Recently in Recaps Category

A brief recap of things I wrote on during September 2009.

I started the month with two pieces in reaction to rereading Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard. The first on the difficulty of faith and the second on the stages of psychological and spiritual development.

Two articles on economics prompted some thoughts on the link between money and producerism and the rhetoric of consumerism and choice. Too often the latter becomes a substitute for public and political choice.

I cleared out an old entry to list my top 7 favorite scholars.

I mused on postmodernism and intellectual decline after reading Dangerous Games: The Uses and Abuses of History by Margaret MacMillan and discussing it with some fellow scholars.

Finally I wrapped up the month with reports on two recent events I attended: a talk by Dane Smith on investing in Minnesota students and a discussion by Harry Boyte on expertise and the knowledge wars.

Let’s see what’s been on my mind for April 2009

1. On education. Two interesting articles on stress and the purpose of art education lead me to write about Educational Responses to Stress - Emotion and Arts
2. A long essay by Bruce Western on reentry to society by former prisoners leads to Prisons and Punishment in America
3. More thoughts on talent and justice: Talent, Work, and Justice
4. Our crazy perception of time makes me ask Just How Long Ago Was the Civil War?, especially after an NPR report on a recently returned book stolen during the civil war. I got a link from Bob Collins at Minnesota Public Radio for this one.
5. Business, We’re Swimming In It includes one of the funniest parts of the movie Brazil and some thoughts about the elephant in the room at most conversations about change: the institutions we spend most of our lives in - business.

March 2009 blogging themes.

1. Money, wealth, morality. Borrow and Leverage, different languages of debt among the rich, the government and individuals; Poverty is Good for You, conservative scolds telling people that struggles, including poverty or a recession, are really good for you; Parables of Global Talent, a reaction to the entries for the “best job in the world” on an Australian barrier reef.
2. Education. Profesionalizing Academia and Breaking Bad, a television series and the revolt of the managerial class; Saving Education - the Bill Gates Way, Bill Gates is interested in education but he’s just another person essentializing talent over social structure.
3. Creativity and Complexity. Twyla Tharp on Creative Fears, notes from her book The Creative Habit; Glenda Eoyang on Human System Dynamics, notes from her presentation at Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum.
4. Philosophy. Bias and Naive Mathematics, is mathematics more certain than philosophy? Some Philosophical Methods, different ways to do philosophy.
5. Housecleaning. Miscellaneous notes, March 2009 reading list.