Category Archives: Education

Pope Calls for ‘Healthy Politics’ to Remedy AI Wounds

Posted on June 18, 2024 by Bill Schmitt

Pope Francis brought his campaign for a new modus vivendi between humans and artificial intelligence directly to a meeting of world leaders on June 14. His sobering message: Governments—and all of us—must up our game in confronting the moral hazard … Continue reading →

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‘I Remind You, You’re Under Oath’

Posted on June 13, 2024 by Bill Schmitt

Amid the courtroom traumas of lawfare and divisive political chatter we might call “jawfare,” one upbeat element of America’s news diet still speaks well of us. Journalists chronicle this edifying subtext halfheartedly, more in its breach than in its observance. … Continue reading →

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‘There’s the Glass House. Here’s the Stone.’

Posted on May 27, 2024 by Bill Schmitt

Our society’s embrace of the all-purpose polarizer—the worldview labeled “oppressed vs. oppressor” or “victim vs. victimizer”—prompts us to weaponize everything, including guilt. We’ve got lots of glass houses and plenty of stones. Guilt is already a formidable material when it … Continue reading →

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Updating the Pope’s AI Messages—Download Data, Upload Souls

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Bill Schmitt

This commentary is also published in Phronesis in Pieces, found at billschmitt.substack.com. Six months can bring a lot of action in the world of artificial intelligence. Pope Francis began 2024 with two messages to the Catholic Church probing AI’s prospects … Continue reading →

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Catholics Have Work to Do; Tech Schools Can Help

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Bill Schmitt

To celebrate this Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, May 1, we can channel the earthly father of Jesus and imagine his joy that Catholics increasingly see promise in a “tech school” education. Americans have rediscovered the need to “get … Continue reading →

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Big Mess on Campus: ‘Fighting Irish’ Lessons on Unrest

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Bill Schmitt

The current tumult on college campuses, a sad erosion of their status as centers of wonder, excellence, and shared learning, invites us to go back a half-century and recall how one university community experienced a previous era of unrest. Let’s … Continue reading →

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Our Magical Mystery Tour–Now Departing from Reality

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Bill Schmitt

Also check out the Magis Center blog, which this week posted a previous, related commentary by Bill Schmitt: “We Seek Authenticity, But Be Careful Defining What’s Real.” The Magis Center is directed by Father Robert Spitzer, SJ. Breathe in the … Continue reading →

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Timing is the Key to Comity: No Joke!

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Bill Schmitt

This is a preview of the commentary to be published tomorrow in “Phronesis in Pieces” at billschmitt.substack.com. Be sure to check out some of the links below to view videos. Comedians have a key area of expertise: timing. We enjoy … Continue reading →

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It’s Time to Baptize the ‘Gig Economy’

Posted on March 2, 2024 by Bill Schmitt

The Gallup organization advised the corporate world last month to take steps to support employees—especially younger generations—who increasingly report “disengagement” from the workplace. That’s not news to leaders in America’s religious groups, who have bemoaned the rise of the “nones”—those … Continue reading →

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Remembering Charles Osgood, a Muse of the News

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Bill Schmitt

Charles Osgood, an immensely talented alumnus of Catholic schooling and brilliantly effective purveyor of a “Catholic imagination,” died Jan. 23 at age 91, leaving an upbeat legacy in secular American journalism. Osgood played a role in inspiring my own study … Continue reading →

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