BOSTON PHOENIX September 20, 1983 Growth Potential A Review of Robert Kegan’s The Evolving Self By Alfie Kohn Most people would be surprised, and more than a little amused, to learn how faddish intellectual currents are in the academy. When I was in graduate school at the University of Chicago, Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development was out and Clifford … Read More
Existential Quizzes
BOSTON PHOENIX July 19, 1983 Existential Quizzes A Review of Walker Percy’s Lost in the Cosmos By Alfie Kohn Were it not for his grounding in American culture — specifically, his evident Southern roots — one might think Walker Percy was French. His equal (and superb) facility at writing philosophical essays, social criticism, and fiction; his novels’ status as genuine … Read More
How to Make the Least of Your College Years
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL February 1981 How to Make the Least of Your College Years By Alfie Kohn In the face of mounting evidence that college is an inherently broadening experience, it seems almost impossible to complete those four years without growing a little. Twenty-two-year-olds have been known to emerge from their chosen institution of higher learning dogged by greater perspective and … Read More
Rodents and the Barometry of Tension
Brown Daily Herald April 22, 1976 Rodents and the Barometry of Tension By Alfie Kohn Since the innovative experimentation on canines to determine pain thresholds (“Torturing Puppies,” Sadiski, 1961), little work has been done to correlate external stress with quantifiable phenomena in a laboratory context. In order to better understand how people think, feel, and interact, it seems only logical … Read More