Raphael's Room Blog

Artistic Relativism Meets Plato in a High School Discussion

Artistic Relativism Meets Plato in a High School Discussion

Forming a classroom environment where today's students are challenged to think for themselves and free to say what they think, while still expecting to be accountable for their ideas, is very difficult. Headmaster Michael Van Hecke of St. Augustine Academy in Ventura,...

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Literature, Evil and Hope

Literature, Evil and Hope

I was so impressed by this 2007 high school valedictorian address that I pestered speaker Jane Forsyth to track it down for me.   She really shows what an impression an English class can make when teachers help their students to take great literature seriously. Miss...

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Teaching is Merciful

Teaching is Merciful

Father Paul Raftery, O.P., delivered this beautiful reflection on mercy in the work of the great teacher, St. Thomas Aquinas, as part of a solemn Mass in his honor held on the campus of Thomas Aquinas College.  It speaks to the heart of every Catholic teacher.  ...

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Biographies and Autobiographies: Lives of and by the Saints

Biographies and Autobiographies: Lives of and by the Saints

Rev. Joseph W. Koterski, S.J., is a member of the Philosophy Department at Fordham University, where he has taught since his ordination as a Catholic priest in1992. At Fordham he also serves as the Editor­-in­-Chief of International Philosophical Quarterly and as...

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