Reading as an Act of Solidarity
As may be true for many a bookworm, my earliest mentors, truest friends, and first loves lived in novels. And sometimes, I still find them there. Anyone moved by a good paperback knows, something undeniably sincere rests between the pages. Something deeply, uncannily revealing. As Frederick Buechner explains in Wishful Thinking (1973),...
A (Few) Thought(s) on Public Art
I am an unequivocal supporter of public art. This does not mean however, that I champion every piece. Something about the nature of art invites controversy, so supporting its existence doesn’t mean I like it all, but rather that I commit to the conversation. Ottawa is covered in public art, from historical tributes to some of the...
Reflections on Women in Government
I’m in Ottawa this week as both a teacher and a student, shaking the hands of parliamentarians and politicians of all suit jackets: Speakers of the Senate, democratic denizens, and pedagogical policymakers. And so far, many of these powerful leaders, are women. I’m shocked, to be honest. Civics in my classroom experience is branded with...