Page 8 of 8

Posted on

Wire Coat Hanger Generation

In February, my graduate students in Public Health at a major research university and teaching medical school on the East Coast were discussing a new political cartoon by Pulitzer Prize winner Ann Telnaes I brought to class showing President Bush, as a tailor, holding an empty Supreme Court Justice robe in one hand and an “unraveled” wire coat hanger in the other.

The point of that Public Health class was to research crises in Public Health that are embedded in mainstream culture via history, art, literature and mass media entertainment portals. Telnaes has a similar cartoon this morning where President Bush is handing a judge’s robe to his Supreme Court nominee, John Roberts, and Bush is handing over an “unraveled” wire coat hanger to a woman on the street.

Bush says to her, “Here — hold this.” My students, who were all female, incredibly bright and intelligent, and fell into an age range between 20 and 23, did not understand that February cartoon. “I see the robe. I don’t understand the wire coat hanger,” one student said.

Continue reading → Wire Coat Hanger Generation

Posted on

Make Yourself a Blank Page

The task of living is can be difficult as the world in which we spin becomes smaller, time speeds up, and the distance between people and cultures shrink. Now, more than ever, we need to find ways to achieve common ground beyond ideology and narrow value sets.

Rutgers-Newark has one of the most diverse student body populations of any university in the world. In fact, Rutgers-Newark won awards in the past for several years in a row for having the most diverse student body in the nation. The great thing about teaching at Rutgers-Newark is that everyone is a minority.

No one can claim majority rule by culture or ethnicity or regional flavor. That kind of “minority rule” can teach great lessons that cross color lines and cultural obstacles unlike any other place I have previously experienced. One precious thing we are losing in current university experiences is the loss of individuality in favor of the requirement to be politically correct to the point where the world becomes grey and differences and dissent are discouraged so no one will be offended.

Continue reading → Make Yourself a Blank Page

Posted on

Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent

Do we have a moral obligation to be intelligent? That is an important question we each must answer in the affirmative. I believe, based on the promises we make to each other, we are, indeed, obligated — not needed or required — to be intelligent because a mass of more intelligent people means smarter solutions beyond the levels of base emotion and political and religious sloganeering. Intelligence knows no attachment.

Continue reading → Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent

Posted on

Purchase David Boles Works Online

I am pleased to announce you can now instantly buy online original unpublished articles, essays and papers I have written from the Boles Books website and the range of work available for purchase is wide and deep.
You’ll enjoy poking around Boles Books and perhaps you’ll find something interesting to read. Here are some of the titles available: 

Continue reading → Purchase David Boles Works Online

Posted on

PhD Grade Inflation

Is grade inflation really a problem at the PhD level? Isn’t the assumption at the graduate level that each student should be expected to do “A” grade work?

Continue reading → PhD Grade Inflation

Posted on

A Curious Return to the Lancasterian Monitorial System

With the rise of exclusive online teaching via WebCT and Blackboard where teacher and student are never in the same room together, we are in a rebirth of a strange form of the 1805 Lancasterian Monitorial System in 2005 and beyond where thousands of students will sit and stare at a flickering image of an instructor standing before them.

Continue reading → A Curious Return to the Lancasterian Monitorial System

Posted on

Sheffield Hallam University

I am pleased to announce my paper, Creating Aristotelian Irrevocable Change in Tourists Touching Down at Newark Liberty International Airport, has been accepted as a part of “Tourism & Performance: Scripts, Stages and Stories” series for the 2005 Tourism Cultural Exchange Conference held at the Sheffield Hallam University School of Sport and Leisure Management, United Kingdom, 14-18 July 2005.

My paper argues every move a tourist makes through the airport is actually orchestrated and directed in an aesthetic way using Aristotle’s theory of dramatic construction: Plot, Character, Thought, Diction, Music and Spectacle.

Posted on

Campus Life Lessons

by Malaika Booker-Wright

Going away to college was an unforgettable experience. In fact, it played a major role in shaping me into the woman I am today.

I didn’t know anyone when I got to North Carolina in June of 1991. I guess being friendly helped me to get as many friends as I did. Let’s see. There was Latisha, Natasha, Tanika, Shalinda, and Melina; five beautiful Virginians. Latisha, Natasha, and Tanika were best friends in high school. Shalinda and Melina had been enemies until they became roommates in college.

Continue reading → Campus Life Lessons

Posted on

Greater Goodness

I have been asked by many people through the years why I teach and why I publish Go Inside as a free magazine. Most of the people who ask these questions are in business where the burden of their lives is building wealth, power and success. I call them “non-aesthetic thinkers” and they do not understand the value of living a life undefined by property and means.

Continue reading → Greater Goodness