Too many teachers nowadays avoid engaging in serious conversations about living well, even though such insights are what most people look for in the humanities. Worse, in the absence of thoughtful guidance, people will increasingly seek meaning elsewhere, and not always in healthy or fruitful ways.
HAMBURG – At a recent conference of German and American literary scholars, I suggested that our high-level discussions would matter only if we helped change students’ lives. It is not enough to tell students how the skills developed in reading literature can “transfer” to other parts of their lives. Rather, we must help them become better interpreters of each other, so that they can become better friends, family members, and citizens.
HAMBURG – At a recent conference of German and American literary scholars, I suggested that our high-level discussions would matter only if we helped change students’ lives. It is not enough to tell students how the skills developed in reading literature can “transfer” to other parts of their lives. Rather, we must help them become better interpreters of each other, so that they can become better friends, family members, and citizens.