James Drogan

Re: Conversations with Dave

Early on in my second career as an academician I suggested to an ethics seminar that ethics were too important to be left to an ethics class. In March of 2007, as the Closing Speaker at the CUNY Conference on Academic Integrity, I reaffirmed my position. I've subsequently taken the same position on matters of critical thinking and communications.

I'm inclined to say the same of humanities.

There are certain themes (e.g., in addition to those mentioned above are culture and corporate social responsibility) that ought find their way through all of our instruction (e.g., logistics). I'm arguing that such themes and their effects are easier to understand when placed in the context of value-adding activities that advance the general health of the world.

Following this argument then, we should be less concerned that humanities justify their worth then that other disciplines underscore their worth through the injection of, say, humanities. I'm not suggesting here that we should devalue humanities, but rather we should interpret them in different contexts thereby enhancing their value.

The fabric of the whole man comprises several threads. The warp and woof of these threads suggests a pattern that grows increasingly complex through the generations. We, whether teachers or parents or mentors or executives, ought to seek and accept responsibility for helping the man (or, of course, woman) weave this new fabric.