by Chris McCaffery If I had no choice about the age in which I was to live, I nevertheless have a choice about the attitude I take and about the way and the extent of my participation in its living ongoing events. To choose the world is not then merely a pious admission that the world is acceptable because it comes from the hand of … Continue reading “Wherefore poets in a destitute time?”: Part Two of Three

by Mark Naida There is a hole cut out of the ceiling on the second floor of a normal-looking house off of Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. This hole opens up a converted second floor bedroom into a cavernous attic. The echoes of the greats have swirled and beat their way into the thinly insulated attic walls. If you stand under this hole quietly, you … Continue reading Soul Music & Live Recording

by Sarah Reinsel  Twentieth century writer and critic Susan Sontag addresses the omnipresence of visual material and photography in “In Plato’s Cave”, sharply warning against the knowledge gained through photographs. She says, The knowledge gained through still photographs will always be some kind of sentimentalism, whether cynical or humanist. It will be a knowledge at bargain prices—a semblance of knowledge, a semblance of wisdom . … Continue reading Retraining the Eye

Encountering human beings in their native tongues By Amelia Stieren Spending eight weeks in Germany this summer brought to surface some of the most lonely and painful moments of my life. Being far away from nearly everyone I love and who love me, living with a family whom I had not previously known, and speaking a language I had spent just two years learning was … Continue reading Windows of Foreign Language

By Lara Forsythe “What is the use of a book without pictures?” Alice asks before tumbling into Wonderland with a pocketwatch-carrying rabbit so familiar to generations of readers. As Hillsdale approaches term paper season and we begin seeing more students toting around stacks of literary criticism (among biochemistry textbooks and backbreaking volumes of the Summa), many of us may find ourselves sympathizing with Alice’s lament. … Continue reading Why We Stopped Reading Picture Books