Ep 4: Discussion with Greg Prince of Norwich about education, youth, civility, critical thinking, and community

In this episode of Upper Valley Vibes we took another visit to Norwich over the summer where I sit down with Greg Prince.

 

Greg has been an educator for the bulk of life - teaching English oversees in the 60s, administering and overseeing program at various schools and colleges, which brought him to Dartmouth as the first Dean of Summer Programs in 1970 and of course where I learned of him, his time as president of Hampshire College (where I went) from 1989 to 2005. Although he had left the year before I came in, his name and fingerprints were on a lot at Hampshire, the most impactful of which for me something called the Principles of Discourse, which I came to know as a document at Hampshire that laid out seven principles for how to support more honest, truth-focused, civil discourse on important and difficult issues.

 

In this conversation (which I hate to have edited a bit for length), we cover a wide range of topics, from Greg's early education career, to the history of developing the principles of discourse while at Dartmouth, the issues he has with how we break down "higher" and k-12 education, how to support young people to have the capacity for self-directed critical thought, protests and civil disobedience, lessons from giving young people the responsibilities, the value of learning to live with ambiguity, and so much more.

 

I was excited to learn that Greg lived in the Upper Valley after coming up to work here, and it's been really wonderful getting to know someone who has invested so much time in helping find ways to support others to be the best version of themselves, whatever they decide that might be.

 

Additional links:

• Hampshire's Principles of Discourse: https://rethinklocal.us/resource-library-improve-civility-with-the-principles-of-discourse/
  
• Teaching them to Challenge Authority by Greg Prince: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2700314