by Martin Cothran
One of the contentions of those who defend the humanities is that a familiarity with classic literature improves interpersonal skills, and that, since most jobs, even in tech industries, involve such skills, an educational emphasis on literature is hardly irrelevant to the vocational emphasis many policymakers now think education should have. (more…)
Some critics have said that the value of Roman literature is that it has been the vehicle which conveyed Greek ideas to the world. The Romans took their art and, as far as their civilization rests on these, their civilization from Greece. Why, then, do we study Latin? (more…)
While classical music (and classical culture in general) is increasingly being swept aside by an increasingly toxic entertainment culture, non-Western cultures may be becoming increasingly appreciative of it. (more…)
by Martin Cothran
One of the measures of how hard it is to articulate the case for the value of a classical education is that you have to use the assumptions of those who don’t value it in order to persuade them that it has value.
by Martin Cothran
The research on learning technology in schools has never been very flattering. And now we have several more recent studies showing just how lackluster are the results of computers in schools: (more…)
by Martin Cothran
We all know that Biblical influences on the thinking of America’s founders. But we shouldn’t forget that the founding fathers drew much of their inspiration–particularly for the structure of American government–from the Romans. They were particularly interested in the Roman Republic, which preceded the Empire, which they inspected closely for its strengths and weaknesses.
by Martin Cothran
An article in today’s online edition of Education Week bemoans the fact that the arguments used against what is labeled “Common Core Math” are the same arguments that have been used since the early 1970s. The article’s author Liana Heitin, quotes Matt Larson, the new president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, about the frustration many parents feel with they cannot themselves understand their own child’s math homework:
by Martin Cothran
How many times have you been asked why it is important to teach literature? How about this for an answer: It helps you live longer.
by Martin Cothran There are several modern authors who come up repeatedly in conversations among classical educators. One of them is Flannery O’Connor. Mitchell Kalpakgian writes at the Imaginative Conservative about an O’Connor short story, “Everything that Rises Must Converge.” His gloss on the story has to do with the Read more…
Carol Reynolds, author of the wonderful Understanding Music program, reflects (with the help of Hans Urs von Balthasar) on the importance of an understanding and appreciation of beauty: