In The Glass Bead Game, one of Herman Hesse’s characters says that “To study history is to attempt something fundamentally impossible yet necessary and highly important . . . Submitting to chaos and nonetheless retaining faith in order and meaning.” I’ll leave it to my historian colleagues to decide whether this is an acceptable description what is going on with the study of history. I am absolutely sure that it is an accurate description of the never-ending task of trying... Read more
Persons wearing dark blue corduroy jackets should not eat powdered donuts. If I could ask God one question, I would ask “What’s up with praying mantises?” If I was in charge, I would change the name of maple trees whose leaves turn red in autumn from “Red Maples” to “Yellow Maples,” just to mess people up. If there is a thought in the House of Representatives, but no mind to entertain that thought, does the thought exist? Artistic depictions of Jesus that... Read more
Last Saturday was the official dedication of the beautiful new humanities building on my campus. I shared the speaker platform with David Mccullough! I even got to participate for the first time in my life in a ribbon cutting ceremony, the finishing bookend to the groundbreaking event a bit over a year ago. As the director of the large interdisciplinary program whose classes all take place in the new building, I was asked, as part of a series of speakers,... Read more
I have two beautiful offices on campus, my permanent office in the philosophy department and an office in the brand new humanities building that I will occupy as long as I direct the large interdisciplinary program required of all freshmen and sophomores at my college. Each of these offices is filled with penguin paraphernalia. Penguin figurines, penguin calendars, penguin stuffed animals of various sizes, penguin slippers (really), a penguin tissue dispenser, penguin pictures and posters. Not long ago a student... Read more
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