A variation of Auguste Rodin’s Minerva
Mythologies of Educational Mobility in Ferrante’s Quartet

Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels capture how Lenù’s existence, rather than challenging mythologies of meritocracy as it should, mistakenly reaffirms that meritocracy functions well and that education might be a great equalizer, despite literary and historical realities that suggest otherwise.

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Educating the Silicon Citizen: Literature, Philosophy, and the Case for Slow Tech

Presumably, it has never been a good time for the humanities. Perhaps because it is simply in the nature of these disciplines to find themselves perpetually in crisis, lagging behind the times, dragging their leaden feet made out of indelible words, asking for more and more time in a civilization perpetually in a rush. They are constantly on the edge of a precipice, but we cannot deny that, while they awkwardly balance on the edge, they do enjoy magnificent views. After all, our fields do not thrive on security, on solid facts, on controlled experiments with measurable outcomes.

On Meaning and Flowers
One of the pleasures of teaching is the ability to linger at length with students on questions such as this: « Pourquoi donc y a-t-il des fleurs ? » [Why on earth are there flowers? Philippe Jaccottet. Cahier de verdure, 1990 : 106].