"In and out of the classroom I strive to inspire in students an intense curiosity about the world around them: the history of all cultures and peoples, literature from every continent, and a profound respect for all religious traditions.

I also attempt to explain that learning is a lifelong endeavor that only begins in a classroom or tutoring session. In my view, it is the demanding responsibility of a lifelong learner to work diligently and thoroughly to respond intelligently and reasonably to the inevitable hard questions that life poses to us all: the why of suffering; peace and war; what is noble in the human spirit, and its opposite; what are the heights of human achievement, and what are its utter failures, and the causes of both; what is the role of the arts, of religion, of medicine, of science, and of government.

My liberal arts education is concentrated in several areas: literature (North America, Europe, Asia), writing (non-fiction prose, the form of the personal essay, poetry), and religion (world religions, Christianity, social justice). I have taught college and university courses in all of these subjects, and am very able to tutor individual students in each of these areas." less...