{"id":19,"date":"2019-07-21T10:46:36","date_gmt":"2019-07-21T14:46:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2019\/?page_id=19"},"modified":"2019-08-25T17:27:08","modified_gmt":"2019-08-25T21:27:08","slug":"my-advice-for-you","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2019\/my-advice-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"My Advice for You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Notre Dame!\u00a0 You could not have made a better choice than to join our community. I\u2019m glad you are here.<\/p>\n

Allow me to share some observations that should help you get the most out of your Notre Dame experience over the next four years—and beyond.<\/p>\n

First, high school is history. I hope your high school wasn\u2019t like mine. Mine had two pedagogical goals: description and memorization. \"\"Now, everything changes. In my class, I emphasize analysis and understanding. I already assume that you can learn lots of facts, even though the idea of facts<\/a>\u00a0currently seems to be up for grabs in the US. I am interested in how you analyze political facts and assess their importance.<\/p>\n

Second, you have a new challenge. \u00a0You have been admitted to Notre Dame because you are intelligent and talented. \u00a0Now, everyone around you is intelligent and talented.\u00a0 So, in the words of a great leader (Vladimir Lenin), \u201cwhat is to be done?\u201d \u00a0I hope you will spend your four years at Notre Dame acquiring the the wisdom, the inclination, and the passion to pursue your personal calling. Indeed, I want you to be interesting<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Third, why Notre Dame? \u00a0American students are masters of self-selection. There must have been something special about Notre Dame that led you to choose it over other institutions, such as the The Ohio State University (note OSU’s classy attempt to patent the word “The,”<\/a> undoubtedly a source of consternation for The USC) and various East-coast finishing schools. Did it matter that Notre Dame is a Catholic university? \u00a0It should. \u00a0Your challenge is to figure out why.<\/p>\n

Finally, to quote an eminent philosopher, \u201calong with great privilege comes great responsibility.\u201d University education is a privilege that few people in the world experience. \u00a0It is entirely your choice to work hard on your assignments, attend class regularly, do your readings, and visit your professors and TAs during office hours. \u00a0Your four years at Notre Dame will speed by. Suddenly you will find yourself in a work-a-day existence that is typified by the cubicle, the vehicle, and the receptacle. \u00a0Who knows why each of us has been given the blessing of time to cultivate our minds? \u00a0Time is the luxury of the affluent classes. \u00a0I strongly believe that you and I are morally obliged to make the most of it.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite passages in the Holy Bible is this: \u201cNo one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light\u201d (Luke 11:33). What is your light and what do you intend to do with it?<\/p>\n

Again, I am glad you are in my class. My office hours are on Tu 1:30-2:30 and W 2:00-4:00 in 2080 Nanovic Hall. My email address is amcadams@nd.edu<\/a>. \u00a0You do not need a specific reason to visit me. \u00a0I am curious to know what\u2019s on your mind.<\/p>\n

I look forward to meeting each of you soon.<\/p>\n

A. James McAdams<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Notre Dame!\u00a0 You could not have made a better choice than to join our community. I\u2019m glad you are here. Allow me to share some observations that should help you get the most out of your Notre Dame experience over the next four years—and beyond. First, high school is history. I hope your … Continue reading “My Advice for You”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":447,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions\/447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}