The coalition (A dream)

Books rooted in and emergent of living traditions of time-tested thought awaken the moral imagination.

With academic environments so based on future achievement, we ought to create spaces that foster learning in the context of leisure, curiosity, and intellectual friendship. This is not an idea for an enrichment project, but a social good.

With such artifacts as books in the humanistic disciplines, and in such a context as leisure, curiosity, and friendship, learning is poised, not for achievement, but growth, integrity, and agency.

The moment of friendship: when an intellectual friendship is formed, two or more people come together for the growth and upbuilding of the other(s). In this moment, people are seen as individuals worthy of attention; knowledge and thought as modes of human connection. WE LOVE THAT.

The Catalytic Moment: the reorientation of self which occurs when a coalition is built between friends, or a book opens up an imaginative pathway into genuine newness, or an action/creation resonates with the soul; and, whatever the cause, we stop and say, ‘jeez I think I’m supposed to follow that thread for the rest of my life.” And it might not be permanent. But it is true. The self is taking shape under the burden of the truly GOOD things of a human life (connection, knowledge, purpose).

The humanities (and by this I mean more than the disciplines themselves, but the slow, unhurried, inherently motivated study of artifacts that express the depth and many-sided mysteries of the human life and experience) fosters a kind of enlargement that is necessary for a more poised, thoughtful, and generative citizen.

Without this enlargement, love, authenticity, neighborliness, and moral agency become uphill battles (they always are) without resources for the climb.

Our definition of a mature individual is that of a covenant-maker. A mature individual is an objective promise to her/his community. They say, “I will be rooted here, but I will not participate in dead forms. I will make things, not merely consume. My poise and confidence is for the freedom of others. My ambition propels me, but a moral purpose guides me.”

A mature human, and the dynamics of reality which reflect mature human presence, excels in one or more of these categories: rootedness, generativity, and freedom. We want ‘em all.

A covenant-maker is a person who binds their fate to a common fate.

A hub for the cultivation of wisdom and imagination.

Priority 1: to us this entails the leisurely, lively, focused study of attention-worthy texts dedicated to the exploration of human meaning.

A civic workshop.

Priority 2: we want to connect students to an inner-purpose that relates to a real cultural need or opportunity. We want to be a builder of builders. Nerdy builders, maybe. But not nerds merely.

An institution dedicated to the idea that mature (wise and imaginative) humans are the vectors of flourishing communities and vital institutions.

Priority 3: to form a community of deep thinkers whose learning tends toward a destiny that is equally about their own growth as it is about building coalitions of fellow-builders and being generative members of important institutions (be it families, schools, government, or something new entirely).

Reading as inhabiting.
The concentration and strengthening of attention, and the ability to enter a text. This is good, creative reading. And these are habits of soul which might fortify us for genuine wisdom and purpose. It may also be the foundation of a truly shared communal life.

Listening as civic discipline.
Conversation depends on listening. Learning depends on conversation. True listening has a lot in common with the habits that make reading creative and robust (see above). Listening also might be a tonic to the impulse for tribal performance. We can be together without anxiety or uniformity.

Collective projects initiated by students as proto‑institution building.
Practice the craft of making. Do it together. Do it in lock-step with an ungraded pursuit of wisdom.

Coalition-building and friendship as cultural infrastructure.