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A group of artists, writers and intellectuals has launched a new "university" in London, designed to help those too tied up with work to appreciate the finer things in life, like art, books and travel.
The School of Life, operating out of a small shop in the arty district of Bloomsbury describes itself as a "chemist for the mind" that plans to dispense "cultural solutions to everyday ailments". It hopes to inspire those who have got out of the habit of reading decent books, cannot keep conversation flowing at dinner parties, or need to expand their holiday horizons.
The philosopher Alain de Botton, author of How Proust Can Change Your Life, and Sophie Howarth, a former curator at the Tate Modern Gallery, are among the faculty members.
The founders believe that people with too little time to spare need after-hours instruction in how to use what little they have to live a more fulfilled existence. "Perhaps you have a burning question for a paleontologist. Perhaps you're considering a career change and want to talk first-hand to a photographer or landscape designer. The School of Life has a large freelance faculty who are willing to meet with you for an hour of chat in exchange for a small fee,” the website explains, listing 50 experts.
Among courses being offered later this year are instruction in life, love, work, family and politics. A typical course, in love, will explore why relationships are so complicated and why attraction ebbs and flows. "We draw on ideas from philosophy, psychoanalysis, literature and art. We discover what the likes of Plato, Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Freud had to say about compassion, empathy and self-love," the instructors promise.
Courses run for six weeks and cost 195 pounds.
參考譯文：
一群藝術(shù)家、作家和知識(shí)分子在倫敦創(chuàng)建了一所新的“大學(xué)”，旨在幫助那些埋頭于工作的人們欣賞生活中更加美好的事物，比如藝術(shù)、書籍和旅游等。
這所生活學(xué)校開在布魯姆斯博里藝術(shù)區(qū)的一間小作坊，它把自己形容為“頭腦的藥劑師”，打算給“日常疾病開出文化處方”。該學(xué)校希望能啟發(fā)那些丟掉了讀好書的習(xí)慣、不能在晚宴上侃侃而談，或者需要利用假期擴(kuò)大視野的人。
《擁抱似水年華》的作者、哲人阿蘭•德•波頓和泰特現(xiàn)代美術(shù)館的前館長(zhǎng)索菲•豪沃思都是這個(gè)學(xué)校的教職人員。
學(xué)校創(chuàng)建者認(rèn)為，那些沒有多少空閑時(shí)間的人需要額外的指導(dǎo)，學(xué)會(huì)用他們有限的時(shí)間過上更加充實(shí)的生活。“也許你正有一個(gè)十分想知道的問題要詢問古生物學(xué)家，也許你正考慮換個(gè)工作、想直接跟某位攝影師或景觀設(shè)計(jì)師談?wù)劇Ｉ顚W(xué)校有很多自由職業(yè)的教職員，愿意跟你面對(duì)面談上一個(gè)小時(shí)，只收取一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)費(fèi)用。”網(wǎng)站如是說明，并列出了50位專家。
今年晚些時(shí)候開設(shè)的課程將包括關(guān)于生活、愛情、工作、家庭及政治方面的指導(dǎo)。標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的愛情課程將會(huì)探究情感關(guān)系為什么如此復(fù)雜，以及相互之間的吸引為什么起起落落。講師們承諾，“我們將從哲學(xué)、心理分析、文學(xué)和藝術(shù)中選取內(nèi)容，我們將了解像柏拉圖、莎士比亞、托爾斯泰和弗洛伊德這樣的人關(guān)于同情、共鳴及自愛的認(rèn)知。”
這些課程為期六周，學(xué)費(fèi)195英鎊。
