ISI at Texas A&M

This afternoon, I drove from Austin to College Station, Texas. A big difference in campuses. UT-Austin is in the middle of a city, a very urban campus. And the university is a very large part of the city. Texas A&M, on the other hand, is pretty much "in the heart of Texas." In other words, practically in the middle of nowhere. But, don't let me slight the cities of College Station and Bryan, which economically flourish because of the university.

While UT-Austin was a very urban campus, Texas A&M was a much more planned agricultural "land grant" university. It's large, very laid out nicely, and very well groomed. Also, the football stadium is huge. Then again, the Longhorns' stadium was pretty darn big too.

I stopped in College Station to have lunch with our ISI Group there, which was great. The four members that came, led by Chris Garrett, a grad student in English, are very much into "big ideas" - very philosophically oriented and you could tell they liked to keep talking about the philosophy and political philosophy. They are a small group, but they are looking for ways to expand and reach the broader Aggie community - to increase the size and effectiveness of their group. Their best idea was to blend their readings with the lectures they bring in. For example, if in the fall they want to bring in Peter Lawler, they might take up reading his book, "Stuck on Virtue," and then prepare themselves to have a discussion with Lawler with the readings preparing them for the lecture. Also, the public aspect of the lecture will allow them to engage a broader audience on campus and perhaps entice others to join their group. In any event, it will be even more entertaining and intellectual for them.

They described Texas A&M as: "the students are conservative -- the professors aren't." They also wanted ISI to provide them with better reading lists (I offered the student's guides as the first thing they should look at in this respect, but they wanted something more concrete, more like a curriculum or syllabus). They seek and crave intellectual direction. Obviously something is missing inside the classroom. But, they're doing all they can to get that secondary education outside the classroom. The secondary education will probably end up being their primary education.