The School of Aspen
I first became fascinated with the Aspen Institute when I was a young partner in Big Law. Having had the benefit of a Great Books education and having taken a master’s degree at the University of...
View ArticleServile Sciences
Among the many slogans adopted during Covid pandemic, one that was constantly repeated was “Trust the experts.” The models could’ve been way off, the numbers of cases and deaths completely distorted...
View ArticleIn Defense of Voracious Reading
Every so often, I come across a repeated sentiment expressed by different people at different times. “It’s far more impressive,” they might say, “to read 3-5 excellent books well in a year, than to...
View ArticleOn Being Your Own Teacher
“Have you yet recognized that you are and always have been your own teacher?”These words have stayed in my mind since 2006, when I first noticed them stretched across a prominent wall inside St....
View ArticleLiberal Arts and the Future of the University
After decades of conservatives bemoaning the moral decline of the university, there is now widespread agreement that serious reforms are needed. The last couple of years have seen a proliferation of...
View ArticleThe Wisdom of Lifelong Education
On the northside of Indianapolis, there is a senior living community, numbering about 160 residents. Over the past few months, a group of interested residents and I have been meeting weekly for 90...
View ArticleTaking the High Road
The year 2023 was not a good one for the humanities and the liberal arts. A number of public universities, such as West Virginia University, continued the decade-old trend of slashing the humanities...
View ArticleDrafting Socrates into the Culture Wars?
Recently, my husband and our eight-year-old son went to cheer on friends who participated in an Academic Challenge competition. These trivia-style contests involve questions on such subjects as...
View ArticleIs Higher Education Inherently Political?
In defiance of a higher education landscape dominated by progressive ideology, a handful of colleges are seeking to create an alternative. These institutions are following three distinct strategies....
View ArticleBeyond the Battlefield of Ideas
My position is that a university cannot be an open society in all respects and that it must be bounded in certain ways in order to achieve its fundamental mission. That mission, I believe, requires us...
View Article