Our Instructors
The Spiritual Values Implicit in Our Common Life
Often when visiting humanities classes at Campbell Hall I am deeply moved by the quality of classroom dialogue. Through Harkness, Socratic, and other methods, students learn to cite the text and build on each other’s comments, but there is also often an openness and vulnerability of heart that can only occur in a community where trust builds over time. Such classroom conversations illustrate perfectly the balancing of heart and mind in our model, and can lead to quite profound experiences of shared meaning.
Inspired by the former Dean of Middlebury College Steven Rockefeller, I have been reflecting lately on the work of John Dewey and its importance to our country and the joining of head and heart in our schools. Dewey noted that “many of his writings on the subject of religion during the latter part of his career had been ‘devoted to making explicit the religious values implicit in the spirit of science as undogmatic reverence for truth in whatever form it presents itself, and the religious values implicit in our common life, especially in the moral significance of democracy as a way of living together.’”1 Willingness to follow the truth wherever it leads requires a level of self-transcendence and vulnerability that is hard to come by without some form of spiritual practice. Many of our fellow citizens on the left see religion only as a source of division and anti-intellectual obfuscation, and are not willing to acknowledge “the spirit of science as undogmatic reverence for truth” or “the religious values implicit in our common life.” Many on the right seem so focused on the letter of the religious law that they close both mind and heart in the process, immune to both facts and compassion.
Steven Rockefeller and Columbia professor Lisa Miller are embarking on a project together to get schools to acknowledge explicitly the spiritual roots of our nation and of “democracy as a way of living together.” We will hear more about their bold project in the course of this year, but it should come as no surprise that several of the schools they are collaborating with are Episcopal schools. With our profound commitments to intellectual rigor, spiritual openness and depth, and inclusive community, Episcopal schools have found a formula with particular significance for educating future citizens for our troubled political times.
Follow Julian on Twitter @cannonbull
1 Steven Rockefeller, John Dewey: Religious Faith and Democratic Humanism (Columbia U. Press, 1991), p. 169.
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Head of School Julian Bull
Follow on Twitter @cannonbull
Canon Bull earned his Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, his Master’s in Philosophy from Boston College, and his Master’s in Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary. He is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church. Prior to joining Campbell Hall in 2003, Canon Bull served as Head of Trinity Episcopal School in New Orleans and as the Assistant Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, Dean of Students, Chair of the Diversity Committee, and Director of the Senior Humanities Program at Albuquerque Academy. He has served on the Boards of the National Association of Episcopal Schools, the Independent School Association of the Southwest, St. James’ Episcopal School, the Louisiana Children’s Museum, the Steering Committee for the Los Angeles School Heads, the Studio City Neighborhood Council, and has chaired the last two search committees for bishops of Los Angeles. He currently serves as the Chair of the Commission on Schools of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and the Board of the Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education. He and his wife Katie have enjoyed raising their two sons as 13-year Campbell Hall students. Canon Bull enjoys tennis, hiking, and playing bridge in his spare time.
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