I’m returning from my three-day bus tour today. As critical as I tend to be, I found something here, in this rural, humble state, that I needed to rediscover: humility, hard work, hope, and real joy. I met politicians, real politicians, who melted some of my cynical assumptions about the efficacy of politics. I met administrators who have begun to change my rather defensive posture towards institutional life. I saw real people, people who treated me with dignity and respect,... Read more

Greetings from North Dakota! I’m on my second day of a triduum bus tour of the state, sponsored by the University of North Dakota. This morning we visited Sitting Bull College and heard lectures about the college, the Dakota and Lakota nations, and the life of Sitting Bull. One of the great blessings of my Latino ethnic heritage is that I do not suffer from white guilt, nor do I have to apologize about it. (To hear my thoughts about... Read more

It’s been a busy few days of writing and course prepping. I finished the first draft of A Primer for Philosophy and Education and would be happy to share a digital copy with those interested in it. (Just send me an e-mail.) Course syllabi are just about finished for my upcoming classes at the University of North Dakota: “Foundations of Educational Thought” and “Historical Foundations of Education.” Finally, I deleted my essay “In Praise of Cigarettes” from this site. It... Read more