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Tutor - Learning Skills

B.A Berea College, 

M. Div. Yale University Divinity School, 

M.A. University of Kentucky, Ph.D. University of Kentucky

I was born and grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where I attended public school from first grade until high school graduation in the same building. Upon graduation I began higher education at Berea College in Kentucky, made possible by the fact that one could work in lieu of paying tuition. After college I enrolled in seminary at Yale University and proceeded to prepare for the pastorial ministry. A lot of exciting things were beginning to happen at that time as simultaneous social movements engaged thousands upon thousands of young people. So, upon completing divinity school, I decided to study sociology in that hope that understanding the social world could enable me to have some impact on it. So, I became a graduate student and a social activist. Though I may not have known it at the time, the tension between education and activism was to characterize most of my adult life. At times I have been firmly ensconced in academia; at other times I have been almost totally involved in the world of social activism; and occasionally I have tried to combine the two. I have almost always worked in the non-profit world. Additionally,  I try to always stay involved in a couple of additional non-profit organizations other than the one in whcih I work.

What book has made you think the most?: Antonio Gramsci - The Prison Notebooks

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?: The power to redistribute the wealth every third generation.

If your life had a theme song, what would it be?: The Ballad of Joe Hill

What teacher has had the most impact on you? How were they special?: Cassie Gardner - Librarian/Counselor/Homeroom Teacher - Hillsville High School The first person to suggest that I should consider going to college even if no one else in my family had and even if I had no financial resources. She pointed me to a college where I could essentially work my way through from start to finish. Had she not been persistent, I would probably have become a factory worker or perhaps even have stayed on our hardscrabble farm.

How would your friends describe you in 3 words?: generous, contemplative, persistent

You are hosting a dinner party and must invite 3 famous people. Who would you choose and why?: Barack Obama - one of the most important people in the world with the potential to do either great good or great harm. Sarah Palin - curious about the relationship between substance and marketing, what's serious and what's not. Would also be interesting to sit in on an exchange between her and Obama. Dali Lama -  to add serenity, spirituality, and universal insight to the discussion.

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?: Tom Hanks