Here is a “sneak peek” episode from my soon-to-be launched “After Class Podcast“. This episode is on a timely topic given it’s election day. So give it a listen, leave some feedback, then go vote! If you are undecided about who to vote for, check out the platform based voters guide I posted here I […]
Next week four thousand ISU students wearing long gowns and funny hats will walk across a stage and receive an empty red diploma cover in a ritual marking the end of a successful college career. The mood at the various commencement ceremonies on campus is festive. At the one I participate in each year as […]
“We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely.” ― Edward O. Wilson
Here is a statement lifted from the Harvard University website which beautifully captures the larger goal of a college education — and not just for those lucky enough to go to Harvard. It has since been removed from the site but it remains a forceful and articulate defense of the liberal arts and a vision […]
Changes in AP history trigger a culture clash in Colorado – Washington Post
The Wilds of Education by Frank Bruni – New York Times. September 28, 2014 “There’s too much caution in too many schools” Here is a thought-provoking essay that asks questions about the true purpose of education.
A School Board in Colorado seeks to ban the teaching of dissent and protest in the public school curriculum in favor of celebrating free enterprise, respect for authority and a particular brand of patriotism. In response the students stage a walk out and protest. (Click here or photo for link) My students of social movements […]
The following post was written in 2014 during a controversy on our campus involving the resignation of a recently-hired University president, Timothy Flanagan. In just seven months in the position Flanagan had engaged in a series of unprofessional and abusive behaviors. The Board of Trustees paid him $480,000 to leave quietly and provided virtually no […]
I recently had a chance to visit an old friend who moved to Scotland several years ago. He and his wife now have two beautiful children and, as happens in life after kids, our visits now entail more parenting activities than the pub-related kind. One day we went to pick up their seven year old […]
Alan Watts describes in three minutes how to live a truly successful life.