Saturday Good Reads

Middlebury College in Vermont has become the poster child for campus craziness, after a student protest against a conservative speaker turned violent and ended up with a faculty member physically attacked and hospitalized. There’s been lots of commentary from all sides of the political spectrum (although it’s hard for anyone to justify attacking an unarmed woman or man because you’re mad about politics), and one of the best is a tongue-in-cheek article by Robert George: “Send Your Children to Middlebury College.” We are indeed what we read.

Education continues to be a cultural flashpoint; when it comes to the Common Core curriculum, you either love it or hate it. Joy Pullman hates it, and cites some statistics to prove her point.

Flannery O’Connor is finally going to get a documentary, and James Joyce has gone digital. Ben Franklin had a Calvinist father (who knew?), and Scott Slayton has some good reasons why Christians should read history (and why anyone should read history, for that matter). And speaking of making history come alive, a skeleton of a man buried 700 years ago at Cambridge in the UK has had a face put to it.

Poetry, art, photography, writing – good stuff is still being created.

Life and Culture

Children Prefer Reading Books on Paper, Not Screens – Intellectual Take Out.

How Common Core Damages Students’ College Readiness – Joy Pullman at the James Martin Center for Academic Renewal.

Want to Raise Successful Boys? Science Says Do This (but Their Schools Probably Won't) – Bill Murphy Jr. at Inc. Magazine.

Send Your Children to Middlebury College! – Robert P. George at First Things Magazine.

Moral Application - photo by Tim Good and text by M. B. Efthimiou at Musings of a Naked Alien.

Leadership Fails and Who Cares? – Jon Mertz at Thin Difference.

The Backlash Against Starbucks is Real, and It Isn’t Going Away – Andy Swan at Forbes.

Poetry

Enigmatic – Barbara MacKenzie at Signed…BKM.

The Night Guest – Lakan Umali at Curator Magazine.

My First Poet – Loren Paulsson at World Narratives.

A Season’s Passing (Found Poem) – Maureen Doallas at Writing Without Paper.

Ambiguous Intention – Jerry Barrett at Gerald the Writer.

Faith

Doing the most good – Doug Spurling at Spurling Silver.

Christ in the Desert – J.D. Flynn at First Things Magazine.

Why Christians Should Read History – Scott Slayton at One Degree to Another.

We All Fall Down – Jason Stasyszen at Connecting to Impact.

Writing

How Writing Just Might Save My Life – Molly Page at Thin Difference.

The Digital Joyce – Maureen Doallas at Writing Without Paper.

A writer’s fame is a flickering flame – David Murray at Writing Boots.

Flannery O’Connor finally gets a documentary – St. Rose Pacatte at National Catholic Reporter.

American Stuff

Ben Franklin’s Calvinist Father – Thomas Kidd at The Gospel Coalition.

British Stuff

The Haunting Face of a Man Who Lived 700 Years Ago – George Dvorsky at Gizmodo.

Colin Dexter: Inspector Morse author dies at 86 – ITV News.

Art and Photography

In the Beginning – John Dyess at Journal of Seeing.

Cover photo – Diana Matisz via Facebook.

Glencoe – digital art by Jeff Gerke.

I Won’t Let Go: My Song for Blair – Luke McMahon

Painting: Reading Woman with Parasol, oil on canvas by Henri Matisse (1921); Tate Museum, London.