a lifetime to understand and appreciate a poem, other times an instant. They express our humanity in words and give it meaning. Join Leader Anne Klaeysen in an exploration of the ethical aspect of poetry and celebrate National Poetry Month, established in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets to promote the presence and accessibility of poetry in our culture.

Dr. Anne Klaeysen is a leader at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. She was the first Humanist Chaplain at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY and now serves the Columbia University – Barnard College community as Humanist Religious Life Advisor.  A graduate of the Humanist Institute (Class X), she also co-mentored of class XV and is now co-Dean of the institute.  Dr, Klaeysen was Leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island from 2002 to 2008.  She holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Hebrew Union College, Master’s degrees in Business Administration from New York University and in German from the State University of New York at Albany, and studied at the University of Wuerzburg in Germany.

Ethics-based Sunday school for children is offered