We have been given a role to play. We have been asked to provide, to give lectures on the role of Islamic development and the way we do it here, so the people who are Muslims there would understand what the role of Islam is.
I am no Rushdie. The only people who think of silencing me are my students, on days when my lectures are more opaque than usual.
They do not merely collect texts; they must also gather data about the context and the informant and, above all, write an analysis of the items based upon the course readings and lecture material on folklore theory and method.
When I'm introduced at invited lectures at other universities, the students place a Bobo doll by the lectern. From time to time, I have been asked to autograph one. The Bobo doll has achieved stardom in psychological circles.
I write books, I write for comic books, I give lectures... I live. And when the opportunity comes to do a picture, I do a picture.
In case you're unfamiliar with TED, it is a series of short lectures on a variety of subjects that stream on the Internet for free.
Since 'The Overachievers' came out, I've been doing a lot of lectures and talking to kids across the country.
The atmosphere of libraries, lecture rooms and laboratories is dangerous to those who shut themselves up in them too long. It separates us from reality like a fog.
Imagine if baseball were taught the way science is taught in most inner-city schools. Schoolchildren would get lectures about the history of the World Series. High school students would occasionally reproduce famous plays of the past. Nobody would get in the game themselves until graduate school.
Mary Jo and I have three teenagers who are in their last years at home. In addition, I was just offered and accepted a position with Williams College as a visiting lecturer on leadership beginning in February 2017, and anticipate accepting other academic positions shortly.
