In his widely discussed book Excellent Sheep, William Deresiewicz ponders why the interests and imagined possibilities of so many students tend to narrow rather than expand during higher education. As freshmen, he notes, many enter with big plans to be poets, statesmen, teachers, filmmakers, or whatever, but are funneled into narrow tracks of career options
READ MORE
People love good streets. Americans who visit Europe often spend days simply wandering the winding streets of small towns (like this street in Bayeux, France), taking photographs, shopping in open-air markets, and experiencing a keen enjoyment of spaces—an enjoyment missing from the suburban streets of their own cities and neighborhoods (like this one near my
READ MORE
I’ve gotten several emails about this article by Joanne Lipman in the Wall Street Journal. The bottom line is that the teachers who get the best results are all about really tough love. The best way to motivate students is to challenge them with realistic (and therefore tough) assessments of their shortcomings. It’s a good idea to shout
READ MORE
For more than thirty years G. K. Chesterton wrote a weekly essay for the Illustrated London News. In a 1932 piece, now known as “The Loss of True Paganism,” Chesterton took note of a phenomenon that is still very much with us today. The phenomenon in question was the decline of religious belief and religious practice
READ MORE
It’s National Employee Freedom Week, and a majority of public-sector union members agree with a recent Supreme Court ruling banning the collection of fees without express consent, according to a just-released poll. The case, Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, was brought against government unions for charging non-members “agency fees.” In
READ MORE
In his work De rege et regis institutione (1599), Jesuit priest Juan de Mariana examines the limits of political power, which, in sixteenth-century Europe, was exercised by monarchs. According to Mariana, monarchs should be subject to the same moral standards as the governed. Should they deviate from the principles of natural law by confiscating the
READ MORE
Most Read from past 7 days
Most Read from past 30 days
Most Read of All Time
Most Read of All Time
