Being perspective weekend, you will hear much about New College Franklin, about the excellence of our program and community. For this reason, I want to talk about education from a different perspective. I want to conclude some recent meditations on learning by exploring the experience of the educator. Oddly enough, I am going to … Continue reading The Poetics of Faith and Learning, Part 5 (fin)
To R. B. THE FINE delight that fathers thought; the strong Spur, live and lancing like the blowpipe flame, Breathes once and, quenchèd faster than it came, Leaves yet the mind a mother of immortal song. Nine months she then, nay years, nine years she long 5 Within her wears, bears, cares and … Continue reading Gerard Manley Hopkins Poem in Anticipation of College Talk
Euclid The study of Euclid’s Elements serves as an excellent example of the contemplative learning process. Proposition 5, an early proposition in the text, marks a turning point for most students, where they must not only identify a chain of equalities (something akin to a hypothetical syllogism), but do so in transposition. Whereas students needed only identify equality by imposing … Continue reading The Poetics of Faith and Learning, Part 1
