Biography
Amy Thomas Elder has been a Basic Program instructor since 1999. She holds a BS in biology and advanced degrees in classics and the study of religion. Her research at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago dealt with allegory and textual interpretation in early Christianity. For many years she taught in and directed the Odyssey Project, part of the Bard College Clemente Course, a humanities program for adults living on low incomes. Currently, she is working with colleagues to develop the End(s) of Humanity initiative, exploring what the humanities—and more specifically, the reading and discussion of classic texts—have to do with comprehending our historical situation—and especially, with the task of understanding and responding in some way to current existential threats. With Charles Thomas Elder, she is author of “Reading Against Apocalypse: The Paradox of Great Books in a Terminal World,” forthcoming the New American Studies Journal. Having buried Rodya and Sonya, she now lives with Apollo and Hades, and when they move out, she plans to get two girl cats to call Chloe and Olivia, hoping that they will like one another.