tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81812515388812951392024-03-15T20:12:48.302-05:00Slowly Percolating Forms"The soul's deeper parts can only be reached through its surface. In this way the eternal forms, that mathematics and philosophy and the other sciences make us acquainted with, will by slow percolation gradually reach the core of one's being; and will come to influence our lives..." C.S. Peirce.David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.comBlogger292125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-14675358538737793422024-03-15T11:42:00.000-05:002024-03-15T11:42:08.895-05:00Of Kings and Wars and GardensLong ago there was a season for war. An ancient text about one of the kings of Israel tells us this: "It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle,
that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and
they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David
remained at Jerusalem."Two points stand out to me:1) When ancient kings went to David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-28003069103432432652023-06-22T14:34:00.001-05:002023-11-12T16:36:05.699-06:00Ideas in progress: David O'Hara on interdisciplinary humanities, sustainability, and beesIdeas in progress: David O'Hara on interdisciplinary humanities, sustainability, and beeshttps://currentpub.com/2023/06/21/ideas-in-progress-david-ohara-on-sustainability-humanities-and-bees/ David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-53960364776134488432023-02-04T13:03:00.000-06:002023-02-04T13:03:12.549-06:00How to Make the Most of Studying AbroadA new short article I've published on Medium, about making the most of re-entry after you've studied abroad. It's the same advice I'd give anyone who has traveled, if they want to keep getting the benefits of travel even after they've returned. I've written a few other posts about this topic here on Slowperc. You can find them here. If you want to subscribe to my Medium articles, here's a David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-88432723929572426222022-12-23T11:30:00.004-06:002023-02-04T13:14:23.926-06:00How I Learned To Love InsectsI've just posted this on Medium, with a handful of my favorite insect photos. Crimson Patch Butterfly (chlosyne janais; Costa Rica). Insects used to frighten me. Now I love them, and I am more concerned about losing them than living with them.At the end of the article I've offered some tips about how to ensure we have a happy future together with the insects and other arthropods aroundDavid O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-19192402054675149232022-12-05T10:17:00.000-06:002022-12-05T10:17:02.890-06:00Watching the Fish I've been publishing some short pieces on Medium lately. It's a way of doing some quick writing about things I've taught about for years. This latest one is about watching fish, and I hope you enjoy it. Here's a sample:I
love fish. And whenever I say that, most people assume I love either
eating fish or catching them. But neither of those is what I mean.What I mean, more than David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-9032351020187445312022-11-27T14:54:00.001-06:002022-11-27T14:54:10.860-06:00On The Religious Architecture of WaterOne of my recent articles on Medium. Here's a sample:If
you want to know what someone believes, don’t ask them what they
believe. Ask them where they spend their time, energy, and money.Because the things that we genuinely believe are things we act on.The
result is that over time our deepest beliefs wind up taking on concrete
forms. One pebble at a time, we build mounds and walls. One small
David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-87062159359485958292022-11-22T10:10:00.001-06:002022-11-22T10:10:35.444-06:00ArcGIS Storymap of Environmental Studies at AugustanaSince all my Environmental Studies students learn GIS, I've been trying to gain some new skills, too. The ArcGIS Storymap tool is a lot of fun to work with, and I've been playing around with using it to tell stories both with and without maps. Here's one I made for the Environmental Studies program itself. I'd love to hear feedback about what we can do to improve this.
David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-6189227298014006462022-01-15T13:40:00.006-06:002022-01-15T13:47:17.347-06:00IBM Developer and Call For CodeIt was a delight to work on designing last year's Call For Code challenge with IBM Developer, and then to participate in judging the entries. But I think the best part was joining my team in NYC to watch the university awards!Our students Onajite Taire and Gedion Alemayehu impressed us--and others, plainly--with their Mile 12 app. And of course it was wonderful that my university, my David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-78249192752376126612021-04-06T14:46:00.003-05:002021-04-06T14:46:27.631-05:00IBM's Call for Code 2021IBM just released their latest "Call for Code." If you have a team with some coding skills and you want to put them to use helping others to tackle some intractable problems, click that link and dive in!I have a particular passion for clean water, but each one of the problems they're inviting people to work on are worthy of our time and attention.David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-89627031239703055922021-01-06T12:19:00.002-06:002021-01-06T12:19:53.285-06:00Peirce, Religion, and Communities of Inquiry: Jeffrey Howard interviews me for his latest podcastRecently I had the pleasure of talking with Jeffey Howard on his Damn The Absolute! podcast. We mostly talked about Charles Sanders Peirce, pragmatism (or "pragmaticism" as Peirce called it), religion, and communities of inquiry. You can listen to our conversation here. David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-65469989273996913492021-01-06T11:53:00.003-06:002021-01-06T11:53:39.291-06:00Catch Your Breath: A Winter Meditation on Trout - My latest article, in HothouseMy latest publication, a winter meditation on the beauty of brook trout, in Hothouse // Solutions. This is my first publication in collaboration with my son, Michael O'Hara, my favorite pro photographer.A little taste of my article: The trout is, for me, an icon of what I hasten to ignore. I hope you enjoy this short read. Consider subscribing to Hothouse. We can all use good news, David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-31544122902061948082020-12-15T14:17:00.005-06:002020-12-16T08:53:44.154-06:00My Father's Stories
Dear Dad,
We recently had a conversation about what kind of wisdom
comes with age. We’ve both known some old people who seem unwise, and some
young ones who are ahead of the game. And I think you and I (both of us now
being over the trusted age of thirty) have occasionally been unwise in our
post-adolescent days. Oh, well.
While I’ve known a few foolish David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-22331395682550766312020-11-21T13:54:00.012-06:002020-11-21T16:05:51.888-06:00Of Fish and ForestsWhen people ask me what I do I sometimes reply “I
study the relationships between fish and forests.”
A more precise way to describe my job might be to say I’m a
teacher, a scholar, and a department chair and program director at my university.
But that answer is pretty dry and uninteresting.
Adding detail doesn’t always help, though I could say that I
teach philosophy, classics, religious David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-9238964440212588372020-09-19T08:26:00.000-05:002020-09-19T08:38:50.352-05:00One WordOne WordOne word to the finchesWho perch on my towering sunflowers,Who fling golden petals, Who drop a thousand husksOn the garden below.Who dive at my coneflowers, talons outAnd then peck and pull and shredThose spiny, spiraled heads.It is September now, but I knowThat you and others of your kindWill be back again, and againPerching in the branchesAll fall, and all winter too.And you will David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-65615533687260400182020-09-14T20:15:00.002-05:002020-09-15T08:29:42.494-05:00On Teaching OutdoorsThis summer Jen Rose Smith interviewed me for a piece she was writing for CNN on outdoor classrooms as a safer alternative during the COVID-19 pandemic. That piece was published here.During the interview, we talked about the outdoor classroom my students and I built at Augustana University. When she asked me if there were precedents to teaching outdoors as I am wont to do, I mentioned David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-4326495231726676752020-08-15T11:52:00.004-05:002020-09-14T20:17:47.494-05:00John T. Meyer Interviews Me On His Leadmore PodcastJohn T. Meyer, CEO of Lemonly, is one of the best interviewers I've known. In his Leadmore podcast he has interviewed immigration lawyer Taneeza Islam, Governor Dennis Daugaard, Augustana University President Stephanie Herseth Sandlin,
Vaney Hariri, epidemiologist Dr. Lon Kightlinger, and a number of other
leaders. I'm delighted to have joined him in this conversation about teachingDavid O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-47570745318712909902020-05-22T10:41:00.001-05:002020-05-22T10:41:23.284-05:00Environmental Studies At Augustana - My recent interview with Lori Walsh on SD Public Radio
We have just launched a new major in Environmental Studies here at Augustana University. This week I had a chance to talk with Lori Walsh about this on South Dakota Public Radio.
The Augustana Outdoor Classroom, designed by an Environmental Philosophy class.
Prairie states are often (literally and figuratively) overlooked as "flyover country," but these states are the breadbasket of the David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-18881084187798301322020-03-28T10:32:00.000-05:002020-03-28T21:28:31.937-05:00Philosophy of Liturgy, and Climate Grief
One reason I chose to teach a course in the Philosophy of Liturgy this year was the mounting grief I saw among climate activists. I've never taught that course before, but this seemed like a good year to start.
I admire Greta Thunberg for her passion and commitment. I similarly admire a number of my students for their constant concern for the environment. This world we share, “this fragile David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-18635724064935056012020-01-14T13:10:00.001-06:002020-01-30T16:39:09.252-06:00On Religion And Robots
As we use machines to care for other people, we should also care about the principles that guide the way we make our machines. My latest article on religion and robots: https://link.medium.com/vaAnvARvf3
David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-9185108035259185492019-12-07T15:13:00.001-06:002019-12-07T15:29:27.681-06:00Gracias, señora Orza
Estimada Sra. Orza,
One day when I was in middle school in New York you said to me “You’re good at languages. You
should go to Middlebury.” I hadn’t heard of it before, and I had been
planning to attend the cheapest local college I could attend, to save my
family the cost of college. Then you handed me a brochure from
Middlebury, about their summer language programs. A year later, when I David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-54313667029644680622019-11-26T18:18:00.000-06:002019-11-29T15:04:52.924-06:00On Paying Attention To Bear Poop - My recent TEDx talk in Fargo
My TEDx talk in Fargo, summer 2019. It's about bear poop, and other things you don't need to know.
The allegedly unnecessary things - like bear poop, and poetry - are often the things you most need to know.
I'm grateful to my friend Greg and his team for making this possible. I had no plans ever to do a TEDx talk until I met Greg through some mutual friends. We were having coffee here in David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-7801160179724904852019-11-16T13:41:00.002-06:002019-11-16T13:41:46.971-06:00Commerce, Environmental Attention, and the Liturgical Calendar
Bighorn sheep in the Badlands National Park. The animals move together, responding to the land.
Lately I've been reflecting on liturgy, and especially on liturgical calendars.
By "liturgy" I mean the work we do together on a regular basis. The word "liturgy" comes from two Greek words that mean "the work of the people," and it usually refers to the rituals of worship in a religious David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-37062963707315061842019-11-14T06:44:00.002-06:002019-11-28T10:59:29.511-06:00On Living Imitably
Today I hope to spend a little time with a friend, talking over coffee. We're both busy, and we both have big aspirations. And we both have wonderful jobs in very different fields. Conversations like that are like tiny sabbaticals, moments of mutual support and reflection, time spent not getting ahead but noticing instead where you have been and where you hope to go. It is not the long hike but David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-82301707255253621342019-09-29T10:12:00.003-05:002019-11-19T20:44:37.616-06:00Perennial Thinking in Education, Ag, and Culture - Lori Walsh interviews Bill Vitek and me on SDPB
Last week I had the pleasure of hosting Bill Vitek at Augustana University. Together we taught a philosophy class and a biology class, he spoke in our chapel, and he gave a lecture on campus.
One of the persistent themes of his work is the connection between culture and agriculture: the two shape one another.
A bit of prairie, with perennial grasses.
Another theme that is related to the David O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8181251538881295139.post-7576080149937718172019-09-20T07:29:00.000-05:002019-11-29T15:11:35.620-06:00Could a Robot Have a Mystical Experience?
My latest article, and my first on Medium: Can a Robot Have a Mystical Experience?
This is something I've been contemplating for a while, for a variety of reasons. It's not that I think that robots are about to have organic religion (that's not for me to say) but increasingly we are delegating small decisions to machines. We should prepare ourselves for times when machines will claim the rightDavid O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12262049304946368085noreply@blogger.com0