Dostoevsky is often described as “prescient,” even “prophetic.” How does his final novel, The Brothers Karamazov, published in 1881, help us to understand our complex social and spiritual condition in 2024? This lecture will identify aspects of our contemporary condition — polarization, challenges to our capacity for attention, the desire for spiritual meaning in what seems to be a “secular age” — and the ways in which Dostoevsky’s novel offers possible ways forward, especially in his vision of “incarnational realism,” embodied by the novel’s hero, Alyosha Karamazov.

To complement the evening lecture, Dr Contino will lead a select group of upperclassmen in an afternoon honor seminar. Students will examine the character of Elder Zosima in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and wrestle with questions about God, collective responsibility, death, and joy amidst suffering. 

All are welcome to join! Register at the link below.