The Aesthetic Pedagogy of Francis of Assisi
ABSTRACT: Despite his anti-intellectualism, Francis of Assisi was an effective teacher who intentionally illustrated the life of virtue in his own way of living. He was a teacher in the sense that the Hebrew prophets, Socrates or Gandhi were teachers. He was a performance artist for whom drama functioned pedagogically. His life was not always meant to be an example to his followers; sometimes it was a dramatic lesson, meant to be watched, not imitated. All drama is inherently a distortion of reality because it focuses the attention on one aspect of reality. Francis’ dramatized life distorts the importance of poverty, but this is a distortion from which we may be able to learn if we are able to imaginatively identify with Francis. For Francis, asceticism was a form of obedience, and obedience a mode of knowledge. Such ‘personalized,’ lived teaching is the only way in which virtue (as opposed to ethics) may be effectively taught. Francis followed the same model of paideia as Gandhi, bringing together the physical discipline of radical asceticism with the aesthetic experience of a dramatic life in which he played the roles of troubadour and fool.
Unlike most of the other Western European figures of the 12th-century who are frequent subjects of academic study, Francis of Assisi was not a scholar. He had the education appropriate to the middle-class son of a prosperous merchant, but he never taught in a university, never wrote a Summa or a Commentary on the Sentences, never spent time in libraries. For much of his lifetime, the Order of Friars Minor didn’t even own a Bible, let alone any other books. Brother Leo, one of Francis’ closest companions, wrote of him that he "did not want ...
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...hton, 1923), p. 106.
(6) Bonaventure, Major Life, VI. 2.
(7) Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (Garden City: Doubleday, 1959), pp. 17-18.
(8) cited in Goffman, op. cit., pp. 19, 20.
(9) Dorothy Heathcote, Collected Writings on Education and Drama (London: Hutchinson, 1984), p. 114.
(10) cited in Howard Williams, Concepts of Ideology (New York; St. Martin's Press, 1988), p. 111.
(11) Walter Brueggemann, The Creative Word: Canon as a Model for Biblical Education, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986), p. 91.
(12) Brueggemann, op. cit., p. 104.
(13) Leroy S. Rouner, "Can Virtue Be Taught in a School?," Can Virtue Be Taught?, vol. 14, Boston University Studies in Philosophy and Religion, ed. Barbara Darling-Smith, p. 142.
(14) Rouner, op. cit., p.147.
(15) Rouner, op. cit., p. 148.
(16) Chesterton, op. cit., p. 86.
Confrontation, avoided by all, unpredictably leads to negative consequent and sacrifices. Ellen DeGeneres and Jay Leno are two celebrities iconicity known for using drollery to express personal preferences. Unfortunately, this style would be regarded as humor without validation if it was not for the authors before paving the way for waggery. Ogden Nash, a highly respected poet, established an new form of light verse impacting both literature and society.
Pain management. (n.d.) Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing. (2012). Retrieved April 30 2014 from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/pain+management
In his Earlier Rule, Francis encouraged the friars to preach through their actions rather than their words (Let all the brothers, however preach by their deeds). For Francis, gestures and symbols were as important as the words themselves. In the Franciscan sources, Francis depended as much on dramatic gestures and images as he did upon words he spoke (or didn’t speak) to preach his message. The meal at the Greccio provides an excellent example of how Francis used both of these elements, as well as words to make manifest “sermon”. This paper will examine this Greccio meal through the lens of two sources, the earlier Assisi Compilation and the later work, The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul by Thomas of Celano. The Greccio meal will be compared and contrasted in these two sources, especially with regards to the significance of Francis unspoken actions within these writings. For Francis, actions did indeed speak louder than words.
Obama Administration proposed what is called Comprehensive Immigration Reform. It is composed of six sections aimed at fixing the current immigration system. It includes enhanced border enforcement, interior enforcement and the most controversial section; an amnesty program to legalize undocumented immigrants. In other words, it creates a pathway to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants that is fair and feasible. Many argue that even though Comprehensive Immigration Reform is good for America because it addresses important issues like creating a committee to adopt the number of visas available to changing economic times, preventing people from working without permits and creating programs aimed at helping immigrants adjust to life in America. Yet it rewards violators of current U.S. laws who entered the country illegally, and those who entered the country legally but overstayed their visas. Opponents of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform proposal claim that immigrants have a negative impact on the economy; overwhelming social services of many states, and posing a threat to American workers as a result of big corporations exploiting immigrants with low wages and poor working conditions. With the recent economic downturn and the severe recession that hit the U.S, many individuals blame immigrants for their economic misfortune and lack of employment. For both the opponents and proponents of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Proposal, for the millions of the undocumented immigrants and their families, and lawmakers; immigration has become an emotional political issue. Despite the resistance of many, America should embrace comprehensive immigration reform.
It has been nearly three decades since the last time Congress reformed our immigration system. From the Reagan era to the Obama administration, the country has undergone financial, social and political changes yet our immigration policies continue to be the same. Since the implementation of the last immigration reform in 1986, the United States government has spent nearly $187 billion ($220 billion when adjusted to 2013 dollars) in immigration enforcement agencies and programs alone (Meissner, Kerwin, Muzaffar & Bergeron, 2013). The high costs and the increasing public concern has led Americans to recognize the brokenness of our current immigration system and how it has not kept up with changing times. Research has shown 71% of Americans say undocumented immigrants should have a pathway to remain in the country legally (Pew Research Center, 2013). Although Congress and the White House have had numerous failed attempts to pass immigration reform in the past, H.R. 15 proposes an updated bipartisan system that can further secure the borders and solve problems surrounding immigration (Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, 2013.
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Findings. Pain has many different meanings to many people. What is important to know as a nurse or health care provider is that pain is what the patient says it is. It is not the nurse or provider’s place to determine what the patient’s pain is but rather take an in-depth history and assessment. Using this assessment and history can therefore help treat your patient’s pain accordingly. Also pain theories have been proposed and used the implications of nursing practice in regard to pain.
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The first argument that I will bring up is that of cultural relativism. It is widely accepted that different cultures, whether that be as simply as regional or global, have different ways of viewing life. While one culture may find one thing to be socially acceptable another may find the same to be completely taboo.
...ol.” Debates on Immigration. Ed Judith Gans, Elaine M. Repogle, and Daniel J. Tichenor. Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Reference, 2012: 144. Gale Virtual Library. Web. 22 Apr, 2014.
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Confessions takes readers through Saint Augustine’s spiritual wandering prior to becoming a virtuous and highly influential bishop in the Catholic Church. The early stages of the book have Augustine reflecting on his childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood – parts of his life where he feels that he is dangerously far away from God. “At one time in adolescence I was burning to find satisfaction from hellish pleasures. I ran wild in the shadowy jungle of erotic adventures. ‘My beauty wasted away and in your sight I became putrid’,” displays how Augustine’s focus on worldly things
Goffman, E. 1959. The presentation of self in everyday life. Garden City, NY: Double Day
Deforestation happens in many ways; fires, clear-cutting for agriculture, ranching, development, logging, and degradation due to climate change, impacting lives and posing a horrific threat to a wide range of species (WWF, 2017). The reoccurring issue of rapid forest clearing is continuing to progress. Some direct causes are the incredibly high demand and extensive dependency of resources that rainforests provide, land expansion, logging, agriculture and infrastructure. This critical matter must be taken seriously and re-evaluated with extreme consideration. Global involvement of governments and an abrupt interference of forests clearing needs a redirected approach of an implemented mandatory reforestation in these areas. This will create a decrease in the major dilemma that is compromising the planets future sustainability. Primarily, causing the extinction and endangerment of millions of plants and animals from