On the Boundaries

In this second post on this topic, let me suggest two other areas where the temptation to absolutize one side of a matter at the expense of all others and, thus, to fall victim to “the simples,” Is massive. One of those is in our struggle with moral choices.  What I want to say about…

The notion of “maturity” is not an easy concept to define.  It’s one of those “garbage can words” into which we often toss whatever meanings suit us at any moment we choose to use it.  And it’s often assumed that “growing up” routinely results in achieving maturity by some inevitable process. Of course, if you…

While it should be obvious from my first post on this subject that I regard the helping relationship and the skills appropriate to it as the dominant theme of leadership, there are subdominant themes that support it and, in my opinion, are just as important.  So in this second part of the blog, let me…

Let me start with some of the assumptions that will inform what I have to say about this rather daunting topic.  First of all, I am not—am not!—setting myself up as some sort of “expert.”  Rather, these reflections—I use the term quite deliberately—are based on my own impressions of the leaders I have “followed” and…

The majority of my posts thus far have been about teaching and learning and the crucial engagement between teacher and student.  Hopefully, then, I have been clear that I believe the purpose of education—especially a liberal arts education—is not merely the “filling” of minds, but the “formation” of minds.  So as important, as crucial, as…

On the Boundaries of Personal Responsibility and the “not my fault” Culture There is a phenomenon in our society which is, at least for me, very troubling.  I would call it the “not my fault” culture.  It is the apparent acceptance of the tendency on the part of many to blame their actions—or anything that…

IV. Program Considerations First, liberal arts learning must self-consciously aim at integration, at helping students gain a sense of the “connectedness of things.”  Education in any structure can degenerate to an exercise in trivial pursuit.  The disciplines have legitimate goals and they have served the advance of human knowledge well.  But unless the disciplines become…

The previous post on this blog ended with this statement:  As someone put it, “the object of an open mind, like an open mouth, is occasionally to close it on something.”  In the next post I will offer what I believe that “something” entails in a liberal arts education.  So, to follow through with that…

Let me begin this second “installment” by calling attention to the fact that I did not entitle this blog “On the Boundaries of the Liberal Arts and Preparation for Career” nor have I defined the issue as a “paradox.”  I do not accept the idea that these are polar opposites—“either/ors”—but would rather argue that the…

In one way or another, Santa Claus and “Jingle Bells” aside, most of us are on a figurative journey to Bethlehem these days. It’s a pilgrimage that’s old, and yet ever new, one we share in ancient lore with the players in the familiar story—Mary and Joseph, shepherds, wise men—and with a great company across all…