“We discover who we are face to face and side by side with other people, in work, love, and learning.”
Robert Bellah
ON THIS EPISODE
This episode explores the power of SOCIAL Connections and its impact on community. Our post-pandemic world has revealed the damage that isolation has on each of us. Are we social animals built for connection? Has our emphasis on rampant individualism made forming connections with one another too difficult? Listen in as we ask these questions and more. As always, special thanks to Cuba H.S. student Andrew Christian for helping host this episode.
OBJECTIVES
- How are people shaped by social connections?
- Are we all social animals?
- Why is it so difficult to make connections with one another?
- Is the independent self a myth?
RESOURCES
- John Hallwas Webpage (Further info on Dr. Hallwas, his books, and more)
- On Community: A Crucial Issue, a Small Town, and a Writer’s Experience (Amazon Book Page)
- Western Illinois Archives (Where you can access hundreds of Dr. Hallwas’s articles, lectures, and books)
- Habits of the Heart, by Robert Bellah (mentioned on this episode)
“By remembering the past of our communities and identifying with its people, we contribute to its emerging future — we can avoid alienation, deepen our true identity, & rescue ourselves from the meaninglessness that plagues so many contemporary Americans.”
John Hallwas, On Community: A Crucial Issue, a Small Town, and a Writer’s Experience
The Forgottonia Project 