Why the Liberal Arts, Why Monticello, and Why the Outdoors?

Contributing author Joelle Mancuso of Simi Valley, CA    9/2/10 Imagine a liberal arts education as you would a physical training program. The program you use, the tools that are engaged and the environment you utilize will determine if you become fit or remain idle. A college that is dedicated to greatness, a curriculum that engages […]

Why Hebrew?, Part Two: Hebrew Compliments Greek

Read Part One Here Must an education be limited to completing a checklist of courses in order to receive a certificate of conformance to present as evidence to a prospective employer of having met a minimum standard of proficiency in practical, productive job skills? Is an education limited to passing through a “liberal arts” program […]

Why Hebrew?: Part One

Contributing Author – James Malmstrom, Monticello College Faculty CHOMRONG VILLAGE, Nepal – 2011 – I was sitting in the courtyard of Chomrong Cottage, a charming lodge and the second stop of a 10-day trek into the Annapurna mountain range. The towering snow-capped Himalayan peaks in the distance guarded the gateway to our final destination, a valley at the […]

Montesquieu: Luminary of the Enlightenment

 (Please excuse any errors.  I am writing on the fly from New York and time is limited). Cicero said, “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” To paraphrase, he who only knows his own generation is an unwitting slave to those who have a knowledge of the past and an eye on the […]

What Sort Of Despotism Democratic Nations Have To Fear

The debate of the Federalists and the Anti-federalists is not our debate.  Their argument was centered on how to create a system that maintained the strength of sovereign states and create a strong, independent general government.  We now have the opposite, weak quasi-sovereign states with a run away all-powerful federal government. The central government debated […]

The Courage of Washington

George Washington was not a great president.  He was an average farmer and a loyal but solitary if dispassionate husband and neighbor. When it came to people and relationships, public speaking, pressing the flesh, and gushing, Mr. Washington had a lot of room for improvement. It’s a good thing Washington’s mission was none of those […]

What Does Our Future Hold? or You Can’t Fix Stupid

Fairytale of 2011  Once upon a time and in a land not so far away, there was a people who willing made personal economic decisions beyond their income capacity.  They borrowed money from lenders for not just houses and cars, but they borrowed money for clothes and vacations, homes far beyond their ability to maintain […]