From an early age, music has been very important in my life. After picking out tunes on a neighbor’s piano, I began to study piano formally when I was barely seven years old; and by the time that I was 12, I was already quite accomplished. At that point, I had to decide whether to […]
Author Archives | Howard Gardner
The Costs of Meritocracy: Two Destructive Forms of Being “Smart”
by Howard Gardner (with comment by Michael Sandel) Michael Sandel, highly esteemed political philosopher at Harvard, has written The Tyranny of Meritocracy—a powerful indictment of contemporary society—especially the versions in the United States and England. In this provocative book , Sandel reflects at length about the importance nowadays of being ‘smart’. As one who has […]
John F. Kennedy and the Rings of Responsibility
by Howard Gardner For those of us over the age of 70, the name “John F. Kennedy” brings back vivid memories: his youthful energy, meteoric rise to the presidency, apparently storybook marriage, event-filled 1000 days in his office—and of course, his tragic assassination and the ill luck that plagued and has continued to plague the […]
The Liberal Arts By Any Other Name… American Higher Education and Ideas about the Liberal Arts and Sciences
In September 2018, we posted a blog about our impressions of the different ways in which participants understand the term “liberal arts and sciences.” Since then, we have completed a full analysis of these differences. In the following blog, we highlight our major findings. by Christina Smiraglia What does the term ‘liberal arts” mean to […]
On Good Leadership: Reflections on Leading Minds After 25 Years
By Howard Gardner Once I had begun to write about the varieties of human intelligence (Gardner, 1983/2011), people frequently asked me about the intelligences that leaders have—as well as the ones that leaders lack or do not need. As I pondered this question—which I’ll return to below—I formulated ideas about how leaders function, what makes […]
