The Trayvon Generation

“I want my children – all of them – to thrive, to be fully alive. How do we measure what that means?” (73)

In The Trayvon Generation, a collection of essays interspersed with visual works of art, Elizabeth Alexander wrestles with the ways racism distorts what it means to be human. At the same time, her stories highlight how art can shape moral imagination, opening possibilities for flourishing even in the midst of unimaginable suffering. This book is about seeing clearly, remembering, and articulating what is true. It is short, but worth reading slowly, allowing one’s heart and imagination to be moved toward new ways of pursuing the good.

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GOOD THOUGHT

Arthur Schwartz

According to a recent National Business Ethics Survey (2013), almost one out of two U.S. employees has witnessed wrongdoing in their workplace. Half of them did not report the wrongdoing or take any action. Why do some individuals display courage at work while many of their co-workers — when faced with the same situation — do not?

GOOD READ

Claire Keegan

Claire Keegan’s Christmas novella, Small Things Like Thesewill not only draw your imagination into the lives of characters in an Irish town during Christmas week in the 1980s; it could also be an argument for liberal education.

GOOD WORK

How can universities encourage students to move beyond cognitive engagement with ideas about flourishing into habits and ways of being? For students in Villanova University’s Honors Program, a Living Learning Community with a focus on “The Examined Life: the Good, the True, the Beautiful,” aims to do just that.

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