By Mary Murray Bartolomé The stories I read as a child were filled with heroes, but now I’m not so sure. They were tales, ancient and folkloric, of a singular strong man (yes, man) who bravely challenged his antagonisers; a man fearless beyond reason, who either alone or with paltry aid, became victorious; a man … Continue reading The Hero Is The Problem
Library Collections
By Benedicte Grima When I walk into a house, the first thing my eyes tune into is the presence or absence of books. I am immediately unsettled by the invisible volumes, and the space seems stark, lifeless. When I watch speakers on television talk from their homes and offices, I scour the bookshelves behind them, … Continue reading Library Collections
Sun Tzu and Entertainment: Dennis the Menace’s Garden Party
By Andrew Nickerson In military tactics/strategy, many names have risen to prominence, only to fall later. However, one name has remained prominent for millennia: Sun Tzu, ancient general/tactician/strategist and author of The Art of War. This masterpiece has been venerated by everyone from students to teachers to historians, not just for its commonsense approach to … Continue reading Sun Tzu and Entertainment: Dennis the Menace’s Garden Party
You Will Scream It At The Clouds If You Don’t Say It
By Heather Box I've been to what feels like too many whiskey-drenched nights, filled with shock, loud laughs, tears, subtle nods, and people collapsing in their grief. The way people work to create a silver lining so immediately after someone dies hurts so bad. In all the deaths I’ve seen, I have yet to find … Continue reading You Will Scream It At The Clouds If You Don’t Say It
“B is for Bath” : An Alphabetical Retelling of the Bath School Massacre and its Legacy
By Abbey Toner A: Alphabet During elementary school, kids are aged 5-11. All elementary schoolers should, in theory, know how to read. They should learn the alphabet in preschool, at the ages of 3-4. In the 1920s, schools often combined all grades. During elementary school, kids would have been aged 5-14. Psychologists would say that … Continue reading “B is for Bath” : An Alphabetical Retelling of the Bath School Massacre and its Legacy
Neomedievalism: The Contemporary Era in Medieval Reflections
By Antonio Ambrosino When history repeats itself, the Middle Ages return in 2025 In the silent flow of modern days, a strange echo rises — as if the past, long buried, were whispering through the cracks of our present. Despite scientific and technological advances, our society reveals unsettling similarities with the medieval past. From Berlin’s … Continue reading Neomedievalism: The Contemporary Era in Medieval Reflections
My Time As A Hermit
By Michael Barrington After ten years as a busy religious missionary priest in Africa, I was driven by an internal compulsion to spend some time in silence, prayer, and solitude. I had spent three of those years in Nigeria, witness to unspeakable horrors and atrocities during its civil war. Delivering aid was a matter of … Continue reading My Time As A Hermit
Born to die
By Erni-Szakács Szilárd Life and death are connected. They do not exist alone, only together with the other. Somebody who is born must die. This is the rule of life. But why are we born? And what is life? Life is a gift or a punishment? Why are we born without being asked? What is … Continue reading Born to die
Census
By JK Miller Birth: I was born with buttocks intact, thank God, in Ann Arbor, the same place my grandfather once, in the amphitheater of the medical school, showing off his speed in delivering a baby by cesarean, sliced the baby's buttocks with his scalpel. Race: What am I? My grandparents on my mother's side … Continue reading Census
My sport
By Reina Kita “Do you miss it?” my friend asks, as we run past the tennis courts at my local middle school. “No, not really”, I answer between breaths. For the past year, it has become my hobby to run to this school and do laps around the track. Running gives me an escape from … Continue reading My sport
Academy of the Heart And Mind 