In the Basic Program classroom, students pay close attention to the text, and not so much to the historical context. The First Friday Lectures were designed originally to provide this context. In the December lecture, Kendall Sharp outlines the historical context that explains the significance of the two ancient Greek genres that kick off the Basic Program: tragic drama and philosophy. These genres are valued by liberal education because of their original audiences. These audiences were the original free and equal citizens, who ruled themselves and ran their government by discussion and consensus rather than obedience to one man. Tragedy and philosophy reflect this historical context. Indeed, politics accounts for their origins. Tragedy and philosophy address questions and viewpoints of interest only to persons who have charge of their own lives, and make their own decisions.
Dana Suskind on Raising Children in the Age of AI
Dana Suskind, founder and co-director of the TMW Center for Early Learning and Public Health and a professor of surgery and pediatrics at the University of Chicago, traces her work from pediatric cochlear implant surgery to brain development research to the rise of generative AI. Her book Human Raised grew from a central observation in…...
