Books, books, books...

"After all manner of professors have done their best for us, the place we are to get knowledge is in books." -Albert Camus

The Fulbright Lecturing awards come with a $1500 book allowance. As the Fulbright Commission instructs us, "The purpose of this money is to foster the development of educational institutions in the region. . . These materials should be selected primarily for use in teaching and must be left at the host institution for the ongoing benefit of the students." What a nice idea!

One of my many projects this summer was deciding which books to order. I had a list of things I want to have available for my students, but I also wanted to be sure I ordered things that would be welcome in the collection of my host department. It was fun trading "wish lists" this summer, until we used up the money.

I ended up with a wonderful collection of material in philosophy of art, aesthetic education, the role of the arts in a democracy, and work by and about by the English philosopher John Stuart Mill (one of my heroes), whose On Liberty has been enormously influential in shaping our understanding of the importance of free speech in a democracy.

I shipped everything to the State Department in Washington, DC, which will send it on to Bratislava via diplomatic pouch, saving a fortune in postage and customs -- also a nice idea!