The Love of Learning: Seven Dialogues on the Liberal Arts

The Love of Learning is an open invitation to a lively conversation on the nature and practice of the liberal arts. Artfully facilitated by Margarita A. Mooney and inspired by the personal and practical experiences of its interlocutors, the book explores the key figures and ideas which have lent shape and substance to the liberal arts tradition. In these seven dialogues, Mooney speaks with: Robert P. George on the importance of tradition in education; William Damon on the place of moral exemplars in the development of a transformative pedagogy; Elizabeth Corey on the holistic foundations of a liberal arts education; Timothy P. O’Malley on the contemplative aspect of experiential education; Carlo Lancellotti on the influence of the Benedictine tradition on scientific inquiry; George Harne on the proper incorporation of the fine arts and worship into a curriculum; and Roosevelt Montás on the transcendent nature of the Great Books.

An enriching, enlivening read, The Love of Learning testifies to the enduring power of a liberal arts education and its capacity to make its students more human and civilization more humane.

Margarita A. Mooney is an Associate Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and the founder and executive director of Scala Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring meaning and purpose in education through the classical liberal arts. Her articles have appeared in such outlets as First Things, Scientific American, Hedgehog Review, Real Clear Policy, Public Discourse, Church Life Journal, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. She is the author of Faith Makes Us Live: Surviving and Thriving in the Haitian Diaspora.