Archive for the ‘flourishing’ tag
Week in Review: Word of the Year Edition
What are you reading, watching, thinking about this week? Anything special with some time off or is there too much going on with the holiday?
As usual, here’s a few which have been on our mind. Let us know your thoughts on any/all of them. In addition, if you have items you’d like us to consider for the top five, add them in the comments or send them to Tom or Mike.
1. What did the Oxford University Press select as its 2009 “word of the year”? — Part of the The Higher-Ed News Quiz (Chronicle of Higher Education, December 13, 2009). What’s your best guess? We’ll confirm the answer when it’s posted and have some thoughts on the “word of the year.” … Please, no cheating ;-)
2. Pittsburgh Sets Vote on Adding Tax on Tuition (Ian Urbina, NY Times, December 15, 2009): “The tax would be the first of its kind in the nation, and other cities are watching closely as they try to find ways to close their own budget gaps.” — Exemplifies the changing relationship and rhetoric between town & gown during an economically difficult time. Note: Council puts tuition tax proposal on hold (Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, December 17, 2009).
3. Need another reason to pursue an academic vocation? If you’re a linguist, you might just be called upon to invent a new language. Paul Frommer of USC did just that for James Cameron’s new movie Avatar, joining J. R. R. Tolkien and Marc Orkand (inventor of Klingon) as an inspiration to budding linguists everywhere.
4. From ProfHacker.com: an End of the Semester Checklist, a very practical list to keep your courses, files, and CV in shape.
Books
Tom’s started digging into Education for Human Flourishing: A Christian Perspective (Paul D. Spears
and Steven R. Loomis, InterVarsity Press, 2009). If the title catches your interest, then check out the Preface, Precis of Book and Chapters, and keep your eye out for quotes from the book in the coming year.
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day
Take a moment sometime today to consider The Real St. Patrick and invite others to do likewise. Looking for some resources? I’d encourage you to start with The Real St. Patrick and St. Patrick’s Day. If you have additional suggestions, including books to recommend, please share below.
St. Patrick
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.
– A Poem by St. Patrick, ca 377 AD
Thinking with Your Hands: Part II
What does Nicholas Wolterstorff make of Richard Sennett’s The Craftsman (Yale University Press, 2008)?
About half-way through the review, Wolterstorff critiques Sennett’s advocacy of animal laborans’ (i.e., the laboring human being, who asks How?) ability to function separate from homo faber (i.e., the human being who asks Why? and assumes the role of guide/critic to animal laborans) or at least a conversation in community regarding the ethics of particular crafts. In particular, Wolterstorff uses Sennett’s treatment of Robert Oppenheimer’s craftsmanship of the atomic bomb to question whether the worker focused on producing excellent goods for their own sake will ask the question whether the good/product should be created/manufactured at all. Wolterstorff wraps up by asserting that Sennett’s pragmatism lacks the strength to properly support his incomplete definition of craftsmanship, which finds difficulty in extending into more expansive areas such as proper/good goverance (a significant concern of Hannah Arendt, whose put down of animal laborans served as a motivation for book): Read the rest of this entry »
Thinking with Your Hands: Part I
Books and Culture March/April 2009
In the March/April edition of Books & Culture: A Christian Review, Nicholas Wolterstorff’s review of Richard Sennett’s The Craftsman (Yale University Press, 2008) raises concerns of particular relevance to Emerging Scholars.
First, Wolterstorff digs into Sennett’s critique of the lower status given to animal laborans (i.e., the laboring human being, who asks How?) in relationship to homo faber (i.e., the human being who asks Why? and assumes the role of guide/critic to animal laborans). Some quotes from The Craftsman which particularly resonate with Wolterstorff include:
Thinking and feeling are contained within the process of making. … Western civilization has had a deep-rooted trouble in making connections between head and hand, in recognizing and encouraging the impulse of craftsmanship. — from Thinking with Your Hands, by Nicholas Wolterstorff, Books & Culture: A Christian Review, March/April 2009, p.30. Read the rest of this entry »
Elevating Science, Elevating Democracy
That’s the title of Dennis Overbye’s NY Times essay on what it means to restore science to its rightful place.* He begins by sharing how he too wept tears of joy at the words of President Barack Hussein Obama (reference to the NY Times article Scientists Welcome Obama’s Words). Question: If you’re a member of the scientific community, did you likewise become teary eyed (or even weep) at the words of our new President on your own (or with your colleagues)? If so, why? If you’re outside of the scientific community, what was your reaction (and those of your colleagues)?
Does it come from the anticipated ability to properly address:
[i]ssues like stem cells, climate change, sex education and contraceptives, [which] the Bush administration sought to tame and, in some cases, suppress the findings of many of the government’s scientific agencies. Besides discouraging scientific pronouncements that contradicted administration policies, officials insisted on tight control over even routine functions of key agencies. In early 2004, more than 60 influential scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates, issued a statement claiming that the Bush administration had systematically distorted scientific fact in the service of policy goals on the environment, health, biomedical research and nuclear weaponry. — from Scientists Welcome Obama’s Words by Gardiner Harris & William J. Broad in NY Times, January 22, 2009.
Or for the benefits given by the research, findings, applications of science, which is not given highest priority by Overbye.
Or was it for reasons similar to those given by Dennis Overbye, who sees science On a Pedestal with it’s twin democracy, more basic to human progress than religious claims. Watch out China ;-) **
Happiness in Academe
There’s a very interesting article today at the Chronicle of Higher Education, How to Be Happy in Academe ($) by Gregory Pence, professor of philosophy at Alabama-Birmingham. He’s writing about how career expectations can become defeaters, leading you to feel depressed about perfectly fine academic work. He shares his own tangled path from New York City to Birmingham, and how much more rewarding his “Plan B” has become than he ever expected.
Compare Pence’s article to two recent articles published on InterVarsity websites – Christian Professors Flourishing? by Terry Morrison and Loving the Academic Life by Dorothy Boorse. All three get at the issue of fulfilling one’s academic calling, but all from different perspectives.
Any stories to share of unexpected rewards of working at “second-tier” schools? Feel free to change names to protect the innocent.
Human Flourishing in the Church and the World
As part of my work at Following Christ 2008, I had the privilege of assisting the Humanities track, chaired by Michael Murray and Dora Rice Hawthorne, and joined by Mark Noll of Notre Dame, Hal Bush of St. Louis U., and Paul Moser of Loyola U. Chicago. The final session of the track addressed the question “How Can We Be Agents of Human Flourishing in the Church and the World?” Michael Murray identified three threats to Christian scholars that hinder their role to the church and the world: specialization, fear of “popularizing,” and fear of being “outed.” He also offered thoughts about how to counter these. Read the rest of this entry »
