Dear Friends,

I must encourage you whole-heartedly to visit this link (at the bottom of my post) and read the contents.  It is a book review (by a comrade–Kirk Kramer) of Dr. James Taylor’s Poetic Knowledge.  If you have not already picked up a copy of this book, I highly recommend that you do so.

This review gives valuable insights into the poetic mode of education–and more particularly how it was envisioned at the University of Kansas in the Pearson Integrated Humanities Program (IHP) under the brilliant tutelage of Dr. John Senior, Dr. Dennis Quinn, and Dr. Frank Nellick.  It helped me to understand what is at stake in fostering this type of education in our children and our teachers especially.  The article will introduce you to Gradgrind, a Dickens character from Hard Times who believes in Facts and nothing else.

This topic is something that we, as friends, have been discussing for a long time, and more now than ever.  I believe that this article, as well as reading excerpts from Poetic Knowledge, will help our understanding of this mode of education and knit our community of friends even closer together.

Here is the Review of Poetic Knowledge by Kirk Kramer

Furthermore, I have recovered from Google’s Cache an essay by Stephen McInerney of Campion College (no relation to the late Ralph McInerny of Notre Dame) called “End of Education: John Senior and the Idea of a University.”  Very impressive essay.  I had the pleasure to meet Dr. McInerny at Kirk Kramer’s house a few summers ago (I believe Peter Kane was there and he played “Seven Curses” by Dylan, for which Boomer praised Mr. Kane).

Awe-fully,

Peter Bloch