In this paper, I will attempt to place the current Chicago controversy, which led to Sonnenschein’s resignation in May 1999, within a historical context. I will begin by outlining the history of general education requirements at Chicago from their origins in the early part of the century to the present. Then I will analyze the pronouncements of the group of professors at Chicago and Columbia, including Hutchins, who called themselves the “general education movement” in the 1930s and 40s. These men (...) helped establish general education at those schools and inspired other universities around the country to follow their lead. The writings of these thinkers form a fairly coherent philosophy of general education. While this philosophy did not dictate the precise form general education took in this country, it is the most influential component of the pro-general education forces. Through scholarly writings on education and popularized versions of their philosophy, Hutchins and his circle saw themselves as shaping undergraduate education in this country and self-consciously promoted their achievement. To some extent, they were correct. Many of the changes he and his colleagues wrought upon education are still with us. Still with us as well are the internal contradictions and inconsistencies within the philosophy of general education. By exploring those contradictions, I hope to dispel the myth of a golden age of general education. Today’s educational controversies at Chicago and elsewhere in part originate in unresolved contradictions in the original philosophy of general education. In the final section of the paper, I will suggest some of the ways the philosophy of general education influenced curriculum requirements at American colleges and some of the new problems general education faces. While this paper offers no solutions to the sixty-plus year debate over general education, I hope that it will assist in placing these debates within a historical perspective. (shrink)

This paper briefly introduces Freire’s philosophy of education, as well as examples of how this philosophy can be used in health education. Concepts from Freire’s work are highlighted along with how they are applicable to educating adults about colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, a health behavior that is less prevalent among poor and minority populations. Concepts highlighted in Freire’s writing can be directly applied to reducing disparities in health.

This dissertation explores the cultural and psychological factors that permitted six medieval female mystics to assume positions of leadership and innovation in a world marked by extreme gender inequality. Women religious have often been charged with being neurotics, hysterics, narcissists, and nymphomaniacs whereas males with similar experiences are rarely subject to the same degree of criticism. It is argued here that the women may well have been seeking to achieve the form of self-actualization described by humanist psychologist, Abraham Maslow, as (...) a result of the "conversion" experience analyzed by William James. Furthermore, applying modern categories of mental illness to these women ignores the opinion of their contemporaries who felt that dedication to union with God was the ultimate form of social heroism. This case study approach examines the lives of six women exemplars. Extended case studies include Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), Marguerite Porete (d.1310), and Catherine of Siena (1347-1380). The records of Joan of Arc (1412/13-1431), Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), and Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) are provided as comparative cases. The lives of these women span six hundred years and illustrate ways in which societal reaction to their revelations, doctrines and behaviors changed over time from high regard to suspicion or dismissal. This is a change that reflected major modifications in society as a whole wherein women suffered a general loss of power and prestige and monastic life-styles faded from the mainstream society. Psychological explanations for the various phenomena of mysticism are of particular interest to this study in as much as they overlap the anthropologies of consciousness, psychology and religion. The dissertation examines the historical development of the fundamental cognitive concepts that influenced the lives of women mystics. Furthermore, each woman's life is assessed relative to the environmental, political, economic and religious factors with which they dealt. Emphasis is placed upon those cultural elements that may have provided motivation for their spiritual efforts and served as keys to their drive toward self-actualization. The importance given cultural factors clarifies the rationale for some of their behaviors that trouble modern students of religion and psychology. (shrink)

Reza Aslan fled Iran when he was 7 years old. Thirty years later, Aslan has become an outspoken expert on the Middle East and religion. He says the recent Middle East uprisings show regimes can "no longer just ignore the will of the people." Reza Aslan talks about anti-Muslim sentiment, the ripple effect of Arab Spring (the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria), tensions with Israel, and the sparks that fly when you cross religion and politics.

Only one in five Americans say they could definitely vote for an atheist for President but that has not stopped the recent spate of public intellectuals proudly displaying their unbelief — Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris among them. Author Susan Jacoby will be defending freethinkers and our secular republic.

The militant atheism of Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins misunderstands how religion works and takes the worst examples of irreligious behavior to all religion as evil. Not so fast, says Harvard Professor of Divinity Karen King. Far from making people the violent bigots that Dawkins and Harris see, Christianity can raise people's empathy and truly improve human behavior and it has been doing so since the time of Christ. King will explaining why Christians aren't always the best examples (...) of Christianity. (shrink)

Susan Jacoby is the author of ten books, a frequent contributor to national magazines and newspapers, and the recipient of numerous awards, including a 2001 appointment as a fellow of the New York Public Library's Center for Scholars and Writers. An outspoken advocate of reason, she writes "The Spirited Atheist" column for On Faith at The Washington Post. She is also program director of the Center for Inquiry — New York City, a rationalist think tank, and a member of the (...) advisory boards of the Secular Coalition for America and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Karen King holds a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Montana and a PhD in History of Religions: Early Christianity from Brown University. Since 2009, she is the first female Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, which is the oldest endowed chair in the United States (1721). She has written numerous books including Reading Judas: The Gospels of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity (with Elaine Pagels), The Secret Revelation of John, The Gospel of Mary Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle, What is Gnosticism? and Revelation of the Unknowable God. She has also edited Women and Goddess Tradition in Antiquity and Todayand Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism. Reza Aslan’s No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam was named one of the 100 most influential books of the last decade by Blackwell Publishers; he is also the author of How to Win a Cosmic War (published in paperback as Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Extremism in a Globalized Age). He was named by the Smithsonian Institute as one of the 35 innovators under 35 and holds degrees in Religions from Santa Clara University, Harvard University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara as well as an MFA from University of Iowa, where he was the Truman Capote Fellow in Fiction. Reza currently sits on the Board of Directors of Ploughshares Fund, is a member of Abraham’s vision, and teaches Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside. Reza is also a member of PEN USA and the Levantine Cultural Center. (shrink)

The interweaving of rhetoric, the greatest evil, and the true art of politics create the unity of the dialogue. Whereas Gorgianic rhetoric is pleasure seeking flattery which inspires belief without knowledge, noble rhetoric is refutative, inspiring the acknowledgment of falsity or ignorance. Moreover, it is self-refutation, meaning that the person being persuaded arrives at the conclusion of his ignorance by his own realization; the noble rhetor does not connect all the dots for them. The greatest evil is to have a (...) false opinion about justice. A just penalty for suffering from the greatest evil is to face selfrefutation in hopes that this will inspire a desire to seek true knowledge through philosophical inquiry. The true art of politics is a personal, individual art, coordinating justice and legislation. Justice teaches what the best care for the soul is and legislation regulates behavior to conform action with the demands of justice, being guided by selfdiscipline and moderation. Each participant in the dialogue suffers to a degree from the greatest evil, which Socrates addresses by conversing rhetorically with them to arouse an understanding of what rhetoric is, what their false opinions are, and how that relates to living the best life. (shrink)