Browsing by Author "Berger, Ben, 1968-"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Bathtub Debate
    (Swarthmore College, 2014-06-07) Berger, Ben, 1968-; Ledbetter, Grace M., 1965-; Maxwell, Bruce A.
    As described by moderator Jesse Gottschalk '99, the annual Bathtub Debates is "where we attempt to undermine [the liberal arts] tradition completely. We do this by saying, but really, which one is the best?" Each year, he said, the bathtub debate features an apocalyptic scenario, out of which only one academic division can emerge to remake society in their own image." Ben Berger, associate professor of political science, defended the social sciences; Grace Ledbetter, associate professor of classics and philosophy, advocated for the humanities; and Bruce Maxwell '91, professor and chair of computer science at Colby College, spoke for the natural sciences.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    The New Golden Age: Citizenship Education and the Liberal Arts
    (Swarthmore College, 2015-03-03) Berger, Ben, 1968-
    Professors, pundits, politicians, and (college) presidents often insist that schools, including colleges, should produce better citizens. But that well-meaning insistence may be led by fuzzy thinking. Too often, proponents of civic or citizenship education do not think through very clearly what they mean by “civic” or “citizenship,” nor reflect adequately on what education can and should actually “produce.” In this short talk Professor Berger will try to clarify our concepts, thinking with and against conflicting commentators such as Martha Nussbaum and Stanley Fish. When we understand citizenship as a broad and evolving concept, we see that it resides not just in a few departments but across the liberal arts curriculum: humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. And when we understand higher education as equipping students with capacities and capabilities rather than “producing” some known end -- whether virtuous citizens or productive businesspeople -- we see that the liberal arts could (with our active stewardship) preside over citizenship education in far more meaningful ways than ever before.