Choosing a Concrete Image

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Choosing a Concrete Image: A Discussion

Small-groups, free-writes, or open-ended questions are my usual ways for starting a discussion in my classes. And while there can be value in routine, I do worry about a routine becoming a rut. With that concern in mind, I turned to Brookfield and Preskill’s superb Discussion as a Way of Teaching* and tried out one of the techniques they mention: choosing a concrete image. Continue reading

Seeking Truth and Seeking Victory

Fear Not

 

The philosophical graffiti above comes from a remark during my spring Bioethics course. We were talking about abortion (I believe) and a student was a bit concerned that she would not be able to articulate exactly what was on her mind. In response, these words came out of my mouth. They get to, I think, the ideal of what I hope for in a course on Ethics or Religious Studies. Continue reading