Advocacy in Action

Inspiring the Choir to Sing: From Advocate to Activist

By Karen Fowdy



Last July, the Advocacy in Action column was titled “Beyond Preaching to the Choir.”  To continue that metaphor, I’d like to share my favorite new quote about advocacy, “The reason we preach to the choir is because we want to inspire them to sing.” (Dr. Jay Ketner) I was inspired to sing even more loudly last month when I attended the Language Advocacy Day, organized by the Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL).  Read more
 

Mentoring Matters

The Original Mentor

By Keely Lake



When we think of mentoring, we Classicists tend to think of the relationship between the disguised Athena and Telemachus in the Odyssey. This young man’s father had been gone for twenty years. He was surrounded by hostile suitors for his mother’s hand in their own home; he was unsure of how to assert himself, unsure if Odysseus was even his father. Talk about imposter syndrome! Athena appears and reassures Telemachus that he is indeed the son of the great hero and that he can find a way forward. She gives him confidence, shows him the steps to take, and gently paves the way to his becoming a more confident, resourceful individual: his father’s son indeed. Read more