At nearly 60 years old, Mrs. Bette Limper was tall and elegant and I was delighted to be assigned to her 6th grade class. She was different from the maternal teachers in comfortable shoes I had had before. She wore false eyelashes, high heels and her platinum hair was coiffed in a French twist. She had a reputation for being strict and academically rigorous.
Our lives were not connected. Before Friday night. We did not know each other. But we are connected now. Through your death. I am connected to you and to the ones you left behind. How I wish I knew how to reach them. I wish I could comfort them in their sorrow and their helplessness. … Continue reading Dear Person who Jumped in Front of the Train on Friday Evening
The storm blew in on Friday morning and by afternoon we were without power. We have a well, so no power means no running water, no heat, no electricity, no showers, no toilets. No fun. We filled the bath tubs with water so we could flush. And we had pots of drinking water. We also … Continue reading Hello Pop Up my Old Friend
I was tired and weary. Bright fall days turned to bitter rainy ones that pushed beads of cold water down my neck and into the seams of my shoes. Every day I commuted on a crowded train under bright fluorescent lights that made my inevitable headache worse. On top of having a demanding job, the … Continue reading Care Cafe
This question and its answer is our work as social workers. We spend our lives seeking, applying, and crafting answers. We pass our knowledge to subsequent generations of social workers and invite them to continue the work. Each one of us is obligated by our caring to contribute our voices, our practice experiences, our wisdom, … Continue reading How Do We Heal?
Long ago I watched a movie called, “Hear My Song,” about a young Irish night club owner attempting to salvage his business by promising the appearance of a famous, long retired, and legally suspect, Irish tenor, Joseph Locke. Night club owner, Micky O’Neill confronts numerous obstacles to bring Jo Locke back to Ireland and simultaneously … Continue reading Hear My Song
Shortly after the November election, The Chronicle of Higher Education wrote about the tensions many college presidents felt in the week since the presidential election. Many of them reached out to their students while not sending an overtly political message. On my deans and directors list serve many administrators, especially those from state-supported institutions, walked this fine line. … Continue reading Living True North
For me, teaching is a dance of engagement premised on personal interaction, passion for the topic and a keen awareness of student needs in the learning moment. Years ago when I was asked to teach online I thought are you kidding me? Teach social work, which is fundamentally about relationships, online? Learning mediated through a … Continue reading The Shocking Intimacy of Distance Learning
The answer is emphatically yes. But to retain our relevance we must continue to do what we do well-- provide an academically rich and challenging environment for young scholars that prepares them to think critically about the world around them. And push toward an educational future that marries knowledge, skill and application. Too often … Continue reading Is there a Place for the Liberal Arts in the 21st Century?
Within liberal arts there are deep divisions on issues of identity and purpose. We continue to issue degrees in academic subjects that have no correlation to employment fields. We dispute the definition of an educated person among ourselves while failing to engage in pressing public conversations about how our students will, can and should interact with a rapidly changing world. We relegate employment readiness skills to the realm of vocational education and prickle at industry partnerships for work force development as though only we are the “true” purveyors of knowledge and true knowledge has nothing to do with application or commerce. We create fractures and hierarchies between disciplines within the arts and sciences, and gulfs between faculty and administration. We continuously look outward and ascribe blame for our struggles rather than directing a reflexive gaze inward.
daniellewozniak 