Prominent author and cultural critic Wendell Berry is well known for his contributions to agrarianism and environmentalism, but his commentary on education has received comparatively little attention. Berry has been eloquently unmasking America's cultural obsession with restless mobility for decades, arguing that it causes damage to both the land and the character of our c Prominent author and cultural critic Wendell Berry is well known for his contributions to agrarianism and environmentalism, but his commentary on education has received comparatively little attention. Berry has been eloquently unmasking America's cultural obsession with restless mobility for decades, arguing that it causes damage to both the land and the character of our communities. Education, he maintains, plays a central role in this obsession, inculcating in students' minds the American dream of moving up and moving on. Drawing on Berry's essays, fiction, and poetry, Jack R. Baker and Jeffrey Bilbro illuminate the influential thinker's vision for higher education in this pathbreaking study. Each chapter begins with an examination of one of Berry's fictional narratives and then goes on to consider how the passage inspires new ways of thinking about the university's mission. Throughout, Baker and Bilbro argue that instead of training students to live in their careers, universities should educate students to inhabit and serve their places. The authors also offer practical suggestions for how students, teachers, and administrators might begin implementing these ideas. Baker and Bilbro conclude that institutions guided by Berry's vision might cultivate citizens who can begin the work of healing their communities-graduates who have been educated for responsible membership in a family, a community, or a polity.
Wendell Berry and Higher Education: Cultivating Virtues of Place
Prominent author and cultural critic Wendell Berry is well known for his contributions to agrarianism and environmentalism, but his commentary on education has received comparatively little attention. Berry has been eloquently unmasking America's cultural obsession with restless mobility for decades, arguing that it causes damage to both the land and the character of our c Prominent author and cultural critic Wendell Berry is well known for his contributions to agrarianism and environmentalism, but his commentary on education has received comparatively little attention. Berry has been eloquently unmasking America's cultural obsession with restless mobility for decades, arguing that it causes damage to both the land and the character of our communities. Education, he maintains, plays a central role in this obsession, inculcating in students' minds the American dream of moving up and moving on. Drawing on Berry's essays, fiction, and poetry, Jack R. Baker and Jeffrey Bilbro illuminate the influential thinker's vision for higher education in this pathbreaking study. Each chapter begins with an examination of one of Berry's fictional narratives and then goes on to consider how the passage inspires new ways of thinking about the university's mission. Throughout, Baker and Bilbro argue that instead of training students to live in their careers, universities should educate students to inhabit and serve their places. The authors also offer practical suggestions for how students, teachers, and administrators might begin implementing these ideas. Baker and Bilbro conclude that institutions guided by Berry's vision might cultivate citizens who can begin the work of healing their communities-graduates who have been educated for responsible membership in a family, a community, or a polity.
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48 review for Wendell Berry and Higher Education: Cultivating Virtues of Place
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Ben Goller –
I'm going to be talking about this book with my (university) co-workers for a while. While it clearly reads like it is written by two English professors (meticulously formed chapters with an intro based on one of Berry's fiction works, practical suggestions and wrapping up with a meditative dip into Berry's poetry), this books hits a lot of what is good about the liberal arts and whole-person education. Perhaps I liked this book so much because I was already on board with its premise before I hear I'm going to be talking about this book with my (university) co-workers for a while. While it clearly reads like it is written by two English professors (meticulously formed chapters with an intro based on one of Berry's fiction works, practical suggestions and wrapping up with a meditative dip into Berry's poetry), this books hits a lot of what is good about the liberal arts and whole-person education. Perhaps I liked this book so much because I was already on board with its premise before I heard of it. I just put together a presentation for students based on my master's thesis in which I encourage students to think not so much about how college can prepare them to get a good job and make money, but how college can prepare them to serve others. Bilbro and Baker do an excellent job of distilling Berry's philosophy and fiction into an incisive critique of higher education culture. They focus on what David Brooks calls eulogy virtues rather than the resume virtues that universities are currently known for. They highlight how Berry is correct that many universities are largely servants of corporations: training workers and sorting knowledgeable people to be hired into the system of capitalism. But universities are more about developing whole people, who care for their place and people around them. It's a Christian calling and while the authors and Berry are Christian, the book is not evangelistic in tone. It simply resides in the knowledge that all truth is God's truth. The main draw back is if you are currently unfamiliar with Wendell Berry, you may be lost. The authors reference his fiction at length and their brief introductions may suffice for the most attentive readers, but those who know Berry's stories already will get the most out of this book's arguments.
Matthew –
Great Analysis and Application of Berry to Higher Education The authors provide balance, yet challenge the reader to reckon with Berry’s prophetic voice of reason for the cultivating of the mind and body.
Tom –
This book is quite good, but no better than its source material. I appreciated the occasion to revisit Berry’s work, but I don’t know that I learned anything that I would not have known apart from the primary material. Still, a good book for administrators and faculty alike to reflect upon.
Ivan –
I love Wendell Berry, and our evangelical culture needs more engagement with his thought. In a culture marked by restlessness and consumerism, this book on “cultivating virtues of place” is an oasis.
Scott Bielinski –
A lovely book on how Berry's literature encourages a new (or, better said, old) vision of education as virtuous formation. A lovely book on how Berry's literature encourages a new (or, better said, old) vision of education as virtuous formation.
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Casey –
Our universities. Our education. We don't have to make it more expensive to make it intelligent. When are the refusals going to start coming. That would be really radical. We've become our careers - we are trained as a "living" - resume' virtues- where in the process of becoming something ; we are nothing- where we feel excluded even when we are "in it" - how bout knowledge for 💓 rather than competition - how bout knowledge as living participation rather than exploitable control - how bout we st Our universities. Our education. We don't have to make it more expensive to make it intelligent. When are the refusals going to start coming. That would be really radical. We've become our careers - we are trained as a "living" - resume' virtues- where in the process of becoming something ; we are nothing- where we feel excluded even when we are "in it" - how bout knowledge for 💓 rather than competition - how bout knowledge as living participation rather than exploitable control - how bout we stop reciting facts and start healing our contexts. It's a new soundtrack - dance to the beat - turned away from it all. Like a blind man. Under pressure 🎶🎶
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