On My Mind

Category: Education

  • An Investment in Philosophy

    In January, a Wall Street investor named Bill Miller donated $75 million to the philosophy department of his alma mater, Johns Hopkins. Not to computer science, not to the business or medical school, but to philosophy. Think of it! What prompted this remarkable and unconventional gift was Mr. Miller’s gratitude for “the value that it…

  • Fair Highlights Student Research

    Every time I turn around, it seems, I learn about another exciting project taking place here on campus. With such a dynamic faculty and resourceful student body, it should not surprise me. One good example is the Presidential Scholars Research Fair which took place in early March. The reason I found it so exciting, and…

  • Order On Immigration

    To the FIT  Community: In the wake of President Trump’s order on Friday to ban temporarily people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States, I write to reaffirm FIT’s unyielding commitment to tolerance and inclusion.  Just the other day, at the FIT Faculty Convocation,  I spoke of our obligation as an educational…

  • Ready for a New Semester

    We are all just returning from our winter break—brief for some, a bit longer for others, a welcome respite for all. It is the start of a new semester, a time I always find exciting. We come together, faculty and staff, having had time to relax, to refresh our minds and spirits, about as prepared…

  • 1,000 Voices in “The Public Domain”

    I wasn’t there. I didn’t hear it; I didn’t see it. But from what I’ve read, I am sorry I missed it. “It” is “The Public Domain”—a choral work for 1,000 volunteer singers that was performed on the main plaza at Lincoln Center a few weeks ago. It was composed by a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer…