The point of theory isn't to think safe thoughts; rather, the point is to open intellectual horizons, which one is hardly likely to do with much effectiveness unless one hazards dangerous thoughts. Ronald Beiner Philosophy in a Time of Lost Spirit

Jacques Derrida

This page is only a glimpse at some of the things that hold my interest. It is certainly not exhaustive. There is no mention here, for instance, of my deep and abiding passion for sailing. That must wait for another life. In this life, I have confined myself to the world of ideas.

1. Perspectives on Canadian Society (SA 100-4). An introduction to issues in Canadian Society.  What are the various themes, paradigms, approaches to understanding the contemporary issues facing Canada and the historical roots of these issues.

2. Intro to Anth (SA 101-4): This course examines basic concepts, methods, and history of ideas of social and cultural anthropology. The emphasis is on understanding anthropological explanations of the origins of the human species, of economic, social, and ceremonial activities of small-scale societies outside of the experience of most Canadians. Some anthropological studies of groups in large-scale urban societies will also be included. The role of the study of languages in anthropology will also be discussed.

3 Intro to Sociology (SA 150-4): This course is designed for students curious about the social world and how to articulate their role in it.  Sociology links private concerns with those that are public, with the individual in tension with institutions.  As participants in society, individuals need to learn how to negotiate their identity within boundaries.

4. Anthropology of Contemporary Life (SA 201-4): This course is intended to equip students with an understanding of how anthropology has developed as an academic discipline in order to evaluate issues central to its contemporary practice within a First Nations context with a particular focus on Taiaiake Alfred.
 

5. Classical Social Theory (SA 350-4) (Readings): Social theory is a basic skill of life. It is about the mundane and the concealed – those hidden aspects of social life we sometimes encounter in the ordinary courses of daily life. We don't always see them, thus we aren't always in a position to speak of them, for at least the following reasons: (1) The powers-that-be want them concealed. (2) Either the empowered or the weak may resist talking about them because they are too threatened. Or (3) people need time and experience to learn how to put into words the reality they live with. Social theories don't just occur to us. Some we never get. Others come in time. Some we have to work to get at. But they are there to be known. Importantly, social theory is the undergirding principle that guides our actions, whether in protest or acquiescence. The purpose of this course is to open up our understanding to the event of philosophy's end – the collapse of all foundational discourses and the advent of new possibilities of alternatives to mediating agencies.

6. Research Methodology (SA 255-4): Almost all sociologists and anthropologists would claim that social scientific knowledge is easily differentiated from common sense knowledge. What is the basis of this claim? What is it that distinguishes knowledge claims made by sociologists and anthropologists from common sense knowledge claims? The purpose of this course is to assist the student in understanding what distinguishes social scientific knowledge from other types of knowledge. The intent is to prepare the student in becoming both a producer and a careful consumer of social knowledge. To facilitate this, we will explore two related fields, epistemology (the theory of knowledge) and methodology (the way we implement knowledge).

7. Applied Anthropology: This course examines ways in which Applied Anthropology is used both to solve problems and to affect action in the world today. Given the immense theoretical and methodological breadth of Anthropology, it uses are as varied as its practitioners. Actual and potential applications of the field reflect not only developments within the discipline itself, but the social and political events in the world around us, and increasingly the concerns and needs of Indigenous Peoples and others who seek the restoration of land rights and political autonomy. The course is designed for students interested in understanding the goals, methods, and problems addressed by practicing anthropologists.

1. Personal communication. by Petre Kropotkin.
2. Welcome to Znet, a community of people committed to social change.
3. An online Howard Zinn site. Check it out.
4. An EJournal web sit for those who see the value of critical thinking of a serious type.
5. Marxist reference archive.
6. A-Infos: a multi-lingual news service by, for, and about anarchists.

7. Anarchist Home Page: An online research center on the history and theory of anarchism.
8. A socialist alternative. Revolutionary writings on line.
9. Resistance radio.  Lots of anticapitalism and other good stuff but on Mp3.

1. Introduction to the Philosopher: Kierkegaard on the Net.
2. A brief bio.
3. An international newsletter.
4. A commentary on Kierkegaard.
5. A center for study and reflection. St. Olaf's Library.
6. Island of Freedom. A serious religious thinker.
7. The angst of existentialism and more.  Not a study guide but an engaging site nontheless.
8. Kierkegaard resources.
9. The manuscripts.
10. Kierkegaard and radical discipleship.

1. Simone Weil: Bio (1).
2. Simone Weil: Bio (2).
3. Simone Weil and Creative Intelligence.
4. The Intellect of Grace, by Henry Leroy Finch.
5. Honors Creativity Seminar: Miami University.

Dorothy Day

1. Mystery and Myth, Dorothy Day and the Peace Movement.
2. Learning about justice from Dorothy Day.
3.  An Anarchist Community a view brought forward by Jerry Zaslove.
4. What is Anarchy? A Christian perspective.
5. Anarchist without Adjectives.  If you try to name the great anarchists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Emma Goldman, Peter Kropotkin, Joseph Proudhon, and Benjamin Tucker may come to mind. Voltairine de Cleyre (1866- 1912) is not well known today. She was a freethinker, an anarchist, and a feminist. She toured the country as a speaker and she wrote poems, stories, and essays. She knew and worked with many of the more well known radicals. The purpose of this article is to introduce de Cleyre and some of her excellent writings.
6. Anarchism in the Catholic Worker Tradition.
7. Some excellent links to Catholic Anarchism.
8. Religion as Opposition: A Gramscian Model. This essay is about worship and politics. When I was young, it was impressed upon me that wisdom suggested avoiding religion and politics within the same conversation. Well, that isn't entirely true. One could legitimately speak about the politics as long as religion could somehow vilify politics. Most importantly, I learned from the rubrics of my Mennonite community that politics and religion were inherently antithetical. While I managed to reiterate Mennonite dogma to some acceptable degree, there was always a sense that I had been sold a counterfeit when it came to the aforementioned question. Let me suggest to you, however, that this premise is predicated on how we understand religion. Let me suggest to you, then, that what I am talking about is not religion as dogma, but about a sense of worship. With that in mind, I would like, with your permission, to explore an idea. I would like to examine the proposition that, indeed, politics and worship are not diametrically opposed but indeed, worship is intricately political.

1. What would happend if a group of homeless people celebrated the eucharist in the sewers of London right under the Speaker's Chair in Britain's Parliament (Oct./03)?
2. A young ex-Mennonite boy goes to a sourthern Manitoba farming community as a teacher and discovers something about love in a context of suspicion and prejudice (July/03).
3. Adam is arrested for a crime he has no knowledge of ever committing. Indeed, in this new social order defined by the Big Man and managed by the Office of Homeland Security, nobody ever finds out what their crime is. All crimes are posted at the end of the day on the door of St. Julius’ Cathedral and they are retroactive. The Bishop, who is the director of the OHS and also the new police commissioner (as well as cleric) had Adam arrested and sentences him to an insane asylum (May/03).
4. George Bush meets Jesus but doesn't recognize him.  Jesus comes to Bush dressed as a Bedouin sheepherder and consequently Bush takes him as the enemy (April/03).
5. A photo retoucher sees a print of an old photo which reminds him of his father who has died.  The memory of his father takes him on a journey where he is reunited with his past as well as his father's past (previously published in West Coast Line: Spring 2001)
6. A couple travelling in Egypt encounter a seller of oil (March 94).

1. http://www.osjspm.org/cst/.
2. http://www.justpeace.org/.
3. http://www.justpeace.org/doct.htm.
4. http://www.uscatholic.org/cstline/tline.html.
5. http://www.medaille.com/distributivism.htm.
6. http://www.cjd.org/paper/latin.html.
7. http://www.americapress.org/articles/Byron.htm.
8. **http://www.saintmarys.edu/~incandel/cst.html. An incredible site by JOSEPH M. INCANDELA, Ph.D. PROFESSOR: B.A., University of Notre Dame; M.A., Ph.D., Princeton University

Philip Berrigan, and his brother Daniel, rose to prominence more than thirty years ago leading creative, non-violent resistance to the Vietnam War. Both brothers have continued the anti-war tradition until this day. Philip was a founding member of the Ploughshares group, which organizes non-violent direct actions against first strike  nuclear weaponry. He has spent more than seven years of his life in jail because of his anti-war activities. He is presently completing a two year sentence for a Ploughshares action in Maine.

After being paroled in 1972, both brothers continued their involvement in such actions as “Plowshares” protests at weapons plants. They have been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned, and have continued to write prolifically.

Daniel Berrigan, 1921–, b. Syracuse, N.Y., was trained in the Society of Jesus and ordained in 1952. Travels in France exposed him to the worker-priest movement, and after teaching at secondary schools and at LeMoyne Coll., he devoted himself in the 1960s to civil rights and antipoverty work, eventually becoming a leading activist against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. His poetry had meanwhile appeared in several volumes, including Time Without Number (1957).

1. Poem by Daniel Barrigan.
2. To dwell in peace.
3. War in heaven, peace on earth.
4. Eight who went to prison for turning swords into plowshares.
5. A hymn for resisters.
6. Interview between Daniel Barrigan and Alan Fox.
7. Real Audio conversations with Daniel Barrigan.
8. Prophets have something to say – a pearl of great price.
9. From Howard Zinn.

Philip Francis Berrigan, 1923–2002, b. Two Harbors, Minn., served in Europe in World War II, grad. from Holy Cross Coll., and was ordained (1955). After holding pastoral and teaching positions, he turned in the 1960s to peace activism. In 1968 the Berrigans were arrested for destroying Selective Service files in Catonsville, Md. While in hiding, Daniel published a play, The Trial of the Catonsville 9 (1969). Both Berrigans served prison terms, and Philip secretly married Sister Elizabeth McAlister, a fellow activist.  Died Dec. 6, 2002, 9:30 PM, at Jonah House, Baltimore, MD.

1. Trial for non-violence.
2. Writings from inside a jail for a good cause.
3. Another way of looking at truth.
4. Peace Links.
5. Reflections.
6. The trial of depleted uranium.
7. Swords into plowshares.
8. Works of mercy, works of war.
9. Explore the non violence web.
10. The price you pay for civil disobedience.