by Sabrina D. MisirHiralall
Nel Noddings is Lee Jacks Professor of Child Education Emerita at Stanford University. She is the author of 21 books and more than 300 articles and chapters. She is also past president of the Philosophy of Education Society, the John Dewey Society, and the National Academy of Education. She holds six honorary doctorates. Dr. Noddings is also the mother of ten kids. She and her husband, Jim (now deceased), had five of their own biological children, adopted three Korean-American war orphans, and then took in two more kids who just came along and needed a home. You may contact Dr. Noddings at noddings@stanford.edu.
What are you working on now?
In addition to new editions of Philosophy of Education and The Challenge to Care in Schools, I’m working with a co-author –Steve Thornton (USF)—on Toward a Morally Connected World, a book that addresses current problems of polarization in America and how schools might better prepare students to resist it and work together with civility, critical thinking, and care ethics.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I like to garden, and I like to read for pleasure. My mum garden is still beautiful at this time (November). I also grow many of my own vegetables and herbs — lots of green beans, broccoli, lettuce, onions, potatoes…For pleasure reading, I like Anne Perry, Charles Todd, Donna Leon, and Alexander McCall Smith. Partly for work and partly for pleasure, I just re-read Sarah Bakewell’s At the Existentialist Café. I wish existentialists could get along better with each other!
What is your favorite film of all time? (Or top 3). Why? To whom would you recommend them?
I’m watching Downton Abbey—all episodes—for the third time. My daughter and I are noting all the new inventions of the period during and after WWI, the political comments, changes in women’s lives, and dramatic changes in social life generally. All high school kids should see it!
What are you reading right now?
I recently finished Tara Westover, Educated; Hiro Arikawa, The Travelling Cat Chronicles; Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow; Moore & Kramnick, Godless Citizens in a Godly Republic; Jon Meachem, The Soul of America; and I’ve just started Gordon Wood, Friends Divided (John Adams & Thomas Jefferson) and Alexander McCall Smith, The Colors of All the Cattle.
Who is your favorite philosopher?
Martin Buber, John Dewey, David Hume, Bertrand Russell and—although she is rarely recognized as a philosopher, Jane Addams.
What’s your favorite quote?
“In the beginning is the relation.” From Martin Buber, I and Thou.
What’s your top tip or advice for APA members reading this?
Study, write, and talk about the things that really interest you. So often, young professors or grad students tell me that they have to “get papers out for publication.” When that is accomplished, they tell me, they will get back to what really interests them. No! Work on papers that are products of your deepest interests, topics or questions that set your mind on fire. Working on such papers will make your teaching sparkle, too. And they will be published.
This section of the APA Blog is designed to get to know our fellow philosophers a little better. We’re including profiles of APA members that spotlight what captures their interest not only inside the office, but also outside of it. We’d love for you to be a part of it, so please contact us via the interview nomination form here to nominate yourself or a friend.
Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
