Engaging the Culture, Changing the World

Category Archives: Change

On Teaching Character, Part II

March 15, 2010

Last week in the blog I was reflecting on the profound discouragement we all feel as we witness, on an almost daily basis, eruptions of ugly scandalous behavior in our midst. … “Doesn’t it seem to be worse than it used to be?” “And why is it so hard to talk about these things without seeming inappropriately judgmental?” I’d like to think about these kinds of questions again. Read more…

Can We Actually Teach Character Anymore?

March 8, 2010

It’s Saturday morning, my time for catching up on things, for some reading and reflection. I’ve been on the road so much lately, I have not attended to the news as carefully as I would like. But the news this morning is depressing. There is no better word for it. Read more…

Can We Actually Choose the Stories by Which We Live?

February 22, 2010

I have written and spoken at length about a comment made on my campus some years ago by the late, great Jewish novelist Chaim Potok. Potok said that day that “we live in a world of colliding maps.” We all construct our own little maps and stories of reality… Read more»

Is This the Season to Be Worried?

November 30, 2009

I am worried. I am worried that people are worried. I am worried that people seem to have lost a sense of optimism. I know that can seem such a sweeping statement …
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