Tag Archives: Martha Nussbaum

Lit, An Antidote to Authoritarianism

By Robin Bates | Published: April 28, 2017

Literature’s universalism functions as an antidote to the exclusionary politics of figures like Donald Trump and Marine LePen.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged authoritarianism, Dambudzo Marechera, Donald Trump, Hisham Matar | Comments closed

Not a Reader (and Proud of It)

By Robin Bates | Published: February 23, 2017

What do a president’s reading habits say about his/her vision of America? Obama’s celebration of a diverse America is the vision of a voracious reader. Trump’s shallow narrative is the vision of one who doesn’t read.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Donald Trump, Humanities, Liberal arts education | Comments closed

The President Who Loved Literature

By Robin Bates | Published: January 16, 2017

In a remarkable interview with “The New York Times,” Barack Obama spoke about the importance of literature in his life. The range of his reading and the sensitivity of his responses is astounding.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Barack Obama, Bend in the River, Colson Whitehead, Doris Lessing, Ernest Hemingway, Fates and Furies, Garcia Gabriel Marquez, Gilead, Gillian Flynn, Golden Notebook, Gone Girl, Jack Kerouac, Jhumpa Lahiri, Junot Diaz, Lauren Goff, Liu Cixin, Marilynne Robinson, Maxine Hong Kingston, Moveable Feast, Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Philip Roth, Road, Saul Bellow, Song of Solomon, Tempest, Three Body Problem, Toni Morrison, Underground Railroad, V.S. Naipaul, Warrior Woman, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Lit Produces Good Voters

By Robin Bates | Published: November 7, 2016

Philosopher Martha Nussbaum argues that reading literature, and reading it critically, prepares one to be a good citizen who can vote responsibly.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged citizenship, Liberal Arts, Ralph Ellison, voting | Comments closed

Lit Opens Minds to Suffering of the Other

By Robin Bates | Published: October 23, 2016

Philosopher Martha Nussbaum argues that literature is essential for creating good citizens in a diverse society, turning to Sophocles’s “Philoctetes” and Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” to make her point.