America’s leading universities have lost their way. They no longer educate children to be good, follow truth, or acquire knowledge; this is a significant problem. It is important for students applying to college or parents looking to make a significant four to five year educational investment in the life of their child to understand this problem. Paul Spears, John Mark Reynolds, and Fred Sanders give their insight into why the problem is noteworthy and how programs like the Torrey Honors Institute provide a solution.
What is the value of a liberal arts education? For many, college is seen as a step on the path to a career. Nonetheless, many students desire more from their education than merely a trip through the gauntlet of general education on the course of career training. This desire can lead them to pursue knowledge and, for many, the means by which the knowledge is present to them turns them away from the faith of their childhood. John Mark Reynolds, Paul Spears, and our guest Rebecca Fort of Wheatstone Academy join us for a conversation on the proper way to educate oneself and ones children.
Homer but not Harry Potter. Plato but not the Epic of Gilgamesh. Each year, students of the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University read and intellectually engage dozens of ‘great books’ as a part of their general education. While not every book that has ever been penned is great, some are so great that they transcend their immediate era and culture to become a part of the ‘great books’ canon of literature that is read throughout the ages. Paul Spears, John Mark Reynolds, and Fred Sanders discuss what it is about the quality and nature of a book that makes it ‘great’.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent visit to Columbia University has sparked both reactions of appreciation and disgust from pundits across the media. While many have debated the political cost of his visit, questions about whether or not it was meritorious for Columbia to invite Ahmadinejad for educational reasons have been largely unaddressed. Was it good that Columbia invited Ahmadinejad for an exchange of ideas? What are the obligations of a university to the nation that it resides in? Should we as Christians even be concerned about the political ramifications that this visit has wrought on our home nation? John Mark Reynolds, Fred Sanders, and Paul Spears debate these questions on this first edition of Middlebrow: Where Big Ideas Undergo the Digital Martyrdom.