Hey, that's why I teach too

I just came across a New York Times opinion piece from yesterday's paper in which Notre Dame philosophy professor, Gary Gutting, describes what teaching (and in that case, learning) in college is all about.  Of course, I think you should look at his entire piece, but here's the quick gist.

College education is a proliferation of such possibilities: the beauty of mathematical discovery, the thrill of scientific understanding, the fascination of historical narrative, the mystery of theological speculation. We should judge teaching not by the amount of knowledge it passes on, but by the enduring excitement it generates. Knowledge, when it comes, is a later arrival, flaring up, when the time is right, from the sparks good teachers have implanted in their students’ souls.

For me, it nicely sums up my own perspective on teaching a discipline like anthropology.  While some students may in the future find some specific application of a bit of knowledge or a methodological approach, largely, the specific content of what I teach won't stick with them in ten years (in five, they'll still remember it all, I'm sure). What I want them to "get," is that the world is a complicated, terrible, wonderful and very fascinating place.  And, that they should continue thinking about that world with depth and a critical perspective.

Monday Night Single Parenting

Another post in the continuing theme of "woe is me," but "woe much more to those more unlucky than me."

My spouse is a CRM archaeologist and is currently in the field about four hours from home.  This means that she's hunkered down in a hotel at the moment.  Which puts me at home with our two kids...one four years old and the other two.  I'm lucky enough that I'm in between semesters at work, so the workload is a bit diminished.  Nevertheless, coming home to feed, enrich, entertain and ensleep (I'm clumsily going for alliteration here) the two little humans has me beat, and I know I just have to do it again in the morning, and for another two weeks.

Scattered Thinking

I've just crested the hill of grading a set of essays from an online class and need some distraction. Here are some fragments of thoughts occupying my attention on this overcast morning as I wait on the very delayed snow set to hit the Hudson Valley.

Puns and Meaning Making

One of the common interests my father and I shared was an appreciation of puns. To my family’s annoyance, I’ve maintained that interest over the years. Such a set of interests, means that some amount of my thought processes are always taken up by scanning for possible pun opportunities. Like a computer’s security scanner, I’m constantly searching. During class last week, I stumbled on a not particularly clever (are any that clever?) pun while also discussing one of Charles Sanders Peirce’s sign trichotomies. This coincidence provided the opportunity for another quick, high-falutin’ blog post on mundane social interaction and meaning making.

Spring's Looking Up

I've hit another one of those extended lulls in posting, so here's a quick one to get things moving again.

In a bit of a sequel/update to a post from the beginning of Fall 2012, I'm reporting on anthropology enrollment trends from my little corner of the world. In the mentioned post, I lamented that I had to cancel a low-enrolled anthropology course and, in the process, diminish an adjunct faculty's salary. My college, and many others in the region, have been facing declining enrollments--our fall enrollment ended up being down about 8%.

Post-Storm Thoughts: Seeing How the Other Half Lives

I live and work in the suburban counties surrounding NYC, so I’m currently living with some of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Compared to many in the region, I’m doing quite well...my home has power, my work is up and running...basically my life is very close to normal. One of my earliest posts in 2011 on this blog documented my pre-Hurricane Irene worries. This post is a sequel of sorts to describe some of my thoughts and experiences in a post-storm environment.

Considering Context: Biographies of Violence and Non-Violence

Blogging sure happens in fits and starts. The many distractions (teaching and administrative) of the fall semester put a quick end to my post-prolific August. Much of the time at work, I feel like a pinball bouncing around the board. However, recently, a couple of bell-ringing, lighted prongs knocked me into writing up this post.

Earlier this week, I was asked to participate in an informal discussion about the the “roots of violence” in human beings with a biologist and a political scientist. As I began to think about my component of the discussion, I definitely wanted to highlight the contextual nature of human behavior, which sometimes can include violent actions, and to counter any kind of claim about an essential predisposition to primordial barbarism. It was to be an informal talk, so I didn’t want to prepare some comprehensive take, like offered in Agustín Fuentes’ new book, but was hoping for a more intimate discussion of humans and violence. What’s a busy professor to do?