Archives: Newsletter Post

In her welcome letter to the latest issue of Virtues & Vocations: Higher Education for Human Flourishing, Suzanne Shanahan invites us into a conversation about joy. Read more.

A common refrain in education at every level is simple: pay attention. Hidden within this practical command is a transcendent truth: that, as Simone Weil stated, “attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity” and the precursor to love. As advances in technology have monetized attention, there can be a temptation for the conversation […]

“…the best portion of a good person’s life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.“ Last week in a seminar, a student asked what might the world be like if we were all just 10% kinder, more humble, more generous, more grateful?  What if we were all 10% better humans? The question was […]

In this article, Rosalyn W. Berne, the Anne Shirley Carter Olsson Professor of Applied Ethics at the University of Virginia, welcomes us into a conversation about how students are thinking about their futures as engineers and the decisions they will make as they enter the job market. Read more.

It’s Saturday on a farm outside Tempe. A math major and an English major from Arizona State University are weeding a row of carrots and chatting about where they grew up, while two students from the school of business are turning a compost pile nearby. Afterwards they gather with the rest of the student volunteers […]

“She wasn’t used to lying to anyone but herself.” I have a holiday ritual where I read the Booker Short List between Christmas and New Year’s. Indeed, it is a family tradition. So come January, I often focus on well-reviewed new books that might be a bit lighter but which still have strong, captivating narratives. […]

In this article, Zena Hitz, Tutor at St. John’s College and founder and president of the Catherine Project, distinguishes between two kinds of work, hollow work and real work, aimed at a human good. Read more.

Why do good engineers make bad ethical choices? “This question has been at the top of my mind for a long time,” said Jesse Pappas, Assistant Professor of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. “My suspicion has been that many students and professionals aren’t taking ethics personally […]

A colleague recently asked why I read some novels more than once. I had never really considered why some and not others. Some books feel like they become a part of me in a way that is comforting to revisit. Some books are haunting in a way that demands reconsideration. There are also books that […]

In this article, Paul Blaschko, Assistant Teaching Professor and Founding Director of the Sheedy Family Program in Economy, Enterprise, and Society, upends the cultures of achievementism and productivity, both of which conspire to empty both work and education of meaning. He asks and attempts to answer the question: “What Does Leisure Look Like Today?” Read […]