I always roll my eyes when I hear liberal arts professors today defending general requirements and expounding on the glories of a broad education. It’s not that I disagree with them about the value of a broad education (after all, my doctorate is in one of the liberal arts). It’s just that I think college
READ MORE“All that I have written seems to me as so much straw.” No, these aren’t the words of a modern blogger. They came from St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), without question one of the greatest intellects history has known. How brilliant was Aquinas? He conducted quodlibetal disputations, in which a gathered crowd at the university could
READ MOREAt the same time some students are flexing their political muscles (with the help of some professors) at the University of Missouri, Yale, and other schools demanding “safe space”, we’re treated to an increasing number of stories about the lack of resilience and overall fragility of many college students. Quite honestly, the psychology of it
READ MOREWith all of the intolerance of “offensive” speech and ideas, it’s worth considering what could be happening. Is it all just to create a better society or are we being coerced into a certain mindset? Sure, what’s going on is not on the level of some of the tyrannies of the 20th century or fictions
READ MOREOur outrage is real. We feel injustices in our very souls. As such, we must ask ourselves why that is and in so doing we are confronted with two options: 1) social constructs are pressuring us to feel a certain way or 2) there is a transcendent truth to which our sense of justice appeals.
READ MOREJohn Dewey (1859-1952) was the education philosopher largely credited with the creation of the modern, progressive approach to education that now dominates American schools. His influence was far-reaching and cannot be denied. As always, we must remember that there is no value-neutral education. All education is the purposeful shaping of young minds towards a certain
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