Essays

An essay is a brief literary composition on a single subject, written by a human subject who sometimes reveals personal perspectives in the process. Etymologically, though, an essay is even more interesting. It's an attempt, a testing or trial of the quality or character of a thing. Essays are probes, not proofs. At their best, they're explorations of the nature of our world.

The essays we've gathered here are just such exploratory essays, and we present them, appropriately, in no particular order.

• James J. Farrell, The Nature of College
• David Orr, Designing Minds
• William McDonough, A Boat for Thoreau
• Thomas Berry, The University: Its Response to the Ecological Crisis
• Wendell Berry, The Pleasures of Eating
• William Kittredge, Doing Good Work Together
• Larry Rasmussen, The Everlasting Covenant
• Timothy Weiskel, While Angels Weep: Doing Theology on a Small Planet
• Thomas Berry, Ethics and Ecology