As EconTalk listeners know, host Russ Roberts lately relocated to Jerusalem, taking over the position of president of Shalem Faculty. We’ve heard plenty of Russ’s ideas on what a superb schooling may appear like, and we’ve been having fun with watching him put it into observe. On this episode, he welcomes a good friend with a similar-and now radical- path. Pano Kanelos, a Shakespeare scholar who served as president of St John’s Faculty and is now the president-in-waiting of a college-to-be (UATX) in Austin, Texas.
The 2 focus on what makes each Shalem and St John’s distinctive, with specific emphasis on the examine of the “Nice Books.” They ruminate on what occurs to an individual who goes by way of such an expertise, in addition to how we would replicate such a novel expertise for different learners- and towards what finish. Now we’d like to listen to each what you took from this episode, in addition to how you are studying to train “the important muscle that’s important to a flourishing life.”
1- Roberts says a perfect schooling teaches one learn how to be taught: learn how to suppose, learn, write, and hear. Kanelos goes even additional, suggesting we should hear not solely to at least one one other, however to the texts themselves. What does this imply? (Trace: it consists of no shouting and no working…)
2- What’s the correct aim of a liberal arts schooling? To what extent do you suppose the demand for liberal arts graduates will improve relatively than lower; why? Is the age of the faculty main coming to a detailed, as Kanelos asserts? Once more, why?
3- So right here’s a query you’ve heard right here earlier than: Why ought to we spend time studying such previous books? To what extent do you agree that a big a part of the worth of this observe is as a result of it’s laborious? How can studying such texts transport you to a Inexperienced World, and what may that allow you to do?
4- The dialog turns towards the tip to the state of schooling immediately, which Roberts characterizes as being each in decline and underneath assault. What do you suppose are the most important issues with (larger) schooling immediately? Are these issues exogenous (as Roberts believes) or endogenous (as Kanelos argues)? Clarify.
5- Roberts asks Kanelos to explain what UATX can be like, and he describes his job thusly, “How do you carry collectively the thinkers and the doers? How do you create in younger folks, considerate folks of motion?” How is considering although this query serving to Kanelos and his colleagues design an schooling establishment? What’s their establishment for (as he cautions in opposition to constructing one thing in opposition to one thing else)? How believable do you suppose this mannequin is- are you as optimistic about demand for UATX as Russ? What points of UATX sound most radical to you? Most interesting?
Bonus: Kanelos recounts a beautiful expertise discussing Shakespeare’s Macbeth along with his center college son, targeted largely on a single phrase within the textual content. Have you ever skilled any comparable deep, sluggish studying experiences with a basic textual content? If that’s the case, we need to hear about it! Share your story right here, or ship your ideas to [email protected].