On the Boundaries

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…

For most of my career I have grappled,publicly and privately, with the issues of liberal education—and written close to a dozen papers/presentations on the subject—while serving two institutions that celebrate in their mission statements a commitment to the core values of the liberal arts.  Having said that, I wouldn’t pass myself off as an expert. Far…

Over the years I’ve become aware that at a certain stage of life for most of us, some ideas and controlling metaphors begin to “settle in,” and one finds them reappearing in varying incarnations—the same forms in different dress, the same themes with different melodies. One of those themes that keeps popping up in my…

On the Boundaries of Student and Teacher As I offer the last installment of this Tribute to Teachers: a celebration of “the sacred act of teaching,” it is obvious from the previous posts that for a variety of reasons, both personal and work-related, I’ve been reflecting lately on engagement with students in the critical enterprise…

For the second installment of this “Tribute to Teachers”, let me offer an idea that has become one of persistent “legos” that form the building blocks of my mind: and that is the notion of community. I’m sure that’s partly because I experienced and was nourished by a supportive community of colleagues for all my…

With classes past mid-term in the public schools as well as colleges and universities, I want to offer this tribute to teachers.  While I spent my career in the world of “higher” education, here is a special “hats off” to those teachers in elementary and secondary educational programs for the simple reason that I never…

When I first posted this over-long piece on Facebook, February 3, 2017, it was suggested that perhaps I should start a blog!  So, finally, I have, and it seems fitting it should be the first one published. The following is drawn from several papers I wrote between ten and thirty years ago, but whose subject…