Spring 2016
Editor’s Note
Civic engagement is something people tend to take seriously at Marlboro College. Whether it’s working with Cambodian villagers to improve their drinking water or finding the resources for a skateboard ramp on campus, community members show up and make their voices heard. Marlboro attracts students who are not only academically curious but devoted to intellectual freedom, excited by our model of self-governance, and engaged in community-building.
This issue of Potash Hill is chock full of civic engagement, from a feature about collective action by politics professor Meg Mott to an editorial on challenging war with imagination from film professor Jay Craven. From senior Kelly Hickey’s exploration of second-wave feminism in Vermont to a timely campus celebration of the Americans with Disabilities Act, this issue is, well, full of issues.
Students meeting with trustees to discuss renewal, change, and what they value most about Marlboro—check. A panel of faculty discussing the alarming fate of North African nations in the wake of the Arab Spring—check. A new book by alumnus Charles Curtin on conserving large, complex ecological systems—yup. We even welcome two community-oriented faculty members: Nelli Sargsyan, who explores the anthropology of social movements, and Roberto Lugo, who uses ceramics to challenge cultural intolerance. You can find it all in this action-packed Potash Hill.
In the words of President Kevin, who joined our community in July 2015 and has not sat idle for five minutes since, colleges like Marlboro “prepare individuals for thoughtful, purposeful, and effective engagement in the world” (Potash Hill, Fall 2015). The Renaissance Scholars program he initiated last year, with the eager support of the community, is making it easier to find the “rugged intellectuals” that will be actively engaged on campus and in the world. Learn more at goo.gl/vFgohZ.
What are you doing to “think outside the cave?” Where has your “road less traveled” led you, and where are you leading your community? We are eager to hear your responses to this issue, and your own stories of engagement.
—Philip Johansson, editor