Donald Johnson
Dr. Donald Johnson — English professor and poet in residence at East Tennessee State University — was last fall’s Bingham Visiting Reader. In honor of Veterans Day, Dr. Johnson began his reading with two poems about soldiers and war. The first, “The Sergeant,” was inspired by his father, a World War II veteran who later commanded a squad of the Honor Guard that traveled through West Virginia. The second poem he read, titled “Point Lookout, Maryland,” recalled the American Civil War. An avid sports fan and accomplished sportswriter, Dr. Johnson served for 16 years as...
Read MoreDebby Irving
Activist and author Debby Irving talked with students about what she explained as an epidemic of “white silence.” Ms. Irving, this year’s Multiculturalism and Community Development Speaker, said that when it comes to racism in the United States, white people must be part of “cross-racial conversations” in order to make progress on racial divisions and injustices. A graduate of the Winsor School in Boston, Ms. Irving holds a bachelor’s degree from Kenyon College and an M.B.A. from Simmons College. She is the author of Waking Up White. “We are all connected, but we are damaged,...
Read MoreJennifer Finney Boylan
What does it mean to be transgender? What is gender identity? This year’s Talbot Speaker, Professor Jennifer Finney Boylan, answered these questions for students and faculty, with charm, personal anecdotes, and compassionate advice. Professor Boylan is the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer-in-Residence at Barnard College and the author of She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders. “The question is not how you go from being a man to a woman, or a woman to a man. The real question is: How do you live an authentic life? How do you be you, out in the world? That well-intentioned advice, ‘just...
Read MoreComeback
by Jim Connolly, English faculty Jim Connolly of the English department, who has taught creative writing at Milton since 1983, has long been a poet and writer of fiction. The textbook devoted to teaching poetry that Jim developed is unique in including students’ writing and commentary. He has shared this text with many educators — individual practitioners eager to maximize their effectiveness in the discrete art of understanding teaching and teaching poetry. Jim’s poem, “Comeback,” is included in his recently published collection, Picking Up the Bodies. Jim is now at work on a...
Read More“Leave Room to Be Surprised”
by Todd B. Bland Every Wednesday morning, I look forward to sitting around the Harkness table with the 14 students in my section of Senior Transitions. This course is designed to help Class I students manage the complexities of senior year and the college admission process, and focus on how to make a smooth and healthy transition from high school to college. Senior Transitions is one of four courses in Milton’s Affective Education program that all students take over their Milton years. During this year, we focus explicitly on life questions: What makes you happy? What does success look...
Read MoreThe Social Profit Handbook: The Essential Guide to Setting Goals, Assessing Outcomes, and Achieving Success for Mission-Driven Organizations by David Grant, former faculty
The Social Profit Handbook: The Essential Guide to Setting Goals, Assessing Outcomes, and Achieving Success for Mission-Driven Organizations by David Grant, former faculty Chelsea Green Publishing, Spring 2015 People working in non-profit organizations can and will lead us out of our world’s “mess,” David Grant believes, but to achieve that, they have to change the way they think about assessment — measuring their success. To begin with, David argues for a shift in vocabulary. We are familiar with organizations that create or preserve financial profit; the groups that give us...
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