Michael Lamb – författare

Across the globe, educators are grappling with how best to prepare a new generation to engage the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century. Along with knowledge and skills, many are now emphasizing the importance of character. Yet, while there has been a robust movement to educate character among children and adolescents, much less attention has been given to the ethical formation of college and university students. What is the role of colleges and universities in educating the character of students? Should universities even attempt to cultivate virtue? If so, how can they do so effectively in a pluralistic context? Cultivating Virtue in the University seeks to answer these questions by gathering diverse perspectives on character education within twenty-first century universities. With essays from some of the world's leading scholars, this volume catalyzes a critical debate about the possibilities and limits of character education in the university while offering theoretical and practical perspectives on what such education could look like in increasingly global and intercultural institutions. By engaging insights from education, history, literature, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and theology, the volume encourages scholars and educators to embrace the opportunities and challenges of cultivating virtue in the university.

Across the globe, educators are grappling with how best to prepare a new generation to engage the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century. Along with knowledge and skills, many are now emphasizing the importance of character. Yet, while there has been a robust movement to educate character among children and adolescents, much less attention has been given to the ethical formation of college and university students. What is the role of colleges and universities in educating the character of students? Should universities even attempt to cultivate virtue? If so, how can they do so effectively in a pluralistic context? Cultivating Virtue in the University seeks to answer these questions by gathering diverse perspectives on character education within twenty-first century universities. With essays from some of the world's leading scholars, this volume catalyzes a critical debate about the possibilities and limits of character education in the university while offering theoretical and practical perspectives on what such education could look like in increasingly global and intercultural institutions. By engaging insights from education, history, literature, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and theology, the volume encourages scholars and educators to embrace the opportunities and challenges of cultivating virtue in the university.

A bold new interpretation of Augustine’s virtue of hope and its place in political lifeWhen it comes to politics, Augustine of Hippo is renowned as one of history’s great pessimists, with his sights set firmly on the heavenly city rather than the public square. Many have enlisted him to chasten political hopes, highlighting the realities of evil and encouraging citizens instead to cast their hopes on heaven. A Commonwealth of Hope challenges prevailing interpretations of Augustinian pessimism, offering a new vision of his political thought that can also help today’s citizens sustain hope in the face of despair.Amid rising inequality, injustice, and political division, many citizens wonder what to hope for in politics and whether it is possible to forge common hopes in a deeply polarized society. Michael Lamb takes up this challenge, offering the first in-depth analysis of Augustine’s virtue of hope and its profound implications for political life. He draws on a wide range of Augustine’s writings—including neglected sermons, letters, and treatises—and integrates insights from political theory, religious studies, theology, and philosophy. Lamb shows how diverse citizens, both religious and secular, can unite around common hopes for the commonwealth.Recovering this understudied virtue and situating Augustine within his political, rhetorical, and religious contexts, A Commonwealth of Hope reveals how Augustine’s virtue of hope can help us resist the politics of presumption and despair and confront the challenges of our time.

A bold new interpretation of Augustine’s virtue of hope and its place in political lifeWhen it comes to politics, Augustine of Hippo is renowned as one of history’s great pessimists, with his sights set firmly on the heavenly city rather than the public square. Many have enlisted him to chasten political hopes, highlighting the realities of evil and encouraging citizens instead to cast their hopes on heaven. A Commonwealth of Hope challenges prevailing interpretations of Augustinian pessimism, offering a new vision of his political thought that can also help today’s citizens sustain hope in the face of despair.Amid rising inequality, injustice, and political division, many citizens wonder what to hope for in politics and whether it is possible to forge common hopes in a deeply polarized society. Michael Lamb takes up this challenge, offering the first in-depth analysis of Augustine’s virtue of hope and its profound implications for political life. He draws on a wide range of Augustine’s writings—including neglected sermons, letters, and treatises—and integrates insights from political theory, religious studies, theology, and philosophy. Lamb shows how diverse citizens, both religious and secular, can unite around common hopes for the commonwealth.Recovering this understudied virtue and situating Augustine within his political, rhetorical, and religious contexts, A Commonwealth of Hope reveals how Augustine’s virtue of hope can help us resist the politics of presumption and despair and confront the challenges of our time.

What might we learn if the study of ethics focused less on hard cases and more on the practices of everyday life? In Everyday Ethics, Michael Lamb and Brian Williams gather some of the world’s leading scholars and practitioners of moral theology (including some GUP authors) to explore that question in dialogue with anthropology and the social sciences. Inspired by the work of Michael Banner, these scholars cross disciplinary boundaries to analyze the ethics of ordinary practices—from eating, learning, and loving thy neighbor to borrowing and spending, using technology, and working in a flexible economy. Along the way, they consider the moral and methodological questions that emerge from this interdisciplinary dialogue and assess the implications for the future of moral theology.

What might we learn if the study of ethics focused less on hard cases and more on the practices of everyday life? In Everyday Ethics, Michael Lamb and Brian Williams gather some of the world’s leading scholars and practitioners of moral theology (including some GUP authors) to explore that question in dialogue with anthropology and the social sciences. Inspired by the work of Michael Banner, these scholars cross disciplinary boundaries to analyze the ethics of ordinary practices—from eating, learning, and loving thy neighbor to borrowing and spending, using technology, and working in a flexible economy. Along the way, they consider the moral and methodological questions that emerge from this interdisciplinary dialogue and assess the implications for the future of moral theology.

A deeply insightful approach to cultivating leaders of character centered on the arts and humanitiesWhat does it mean to lead? Whom do we consider to be leaders? And how might viewing leadership through the many lenses of the humanities expand our understanding of how it is imagined, represented, and enacted?Drawing on insights from eminent scholars in the classics, philosophy, religion, literature, history, art, music, and theater, The Arts of Leading reveals the power of the arts and humanities to unsettle common assumptions about leadership. Rather than instrumentalizing the arts and humanities or reducing them to mere management resources, this series of thoughtful and refreshing essays engages a litany of diverse and nuanced perspectives to uncover alternative ways of imagining and embodying leadership across different historical, moral, political, and cultural contexts.By exploring how a wide range of disciplines can illuminate and humanize complex aspects of leadership that are often obscured in a discourse hooked on reductive paradigms and quick fixes, The Arts of Leading invites leaders, scholars, and citizens to expand their practice of leadership in our ever-evolving world.

A deeply insightful approach to cultivating leaders of character centered on the arts and humanitiesWhat does it mean to lead? Whom do we consider to be leaders? And how might viewing leadership through the many lenses of the humanities expand our understanding of how it is imagined, represented, and enacted?Drawing on insights from eminent scholars in the classics, philosophy, religion, literature, history, art, music, and theater, The Arts of Leading reveals the power of the arts and humanities to unsettle common assumptions about leadership. Rather than instrumentalizing the arts and humanities or reducing them to mere management resources, this series of thoughtful and refreshing essays engages a litany of diverse and nuanced perspectives to uncover alternative ways of imagining and embodying leadership across different historical, moral, political, and cultural contexts.By exploring how a wide range of disciplines can illuminate and humanize complex aspects of leadership that are often obscured in a discourse hooked on reductive paradigms and quick fixes, The Arts of Leading invites leaders, scholars, and citizens to expand their practice of leadership in our ever-evolving world.

In this thought-provoking and intriguing fantasy, set in a parallel world to our own, the reader must accompany the quasi-biblical figure of Joshua, as he slips easily and compellingly between different time-perspectives and across various continents. In so doing it becomes apparent that the wayfarer has embarked upon a strange, almost surreal odyssey, one in which he is challenged both existentially and spiritually. In encounters with a colourful spectrum of characters the protagonist is repeatedly obliged to defend not only his faith in God, but also his personal hopes that a life after death be both justified and congruent with reality. At times his journey is illumined, at other times made fraught, by the possibilities and limitations alike of friendship and love. Moreover, he is obliged to encounter a variety of individuals who confront him with their own locales and ways of life: not least, an alien people for whom his personal philosophy of life is neither apt nor necessary. Ageing all the while, he experiences dimensions akin to our own, whether it be a busy metropolis, a rural backwater, or, for that matter, an old people’s home. Reading occasionally like an allegory or parable, this is a story which will interest all who are dissatisfied with secularity and who search for a deeper meaning to complement and make more purposeful their lives. It is a work to which the reader may return to engage with favourite episodes, or again with the protagonist’s journey taken as a whole.

In this thought-provoking and intriguing fantasy, set in a parallel world to our own, the reader must accompany the quasi-biblical figure of Joshua, as he slips easily and compellingly between different time-perspectives and across various continents. In so doing it becomes apparent that the wayfarer has embarked upon a strange, almost surreal odyssey, one in which he is challenged both existentially and spiritually. In encounters with a colourful spectrum of characters the protagonist is repeatedly obliged to defend not only his faith in God, but also his personal hopes that a life after death be both justified and congruent with reality. At times his journey is illumined, at other times made fraught, by the possibilities and limitations alike of friendship and love. Moreover, he is obliged to encounter a variety of individuals who confront him with their own locales and ways of life: not least, an alien people for whom his personal philosophy of life is neither apt nor necessary. Ageing all the while, he experiences dimensions akin to our own, whether it be a busy metropolis, a rural backwater, or, for that matter, an old people’s home. Reading occasionally like an allegory or parable, this is a story which will interest all who are dissatisfied with secularity and who search for a deeper meaning to complement and make more purposeful their lives. It is a work to which the reader may return to engage with favourite episodes, or again with the protagonist’s journey taken as a whole.

In 2009, Stephen Barker was convicted of rape on the evidence of a little girl who was four-and-a-half years old at the trial, and about three-and-a-half when first interviewed by the police. The high point of the proceedings was the child's appearance as a live witness in order for Barker's counsel to attempt a cross-examination.This case focused attention on the need, imposed by current English law, for even tiny children to come to court for a live cross-examination. In 1989, the Pigot Committee proposed a scheme under which the whole of a young child's evidence, including cross-examination, would be obtained out of court and in advance of trial. In 1999 a provision designed to give effect to this was included in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act, but it has not yet been brought into force.The full Pigot proposal was implemented, however, in Western Australia, and similar schemes operate in a number of European jurisdictions. This book of essays examines a number of these schemes, and argues the case for further reforms in the UK.