Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! Do you have a place you gravitate to in your house? Oddly enough, this is one of mine. Yes, I like to stand in front of the kitchen sink and look out the window. I do it most mornings if I am not in a particular rush. The coffee is right there, and the morning sun comes in through the trees of the woods behind the LHH. Sometimes I’ll even stand there and eat my breakfast. TLW thinks I’m a bit crazy. I guess half a lifetime in the Army makes you comfortable eating and sleeping pretty much anywhere. But I love looking out at the woods and seeing the light filter through them. We still have some snow, though most of it has melted. But the snow covers the gray and brown of winter, and transforms the scenery. Hopefully we’ll have another storm and it will re-cover the yard for a while. I just like standing there, because there is something peaceful about looking at the trees and the garden and the light. It’s part of building the life you want (see Listen below), making a place for yourself in the world.
Anyway, it’s internship placement season here at UNH. I’m busily working with the juniors to help them match an opportunity that they want and will work for them. As of today I’ve successfully placed 9 out of the 24 of them. My goal is to have them all placed by spring break, which starts March 18, so I’ve got a few more weeks. I’ve never succeeded at that, but it’s what I shoot for. Go big or go home! Amiright? So far, all the opportunities are paid, and they are with fabulous organizations and preceptors. I’m excited for them.
Something I have learned recently is that I have colleagues in other departments and other parts of the university who believe that no student should be allowed to be paid if they are doing an internship for credit as a matter of “equity”. In discussions, what I have learned is that these naysayers are from disciplines where the organizations that take their students either can’t or won’t pay, and so since their students aren’t getting paid, no one should get paid. That’s one kind of equity, and it’s why I tend to be allergic to that word. I’m sorry you are studying a topic that, when applied in the real world, does not generate enough value for the organization you are doing it for that they are willing to pay a pittance for your services (most of my kids don’t get paid a lot - but something is better than nothing - I learned that in my Econ PhD). Equity of the, “If I can’t have something nice, so you can’t either” is just lipstick on a pig. It’s not an accident that my students have nice things. They have something to offer their preceptors and sites - they are high value potential future hires - and also I spend a lot of effort in the “off season” seeking out these opportunities for them. Equity doesn’t just happen. Instead of trying to bring my students down, my colleagues should work harder to bring their students up. That’s a better version of equity.
OK, rant off. I hope you enjoy the links. As usual, willing good for all of you!
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Read
What: NYT, How to Save a Sad, Lonely, Angry and Mean Society
Why: This is a lovely essay in praise of the purpose of the humanities as they were practiced and studied for a couple of thousand years before the advent of critical theory. Brooks writes eloquently:
I’d argue that we have become so sad, lonely, angry and mean as a society in part because so many people have not been taught or don’t bother practicing to enter sympathetically into the minds of their fellow human beings. We’re overpoliticized while growing increasingly undermoralized, underspiritualized, undercultured.
The answer is to re-embrace the humanities as they were meant to be practiced, as they were described by Seneca:
Why then do we give our sons a liberal education? Not because it can make them morally good but because it prepares the mind for the acquisition of moral values.
Brooks goes on to say the humanistic code “is based on the idea that unless you immerse yourself in the humanities, you may never confront the most important question: How should I live my life?” (emphasis mine)
This is a longer essay (15 minute read). Pour yourself a glass of wine and settle in to improve yourself.
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Watch
What: Gretchen Rubin, The Four Tendencies (5 min)
Why: My friend Amy (the professional organizer behind Amyzing Spaces, check out her Insta) asked me after I had written last week’s post about habits if I had heard of Gretchen Rubin and her work on habits. When I told her I had not, she suggested I check out her work. So this is a toe in the water. It’s pretty good - a fun taxonomy of personality that I had not seen before. I like these taxonomies because, when they are done well, you can see yourself and your friends and loved ones in them and I think it increases your empathy. I’ll have to check out more of Rubin’s work.
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Listen
What: Honestly with Bari Weiss, Economist Roland Fryer on Adversity, Race, and Refusing to Conform (77 min)
Why: Roland Fryer is an economist at Harvard. He’s a contrarian - he’s a black conservative who uses economics to look at tough questions around race and education, race and policing, and so forth. He catches a lot of heat because his results tend not to support the Progressive narrative. If you haven’t heard of him, this is a good introduction. He’s a voice worth listening to.
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What: How To Academy Podcast, Arthur Brooks - How to Build the Life You Want (61 min)
Why: I have to admit to being an Arthur Brooks fanboy at this point. I’ve written about his previous book, From Strength to Strength, which I loved. Now he has gone and written a new book with The Oprah Winfrey (you know, like The Ohio State) called Build the Life you Want and I am looking forward to reading it. He offers an explanation about happiness and rules about achieving it. Well worth a listen, even if you don’t plan to read the book.