Africans have this thing called UBUNTU. It is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa will give the world… We believe that a person is a person through another person, that my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with yours.  When I dehumanize you, I inexorably dehumanize myself. The solitary …Read the Rest… Read the rest

It was a twenty minute walk to my destination in George Town, on the Malaysian island of Penang.  I walked out of the hotel, turned right along Jalan Penang (Jalan is the Malay word for road), and walked past a Chinese seafood restaurant and the Indian eatery where I had a really good curry last …Read the Rest… Read the rest

I visited The Mall a couple of days ago. You know the one: you go through the big automatically opening glass doors, the air-conditioned interior hits you as you walk in across a marbled floor just after the mall opens at 10 am. On your right are huge posters of improbably skinny and impossibly pale …Read the Rest… Read the rest

Ahh, it is good to be back in our temporary home.  The roof’s fixed, we’re chasing the mice away, and we’re slowly unpacking the boxes we hastily packed last week.

Last Saturday I sat through our 99th commencement ceremonies (only my 13th). As all 1000 graduates’ names are read, I passed the time in various ways (My apologies to any alum who thought all faculty paid rapt attention through the ceremony).  Some of the time I just enjoyed the beautiful but … Read the rest

I am writing this in Bangkok, having decided to ignore the U.S. State Department warning that I not come here. I’m glad I did. The dire warning read, in part Due to escalating violence in central Bangkok, demonstrations in Chiang Mai, and other incidents throughout Thailand, all U.S. citizens should avoid nonessential travel to Thailand. [...]… Read the rest