: Big resolution for the next year is more weeknight hosting of friends for dinner. You know what I …
: The best around-the-table Thanksgiving exercise we did the last couple of years is “who taught …
: Once more with feeling: Word is the worst software ever. Why, why, why do institutions keep …
: Reliable runner’s high again today courtesy of that extended drum solo at the end of “Burning Down …
: I can’t believe it took me this long to read David Bentley Hart’s The Experience of God.
: “The ambient aunties (a great band title) were just there somehow, with their cars to collect …
: I’ve been baffled by the success of cookie chains in recent years — their products are about …
: Hitting a new low of discouragement about the widespread use of chatgpt among students, so if …
: This is my annual arrival-of-winter reminder that even if you don’t have ice cream in the …
: My husband Brian edited and produced his latest Frontline production, airing tomorrow: China, the …
: Came to NYC for a fancy uptown symposium, but it was a much bigger thrill getting to see Maryhouse …
: For beauty to be on the same footing as truth and goodness, it has to be constitutive of the real, …
: “As if I too could body forth His Heaven”: so much beauty-truth-goodness in this lecture by Malcolm …
: Curious if fellow profs here have favorite books or articles about academic writing for new PhDs, …
: I watched this terrific tribute conversation on Dorothy Day, and then I checked out what my hero …
: My daughter is an illustration editor for the school newspaper this year. Her latest.
: “[Dorothy] Day’s ideas were never refuted, just misrepresented, overplayed, and then left for …
: “Is God? and Which is God? are questions on which everything hangs. To say this is not to …
: Great to see this partnership for ethics in engineering education — seems substantive.
: “You could be the CEO of a company devoted to feeding the world, spend your life developing …
: I swore not to use Notes in Substack, thinking the Twitter-like UI would soon make the feed like its …
: The last two weeks of class held field trips, and today, after a proper synthesizing seminar …
: Among the many treasures in the tactile museum at the Perkins School for the Blind this week, …
: The big path and the small path: sarahendren.com/2024/10/1…
: I’m the Myers Distinguished Visiting Fellow in the Humanities and Civic Engagement this year …
: The fall issue — the Builder Issue — of The New Atlantis is out. They put out a call for short …
: Just noting here that @ tags only work as Mentions when the handle is at the front of a post as …
: From “better than nothing” to “better than anything”: …
: Took my design students to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, walkable from our campus. We met a …
: Helen Pynor, La Réunion, 2006, here.
: Bought this way early for my husband’s bday.
: “[V]ery common design patterns — retweets, quote tweets, replies, mentions — are all behaviors …
: So much wisdom in this beautiful conversation with Father Greg Boyle looking back at 30+ years of …
: Still in my Lewis Hyde phase — unsure how I didn’t really know about Trickster before now.
: Would love recommendations for books about Ignatian approaches to culture/making.
: I wrote about disability social media trends and the question of imperfection.
: I talked to students some weeks ago about affordances and limitations in technology, and I mentioned …
: David Cayley’s intellectual biography of Ivan Illich is nicely organized — I just finished the …
: Finished revisions on a paper about interdisciplinary work using Howard Gardner’s idea of …
: Sublime afternoon hearing Mozart and Haydn requiems at Boston Symphony Hall with a friend. Mild …
: “I need a way through what often feels like a binary choice when institutions disappoint us: …
: What a beautiful evening hearing Dougald Hine in conversation with Lewis Hyde and hosted by the …
: I need to write a Letter to a Young Woman Engineer Who’s Ambivalent About Her Standing in the …
: RIP artist Rebecca Horn. Her mysterious “prosthetic” sculptures and performances were so …
: Anne Snyder is a visionary thinker, writer, convener, and this conversation gets at some of her …
: Cambridge celebrities: Saw Jill Lepore this morning. She was post workout, headphones in, so I …
: We all went up to Halibut Point yesterday. Glorious.
: I hit pre-order so fast for my friend Chad Holley’s debut novel, coming out in November!
: This analysis from Bethel McGrew on party politics and abortion is genuinely great: razor-sharp, …
: Good heavens, I loved this conversation with Vinson Cunningham on Know Your Enemy.
: Good day. My book was the campus read for Stevens Institute of Technology, and I gave the …
: First day of high school for all three — the only year they’ll all be together again. 💔
: Long ago, when I was getting almost-a-phd in history, an advisor told me that I had the inconvenient …
: This conversation with Fordham president Tania Tetlow is great.
: LOVED this conversation on Genesis between Marilynne Robinson and Miroslav Volf.
: A beautiful thing to see Ted Gioia’s report on live music ticket sales just booming, including …
: I gathered my higher ed posts into an excerpted new newsletter: Unmuddling the University.
: I wrote the last in my series on thinking through higher ed. I’ll also summarize it in a …
: I wrote about how people who work in “special needs” assistance have skills that are …
: Thrilled that I have (late to the party) discovered Dumbify and similar apps.
: above is free: sarahendren.com/2024/08/2…
: I do love an elder statesman on a crowded city bus — the guy confidently barking move on back.
: I find Elizabeth Oldfield’s “micro monastery” residential arrangement so attractive. A rule of life, …
: Can folks recommend some YA nonfiction about 20th century history? I find the offerings in our local …
: (related?): I really don’t spend time being the language police, and I don’t intend to start. But I …
: Colin Farrell is opening up a foundation on the future of housing, work, thriving for people with …
: Soon I’ll finish William Trevor’s The Story of Lucy Gault, but I picked up Michael Crummey’s The …
: My 16 yr old daughter is perfecting the art of parallel parking — yes, right away. Essential for …
: We’re pitching our short doc film to distributors and festivals now! If you know of festivals …
: I’ve worked in disability for years, so the rhetoric of “care” should be a natural …
: An image from Lewis Hyde’s The Gift: Welsh funeral ritual of handing out food and drink over …
: I see Sarah Perry’s new book is listed for the Booker Prize. I confess I gave up halfway through — …
: I am really pleased to be among this cohort of fellows developing courses on human flourishing at …
: spending the day learning how to read chant notation basics
: Part 4 of my thinking through the college search alongside my teenagers. This one is on the …
: Read-aloud update: Malcolm and I finished Escape from Camp 14, kissed the ground of this wacky and …
: Sean Illing is a national treasure, and this deep discussion of Nietzsche and his legacy …
: 16 yr old daughter discovering architecture this summer.
: Today’s much-needed runner’s high courtesy of TV On The Radio. A bed of roses! A …
: Good to see my grad history program getting a nice influx of support: …
: Trying to lean hard into some advice a priest gave to a friend, and by extension, to me: Don’t push …
: Gonna be following along eagerly with Paper Shoot cameras: papershootcamera.com/. My friend Jesse …
: Picking up our eldest from Down syndrome camp. Dance party to end the night! There are no dance …
: I’ll be a great aunt today. My niece is at the hospital! We’re all so excited.
: Oh MAN the Boston French Film Festival lineup looks so good: www.mfa.org/programs/…
: Part 3 in my series on considering college. First was on formation, second on readiness, and this …
: I wrote about the big beautiful world of adaptive fashion, past and present, in this conversation …
: Sara H, apparently world’s worst Bostonian: why are all these ppl in the train wearing Celtics gear
: Some days it feels like all intellectual roads lead to Erich Fromm’s having and being.
: People with Down syndrome who were hospitalized with COVID were six times more likely than others to …
: Still amazed at how few people know how to ask questions in a social setting. It’s not hard! …
: All you southwest region folks would laugh — schools here sent out a heat advisory for next few …
: This conversation on Camus, Algeria, and the parallels and distinctions of Gaza is just terrific. …
: Part 2 in my essay series about choosing colleges. This one’s about education as two kinds of …
: Just wrote a short summary of my new film for the museum exhibition it’s in. The summary is …
: Apparently the interwoven group biography is exactly my thing: sarahendren.com/2024/06/1…
: Took my baby 3 to his scale modelers club meeting on Cape Ann. It’s held at a small Catholic school, …
: I wrote the first of several posts about how I’m wading through the assumption-laden process …
: For the third year in a row, I’m setting up the easiest summer hangs: a Google doc with several …
: “the most aggressive version of the truth” as a public service? …
: “In its ineffectiveness, architecture shares in the bathos of gardening: an interest in door …
: I am certainly watching Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s trajectory with interest.
: An excellent panel of unusually sharp presentations on liberal education, civic education, and the …
: Spent all weekend re-orging and spring cleaning. Finishing with a trip to the goodwill donation …
: I have officially entered the sandwich era of middle age — and I’d like a better metaphor?
: Student move-out season in Boston-Cambridge is a whole mood.
: Finishing up an academic paper about the unproductively vague affirmations of interdisciplinarity …
: With my youngest’s scout troop at the local city council meeting. (He’s seated, out of frame.) We …
: Still over here astonished at the deep challenge (twofold, at least!) of Heisenberg’s …
: an unconditioned whole “If more thinkers were willing, like William Egginton, to extend and elucidate the …
: Zadie Smith bringing the wisdom as usual: shorturl.at/qxIS2
: So glad to see this call for “time to build” submissions from The New Atlantis. I have …
: Upon meeting another wide-eyed and middle-aged pedestrian on the sidewalk, early spring burst of …
: Teaching takes a lot of energy; it also keeps a person disciplined and specific, resistant to …
: Reading aloud David Chang’s memoir, Eat a Peach, to 14 yr old Malcolm. He enjoys the sweary …
: Curious if folks have honest thoughts about new Buckley doc, out now on PBS and an archival beast to …
: I never tire of design school detritus. World under construction!
: not that kind of constraint: sarahendren.com/2024/05/0…
: first goslings sighting along the River Charles!
: Just bought this print for my office from the Sr. Corita Kent center store: …
: “born of water”: sarahendren.com/2024/04/2…
: Parenting is Mostly Restraint, edition 361: Teenagers will silently process your advice to them, …
: Q: How do I do things (3 kids, no default parent, 2 ft jobs, big project-driven deadlines)? A: I …
: I love seeing this rationale and linked variations on “hello pages”: …
: dreaming Dreaming about a one year gap year program in great books, suitable as “core curriculum” prep for …
: First year of classes at Northeastern clocked! Giddy. My students were great this week. It’s only …
: My 18 yr old with Down syndrome bossing his younger sibs around on the family group chat. This is as …
: Is it a coincidence that we had a consult about Paying for College and then, on my run right after, …
: Springtime runner’s high thanks to The The’s “Giant.” First flowers!
: I just want to say: in keeping with the “limiting virtues” spirit of my latest …
: James Bridle consults LLMs for advice about building chairs, has mixed results: …
: Anyone here know students at St. Michael’s College at the U of Toronto? I’m intrigued on …
: On the city and the “limiting virtues”: cafe, church, library: open.substack.com/pub/sarah…
: My youngest is 14 today. 💔 Should I just openly tell my grad students that being a wife and mother …
: Yikes! Jordan Castro’s unsparing look at the ubiquity of “right?” as a form of …
: Good to see this reasoned testimony by Carter Snead to the senate, offering principles and …
: Our 15 yr old daughter reports that her friends laugh, in a friendly way, at the idea that we have …
: Iain McGilchrist citing Heschel on the tyranny and inadequacy of “thinghood” for …
: Helping STEM academics get clearer about ethical tech, by way of @ayjay’s generous concision …
: Still on McGilchrist over here — a good intro to his argument is in this lecture: …
: Got a fabricator making me a bunch of samples for semi-sculptural “canvases.” Finishing up a short …
: And reading McGilchrist, I suddenly see why Sufjan Stevens’s “Chicago” speaks to so many people: all …
: About 50 pages into McGilchrist, The Matter With Things. It’s good to be alive and in the awestruck …
: Holy wow the Know Your Enemy episode on Rene Girard with John Ganz. So good. Based on this series: …
: JRRT doesn’t need me to hype him, but man what a relief to give up on Dune (sorry, still …
: No train ride is too long in company of John Tavener’s sublime “Funeral Canticle.”
: I’m pleased to have an essay in the catalogue accompanying SFMOMA’s exhibition opening …
: My five year old niece: “Jesus is the son of God, and he glows in the dark.” You said it, kid.
: So much of parenting teenagers is choosing what *not to say. Sometimes all my brain cells are going …
: ok! You can now sign up for weekly digests of posts here. If I have friends out there using RSS for …
: A cathedral of motion pictures, a cathedral of learning, a cathedral of commerce. A “machine …
: On set this past weekend with an architect making one-armed tools in his wood shop. Film premieres …
: Rewatched The Crash Reel for my class on disability. It’s really, really well done — no simple …
: My architecture master’s students are even more astute and curious than I hoped. Now accepting …
: Today’s runner’s high courtesy of frigid weekday temps and a mid-morning outing, making it possible …
: My heart! One of my architecture grads in the writing class asked me to help him launch a blog as he …
: Also sorry to be a heretic, but Dune is…badly written? 13 year old son and I are 70 pages in and I …
: Oof, got conned last night at a gas station in the most cynical way. I’ve lived in cities long …
: Attention folks who work with exceptionally curious undergrads: two-week workshop with Becca …
: Today in optimism: these many efforts supported by the Consistent Life Ethic Action Fund. …
: And speaking of my kids in high school, I am truly less certain than ever what to even wish for, …
: Trying to decide if it’s worth it to go to bat for more paper-based work in my kids’ public high …
: Topics schedule, formal and social, for Writing About The Built World. Seven grad students and me. …
: Spent this last evening of the year with my littlest nieces and nephew — chocolate fountain, dance …
: “My mind is still open to revision, thank God.” — Francis Spufford, naming that truly rare virtue, …
: “But if democratizing politics would go some way toward improving culture, the reverse does …
: Advance copy of Becca Rothfeld’s forthcoming essays ❤️❤️
: Soon I will tell you all the back story for the Stolen Bonsais. Tragic. But here is our older son’s …
: Finally got around to seeing The Sound of Metal. Highly, highly recommended.
: Buying my tree-loving husband a membership and subscription to the Arnold Arboretum’s magazine …
: Speaking of this tiny urban footprint: I’ve been walking the 75 minutes or so to office or studio …
: Subway maps of downtown Boston reassure visitors: this place is tiny. You’re looking at the whole …
: And so glad to see my hero Danielle Allen weighing in on higher ed and the latest free speech …
: All synapses firing! Philip Bess on the sacred city: urbanism as spatial or anti-spatial, human …
: Moss really does grow everywhere.
: Foreboding, spare, approchable, organic, monumental: I wrote about learning to describe the built …
: something-something about the way my teenage daughter takes most selfies and friend photos with …
: quietude in the face of stranger’s messes: sarahendren.com/2023/12/0…
: So so glad to see my friend and likeminded thinker-writer-maker @mbattles here on micro.blog! …
: Two mentions in one week of Whit Stillman’s films in my feeds/podcasts. Time for a house …
: Three-hour seminar structure: favorite practices to break it up? Student-led presentations, guest …
: Blank slate. New studio space for the next three years. Thank you, City of Boston, for subsidizing …
: I realized that I have a public-facing dog: sarahendren.com/2023/11/2…
: So far just opting out completely from Substack Notes, but I see they’re more and more foregrounded …
: Curious if fellow profs have general wisdom about setting up a grad student as research assistant …
: “Sometimes, ‘This’ll do’ is experienced not so much as ‘settling,’ but …
: Finally saw Master and Commander. What terrific storytelling. Peter Weir is the real deal.
: I wrote about a radically imaginative partnership between artists and adults at a Scottish day …
: I loved talking to Krista Tippett, after having her regularly in my head for a couple decades. …
: Loyalty, the “limiting virtues,” and my newly discovered love for the voice memo mode of …
: A fellow academic said to me recently, just offhand: I’m a professor, so of course I like answering …
: Ursula LeGuin on the weight of liberty, and a road trip with kids that set her dreaming: …
: Rediscovered Blur’s Think Tank today. Like I forgot it ever existed, which is all but impossible in …
: One of our staples around the house is a berry compote—just frozen raspberries and frozen cherries …
: You’d think after all this time being encouraged, cajoled, now forced to use Outlook, I’d give in …
: I’m teaching Writing About the Built World next spring. I’d love to hear your favorites …
: Triumph of the diagnostic? (At least) two opposing narratives on disability and freedom. Trying to …
: One big engine of my work remains something like: Revenge-Love Songs from the “Physics for Poets” …
: A wood shop, an architect, the history of machines, and the art of making one-armed tools. I have a …
: Robertson Davies on charity as the last lesson: sarahendren.com/2023/10/3…
: And I get to hear the Faure Requiem again this coming All Souls Day. A good week.
: New Alice McDermott novel comes out tomorrow. Can’t wait.
: This q and a with David French on authoritarianism and the threat of Christian nationalism is so …
: We’re hiring at Northeastern: Design, Civic/Social Values, and Democracy. Open rank, broadly …
: Never been so glad to be paying $$ for newsletters and journalism, rather than get analysis on …
: After finishing Wendell Berry’s magisterial Jayber Crow, I started and stopped several novels before …
: Depressing as hell: even very smart folks with YouTube channels do that thumbnail treatment with …
: Curious if profs/teachers here do a module on “how to reasonably argue in seminar.” We can easily …
: “All sports involve some kind of disabling impediment, in the form of rules that restrict the …
: Two things I might have studied, if I hadn’t been such an incurable melancholy poet type: midwifery …
: New semester, new season: maybe you, like me, are trying out some new habits and patterns. Let me …
: In the ongoing discovery of new-to-me books while still reading aloud to my youngest, let me add …
: Maybe I missed wider discussion about it? But this piece by David Brooks on liberalism and assisted …
: Finally hit a good stride on fiction reading after a bunch of frustrations. This week Tessa …
: These two got a magical Maine cove experience — sea kayaking alongside several pods of porpoises. …
: We saw Mission Impossible last night and loved it — sent me back to when I saw the very first one on …
: I no longer think much about turning 50 — since the day has come and gone, months ago — but my inner …
: Derek Parfit on a consequential drive to Andalusia: sarahendren.com/2023/08/2… h/t …
: And here’s a companion translation.
: Miroslav Volf et al in the new book, “Life Worth Living”—what’s worth wanting? Like a tour through …
: I reviewed David Gissen’s The Architecture of Disability for this month’s Landscape …
: six verbs for accessible design (hint: nothing “universal”): …
: Shearing layers in a building, and teaching the big ideas in and via design. …
: Not so interested in Barbie, but loved going back through some old Gerwig interviews about Little …
: My mom on her first kayak trip at age 75. We had a blast in Olympic Natl Park this week and on …
: Planning a design class toward philosophy, not a philosophy of design: …
: Olympic National Park! Unbelievable.
: Same daughter reporting to the family chat on her other new July skills
: My daughter’s foray into printmaking this week. She has just the right mix of hand-eye acuity and …
: Currently obsessed with watermelon sprinkled with Stardust chili lime mix.
: Seeking readings and resources for my new course on design for the assisted human body: …
: Thinking about how one might organize an architecture/planning class around the themes of US …
: So pleased my teenagers can still get excited about building a fort on a summer day. How much …
: My social design collaboration called the Accessible Icon Project is now on view at the Cooper …
: I see my preferred podcast app, Stitcher, is folding later this summer. What other podcast services …
: [School superintendent] Marlon Styles did the opposite of what most leaders do in conflict: he asked …
: Possibly the most milestone-birthday-year cliche ever, but I have gone ahead and scheduled a call to …
: It’s going to take a lot of effort to create a countervailing narrative to a generous-seeming …
: Currently reading: Stephen Buoro’s The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa, and Jay Baruch’s …
: This girl’s three years old today.
: Very glad to see Richard Reeves heading up a new institute on boys and men: …
: In a few weeks I’ll be around Port Angeles, WA with my mom for a much-anticipated walking trip …
: [She] once told me she did not publish a certain writer I admired because he wrote to have the last …
: SO glad to see @dorsalstream@mastodon.cloud here on MB; I recommend you follow what he’s up …
: I loved this profile of Molly Burhans, a Catholic GIS cartographer working to help the RCC …
: Also, I just realized why I had trouble initially with alt text: the tap on the thumbnail only works …
: Gonna have two of my teens work through this text this summer. Geared for younger kids, but I figure …
: I have so enjoyed the very protracted process of re-finding some friends I made from Twitter—mostly …
: The limits of “principlism” in medical ethics: autonomy, authority, and the search for …
: Trying again to use alt text here… no “done” button once you’ve added text, but gonna see if this …
: Got my colleague Deb Chachra’s book in hand. How Infrastructure Works. Coming this October! This is …
: Took our three teens to see Past Lives last night. Beautifully done! Worth the price of the theater.
: “Booze has a hand on everybody’s shoulder in this city.” sarahendren.com/2023/06/0…
: “The World Health Organization errs when it defines health as “a state of complete physical, …
: Currently reading: The Way of Medicine: Ethics and the Healing Profession (Curlin/Tollefsen). …
: We saw Bruce Cockburn at the Cabot in Beverly last night. Best kind of concert: small sit-down …
: Can folks here recommend some good reading on what unites sports that have balls of any kind? …
: My daughter had her last lacrosse team dinner last night. She’s in 9th grade, first time on a big …
: the tent and the estuary: sarahendren.com/2023/05/3…
: One lucky Mass MoCA visitor got to ride EJ Hill’s roller coaster for one—like a track of stretched …
: Today I learned the word “opusculum” from Hernan Diaz—something less than a novella …
: Just half the haul from U Chicago Press I got to pick for doing peer review. 🙌
: We got some shirts designed for our son’s Unified track team. Today was the state meet. If you have …
: Design is commitment + provisionality. sarahendren.substack.com/p/design-…
: I have an essay in Elizabeth Guffey’s new book, After Universal Design. On Carl Sagan, wonder …
: “Women, the ancient lie, the unattainable mystery, / the apple high on paradisal branches, / the …
: Everyone gets a double major: engineering and history. That’s it. That’s all we offer… …