Building, Dwelling, and Thinking with Ada Long

Authors

Lisa L. Coleman, Southeastern Oklahoma State UniversityFollow

Date of this Version

2024

Document Type

Article

Citation

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council (2024) 25(1): 67–72

Abstract

In response to Dr. Ada Long’s (1945–2024) insistence that political conversation is key to teaching and service, both of which inform each other, the author contemplates the personal impact and evolving cultural import of Martin Heidegger. Using Heidegger’s “Building Dwelling Thinking” (1971) as touchstone, the author reflects on the conception of humans as “near dwellers,” or neighbors who “build” because they “dwell,” and considers the weight this idea carried as a graduate student and again as an instructor of Advanced Composition. The author describes a teaching methodology that used Heidegger’s essay as a lens through which students might view, read, or understand a cultural object, whether a text, a built thing, or a work of art. The author describes how newly released antisemitic writings by Heidegger have altered her estimations of him as a writer and thinker. Understanding this new knowledge underscores Long’s contention that honors educators not only cannot avoid political conversation in the classroom, but that engaging in such conversation is crucial to the ethical enterprise that is honors education.