Culture, High & Low

A Semester of Teaching Sustainability

The semester has come to an end here at Friends University, and students are leaving campus for their holiday break. Right now I'm grading,...

The Liberal Arts and the Educational Technology of Language

THE PRESIDENT HAS AN ASSIGNMENT FOR YOU: This is what the bold text on the whitehouse.gov website tells us as it proudly heralds a new...

McClaughry Memoir: Ford and Carter

The following is the third installment of John McClaughry’s memoir, Promoting Civil Society Among the Heathen.  See the previous chapters here and here. 5. Ford and...

A Message in a Bottle

Every now and then we hear of a lucky homeowner who takes down a wall to make renovations on his house, and finds inside...

McClaughry Memoir: The Nixon Years

The following is the second installment of John McClaughry's memoir, Promoting Civil Society Among the Heathen.  See the previous chapters here. 3. The Community Self Determination...

Being Thankful for National Communities and Civil Religion, Sometimes

Amongst those Americans who believe that the civic virtues which make both popular government and a fulfilling independence possible are themselves dependent upon, to...

Are Porchers Urbane? Time to Wonder About Ourselves

As a student, I never trusted teachers who wanted to be part of student culture. You know the type, the teacher who wishes to...

Promoting Civil Society Among the Heathen: a Memoir

John McClaughry is one of the most misunderstood figures in modern American politics. He served several terms in the Vermont House and state senate...

Airports are Non-Places

As I write this, Edward Snowden is moping his way through exile in the Moscow airport. He can't leave because crossing through passport control...

First Lecture

On Monday, November 11, I delivered the first "First Lecture" to students at the University of Notre Dame.  This series - modeled on the...