Literature and Writing

Drawing on images of beauty and atrocity alike, the poems of ISIS spark questions of how literature is defined.

The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics is proud to announce that Christopher Hager will be the 2015-2016 Nancy Schaenen Endowed Visiting Scholar of Ethics. Dr. Hager received his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Currently he is Associate Professor of English at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he teaches … Continue reading "Frederick Douglass Prize Winner will be the 2015-2016 Schaenen Scholar"

By Erik Kwakkel This post was originally posted at Medieval Books, and is posted here with Dr. Kwakkel’s permission.  Old furniture, broken cups, worn-out shoes and stinky mattresses: we don’t think twice about throwing things out that we don’t need anymore. And books? Here things are a bit different. Apart from the fact that you may find … Continue reading "Destroying Medieval Books – And Why That’s Useful"

Joe Heithaus, professor of English at DePauw University, read several poems at The Campus Farm Dinner in October. Here he is reading a famous poem called  “The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry. Poetry (and the arts generally) is a great way to raise awareness or just inspire contemplation on critical issues of our … Continue reading "The Peace of Wild Things – Poetry Reading"

That’s right. This post has the word “ain’t” in its title. So what? In a recent interview, Harvard University Professor of Psychology and celebrated writer, Stephen Pinker, explains the “curse of knowledge,” and his perspective that academia has placed too many old-ruled restrictions on how writers should or should not write. Explaining that the word “ain’t,” … Continue reading "Literary Hazing “Ain’t” Ethical"

Season 4 of the FX television series, “American Horror Story” just premiered this past Wednesday night with their newest season titled, “Freak Show”.  Although I am a huge fan of the AHS series, something about this particular season did not sit right with me. Don’t get me wrong, cinematically,  it looks like it will be … Continue reading "American Horror Story: Freak Show"

The introduction of technology in the classroom seems like a win-win situation, but psychologists and neuroscientists are hesitant to write handwriting off as a thing of the past. From learning to read to generating new ideas, studies have proven that handwriting enhances a child’s ability to learn. Studies also revealed that messy handwriting also has … Continue reading "Making the Case for Cursive"

“I really should read the news, but I _______”. Insert excuse here. This might be a direct quote from myself this morning at breakfast. We’ll admit it. We’ll even take pride in it: We’re busy, we’re caught up, and we’re stressed. Yes, Iraqi citizens are getting bombed and victims of the Ukraine conflict are losing family … Continue reading "TheSkimm: Is “Reading the News” Overrated These Days?"

The Prindle Institute is excited to welcome Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is the New Black, to campus in February as part of the Ubben Lecture series. Stay tuned for programming that we are putting together to lead up to her visit!

This article, by DePauw History professor David Gellman, originally appeared in Historians Against Slavery on August 15, 2014. If all the great abolitionists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were cryogenically frozen, who would you reanimate to help liberate the world from the scourge of slave labor and human trafficking today? Frederick Douglass? William Lloyd … Continue reading "Abolitionists Unfrozen"

What do people talk about when they talk about Nelson Mandela? Carolyn Holmes, ’06, asked this question at last week’s symposium on the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela. The answer may not be as straightforward as you think. For decades, Mandela has been a symbol of justice, hope and dignity for the nation of … Continue reading "Deconstructing Nelson Mandela’s Legacy"

Prindle Intern Suzanne Spencer ’14 reporting on $14.4 million in new gifts in Spring 2014, including an estate gift from Janet Prindle for continued programming at The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics

Turn on CNN. The anchor is most likely dissecting what may have happened to missing Malaysian flight 370 or the ferry that sunk off the coast of South Korea. The two disastrous events have prompted extended coverage on many television networks. The question becomes: does the information deserve such extended coverage, or is it merely … Continue reading "The Media and Tragedies: Coverage of Flight 370 and the Sewol Ferry Accident"

If education is competitive, getting a job is even more competitive. Most college students are pressured to join clubs, to play on teams and to take on leadership positions. We’re told that travel experience, studying abroad and having an internship or two will set us ahead. All of this, of course, on top of your … Continue reading "Cost of a Resume: Competing to Get the Job"

“What obligations do we have to our adversaries? Do virtue and integrity enhance or impede our quest for victory? Is competition an obstacle to or an essential component of a meaningful life? How should competition be effectively regulated?” These questions and others will be addressed by visiting students and scholars from across the country in … Continue reading "Competitive College: Does competition help or hinder our academic performance?"

How important are college rankings? As prospective students size up educational institutions, what is it that attracts them, their parents? Time and time again, we’ve seen DePauw’s name on the top party school list across the nation, but does that invalidate the academic standard we hold ourselves to? A new list was recently published by … Continue reading "The A-Listers: Can College Rankings Define a School?"

In light of recent discussions on campus, I’d like to offer up my own understanding of privilege.

The Independent just announced that they are going to stop reviewing books that target specific genders, so-called “boy books” or “girl books”. Read the full article and let us know what you think. Is it wrong for companies to create gender specific books?

One important component of ethical reasoning is empathy, the ability to know what it’s like to be someone else in another situation. Knowing what it’s like to be someone else helps reason through ethical issues, precisely because assessing how a course of action might affect other people is essential to assessing the value of that … Continue reading "Does Literary Fiction Teach Empathy?"

With great anticipation for TOMS Founder Blake Mycoskie’s visit radiating throughout DePauw’s campus, I had to do a double take every time I saw the words “Conscious Capitalism” broadcast on posters. The term “conscious capitalism” has arisen out of the assumption that through making ‘helping’ fashionable, we are somehow working to end poverty. The reality, … Continue reading "TOMS: When ‘Conscious Capitalism’ is Not Enough"