Author: Andrew Taggart
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On book dedications and patronage models: A very brief modern history
“Patron: One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery.” –Dr. Johnson, Dictionary (1755) — Elizabethan Age: My dearest Baroness, You’re exquisite, but you know this already. Here are some sonnets. Your lowly servant. Victorian Age: To my bourgie reader, A page-turner, the first volume, here in your…
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On the other side of radical education lies wisdom: An exhortation; or, on the question whether really free is really good
As I review the list of alternative higher education schools, I’m struck almost immediately by their shared ethos of anarchism. They begin with a rejection of the status quo and then level their critique at the corporatization of the modern research university. They say that the university is the institution of elitism, the perpetuation of privilege,…
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I’ll play your body if you play mine: An existential dialogue (Work in progess)
Yesterday I had a remarkable conversation with Martyn Clark. Among many other things, he’s working on a year-long project loosely called “40 years, 40 collaborations.” After our conversation, he recorded his initial reply. It’s a moving 4-minute piano improvisation that damn-near too my breath away. As I listened to Martyn’s reply and thought back over our…
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On getting kicked in the teeth: A letter to a friend
The following is a letter I wrote to a friend of mine a few days ago. The names have been changed and the personal information removed. — September 14, 2011 Dear Sarah, Yes, John is a strange fellow. The bad thing is that he’s boorish and dull. The good thing is that he understands the…
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Concerning the ills of talkativeness
The lovely thing about Plutarch is that no subject is too common that it cannot reveal much about us and our minor vices. So it is with talkativeness. The chatterer, in saying much, lacks much. He lacks self-control and courage, secrets flowing too freely from his open mouth and loose tongue. Yet what he lacks…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 