Category Archives: Education

What Should I Do Now?

Each spring at Santa Clara University students have to meet with their faculty advisors to review requirements and plan their courses for the year ahead. One day in May, Ellen, a graduating senior, shyly knocked at my office door, asking … Continue reading

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Life is Always Changing

“Moment by Moment, Just Do It.” Seungh Sahn Life in this planet is marked by endless change. In fact, this element seems to be an intrinsic part of life. How do you deal with sudden changes in your life or … Continue reading

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Inspiring Community

Who taught you to read and write? How did you survive the moments of loss or disappointment in your childhood?  Who took care of you when you were sick or needing special attention? Many years ago I went to one … Continue reading

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Where Do You Find Community?

“The Tao leader creates harmony Reaching From the heart To build community.                               Tao Te Ching, 49 I rarely see my neighbors. They back their cars out of their garages each morning as they leave for work, then open the … Continue reading

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Compassion, Clarity and Right View

Searching for spring all day, I never saw it, Straw sandals treading everywhere Among the clouds, along the bank. Coming home, I laughed, Catching the plum blossom’s scent: Spring at each branch tip, already perfect. – Sung Dynasty Nun I … Continue reading

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The Center Space

“Thirty spokes meet at the wheel’s axis; The center space makes the wheel useful. Form clay into a cup; The center space gives it purpose. Frame doors and windows for a house; The openings make the space useful. Therefore, purpose … Continue reading

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Center Down

“Close the door, Focus your senses, This is the way of Tao.” Tao Te Ching, 56 The English Department at Santa Clara University is in St. Joseph’s Hall, a building over 100 years old. Once the residence of Jesuit priests, … Continue reading

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Honoring Multi-Ethnic Literatures in the United States

During the weekend of April 19-22nd , Santa Clara University hosted the 26th Annual Conference of the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS). I supported the conference by giving a presentation on the … Continue reading

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All the World’s a Stage

Shakespeare wrote that “all the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players” (Greenblatt, 1997). How we relate to the world around us shapes the daily drama of our lives. Are we mere puppets, dancing to someone … Continue reading

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Dreamers

Where do you go when facing an extremely painful situation in life? In my last book of poems, Massacre of the Dreamers, two children, facing too much pain at home, decide to escape to the world of Westerns. The world of … Continue reading

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