Speaker: President Russell King Osgood
Title: Sir Thomas More's Utopia and How It Relates to His Conduct of Legal Business While Lord Chancellor in the 1520s
Date: Thursday, 1 September 2005
Trevor Austin on Osgood's Speaking Confidence
During Professor Osgood's lecture, I was amazed by the ease with which he addressed the assembly. He seemed perfectly comfortable in his role as lecturer. His relaxed manner impressed me because I have difficulty conveying confidence to an audience even if I know the subject well. Some people are probably able to convey confidence naturally but I suspect many have to work at it. After the lecture, I wondered whether Professor Osgood has alwyas been a confident speaker or if he achieved confidence through practice.
Ali Conlon on Attentiveness in Convocation
President Osgood is a brilliant but dry speaker (Sam Rebelsky). I enjoyed
his commentary on Utopia - I agree that lawyers should be banished
from Utopia, mostly because I can see myself being a lawyer and I most
definitely should not be allowed in any sort of Utopia. In between naps,
I caught some of what he said and found most notable the idea that marital
infidelity should be punishable by death, international treaties have
no worth and are a waste of time, and the idea that the law should be
designed to govern equally the rich and the poor. I also enjoyed his
comments about Judge Roberts. I guess being forced to go to convocation
isnt completely terrible, other than the fact that the benches are not
comfortable at all and do not lend themselves to slouching.
Ted Cooper on Osgood's Speaking Style
I expected Mr. Osgood to be pompous and portly, or in some other way imposing. While he is most certainly not the liveliest cat in the barrels, nor the least inscrutable prosaist, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself following most of his lecture. I learned plenty of cool stuff about Thomas More, like how his father was "pure and meek", and how he consorted with Desiderus Erasmus, whose name pwns, and who also wrote "In Praise of Folly". I'm not certain how much this has to do with Judge Roberts, but the big newz0rz folk like my dad seem to think he's a little conservative but more responsible about it than some. In conclusion, Russel K. Osgood is AOK because he comports himself in a suitably dusty, erudite fashion without being incomprehensible. He gives me hope because maybe someday I can write densely and elaborately without having my writings classified as "turgid". THE END
Azul Freedom Missing
Christine Gerpheide on Expectations of Prior Knowledge
I believe that was the first speech in which I have attended where
I wasn't supposed to already have read the book (or at least wasn't
supposed to have read it for homework the night before). It was not
what I expected for such a speech, however. Mr. Osgood used much less
textual references from Utopia than I expected. He used primarily
biographical information about Sir Thomas and quotes from other literary
analysts on the text. This kind of support made for a more impartial
approach (in my opinion), which I preferred because I hadn't read the
book yet. The large variety of points of view (started with all of
the somtimes-seeming-contradicting Utopian laws in the beginning, and
ending with a large number of conclusions) was a tactic very new to me,
but it seemed appropriate.
Hak Kim on A Summary of the Content
There was a lawyer whose name was Thomas More in Britain at 15th
century. He was a son of a famous judge, Sir John More. He was educated in
St. Anthony school in London. He grew up wealthy and became a politician
too. Thomas More was killed by King Henry for opposing him. He wrote
a book about Utopia. Utopia is a fictional conversation. Utopia is a
heavenly world. In More's book, Utopia is considered in two ways. Serious
& non-serious ways. Also, the book says about 14 main important things
related to law. Husband and wife should not cheat on each other.
For instance, There is no lawyers laws must be interpreted in the most
obvious way. And law should be few.
Becca Mackenzie on Satire
Unfortunately, the email system ate Ms. Mackenzie's contribution, in which
she considered the question of how much of Utopia was satiric and
the dangers of writing a piece that is both serious and satiric.
Scott McIntyre on Osgood as Speaker
I would agree that President Osgood is a dry speaker, but he did seem to know a lot about Sir Thomas More. I think if Mr. Osgood really wanted to improve his lectures, he should learn to speak with a less monotone voice. Also, shorting his sentences whenever possible would go a long ways in making his lectures easier to follow.
Matthew Montemore on Utopia's Legal Model
I found the legal ideas that Sir Thomas More presents in Utopia to be
quite thought-provoking. A simple, clear legal system that forces
citizens to argue their own cases seems idealistic, but desirable.
Citizens would have to be aware of the law and would have to take direct
responsibility for their actions. An emphasis on the justice of the
situation rather than legal technicalities also seems desirable; however,
I do not know how it would work. There are far too many situations where
justice is questionable, and this system would probably be too subjective.
In the real world, it would be nearly impossible to depend so heavily
on the personal viewpoints of judges. This would also give judges a
huge amount of power, and it would be easy for them to abuse it.
Emmanuel Munoz on More's 14 Statements
Mr. Osgood presentation on Sir Thomas More's Utopia and how it related
to his conduct of legal business while he was Lord Chancellor was really
dry and a topic that I have no knowledge of whatsoever. The key topic
through out the whole discussion was the 14 statements that Sir Thomas
More interpected law would be like in Utopia. The 14 statements were
very unique and gave much insight to More's beliefs.and how as a young
man he believed the legal system should be. It was interesting to the
views he encounted as he developed from a young teen to an older more
mature man. Mr. Osgood was very precise and gave many examples what
More did as Chancellor and what he would of done with Utopia. More was
serious about law and wanted the key principles of law to be establish
when he was Lord Chancellor in the 1520's.
Anthony Oliveri on A Variety of Topics
I would have to say that I completely agree with you about President
Osgood's lecturing style. He is very dry, and I often found my mind
wandering, despite my best efforts. But the portions to which I listened
were indeed well crafted and obviously well researched. While
I admitidly know little about Thomas More or Utopia, I found the
correlations between Utopia and More's term as Chancellor insightful -
I especially liked the 14 points about Utopia. But the one thing that
stuck out most in my mind, perhaps because you just told me the other
day not to do this, was when Osgood said something to the extent of
"In the next few paragraphs, I will tell you the conclusions I came
to while looking at the relationship between....etc." Other than that,
it was a very good introduction to the convocation series.
Siddharth Srivastava on The Content of Osgood's Talk
The convocation address dealt mainly with the life and works of Sir
Thomas More, Legal Aide and Lord Chancellor in the court of King Henry
the VIII of Britain. President Osgood initially spoke of the political
and religious situation that characterized the times of Thomas More,
and then went into greater detail, describing his famous work Utopia.
Utopia, as the name suggests, primarily deals with Thomas More's
idealistic version of the "prefect world", and more specifically refers to
the ways in which jurisprudence maybe altered (his famous 14 statements)
to produce a more equitable and just world. There has been, however,
some speculation regarding the seriousness of the book, with debate over
which statements were written in jest and which were meant to be serious
suggestions. Also, Book II of Utopia has often been criticized
for being non- serious and even preaching non- Christian values.
Sir Thomas More has otherwise, been largely accredited for his
contribution to common law and Chancery, i.e. a legal system where
Chancellors (akin to Judges) had the right to govern by conscience and
consider each case on its own merit instead of adjudicating by a set of
laws established by custom. In his professional life, he also served as
Chancellor to the Duchess of Lancaster for several years, in addition
to being Lord Chancellor in the court of Henry VIII.
Despite having an almost exemplary career in law, More resigned from
his position as Lord Chancellor because of his disapproval of Henry
VIIIs stance toward the church. He was ultimately beheaded because of
his strong religious views and refusal to acknowledge the supremacy of
the King of England over the Holy Roman Church.
Sam Tape on A Variety of Points
The convocation today was quite informational. Although I happen to think
the information was given in not the best ways. Unfortunately, President
Osgood is not the best at delivering a 45 minute lecture on Sir Thomas
Mores Utopia. Many of his points were well thought out and structured,
but between the time of making the point and then elaborating, he loses
his audiences attention. Utopia presents ideas about how to run the law
in a perfect society, the main point is that lawyers should no exist, and
the people should defend themselves. I am very much looking forward to
the convocation in two weeks: Media and Government: Strange Bedfellows.
;
Check with Bobby