Teachers As Scholars: Can Virtue Be Taught – by Women?

Professor Dorothy Rogers

March 30, 2012, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

An exploration of the age-old question “can virtue be taught,” as viewed through the theories of two pre-feminist thinkers, Marietta Kies and Lucia Ames Mead.  These women were part of the philosophical ‘idealist’ movement in America, which insisted that moral and social development must be part of the American educational system.  Kies wrote on altruism and advocated a social welfare system (before it was in place in the 1880s and ‘90s).  Ames Mead wrote on pacifism and was a major force in the anti-war movement between 1890 and 1930.  Although their work was not ‘feminist,’ it could certainly be called ‘feminine’ – thus they simultaneously reinforce and challenge many of assumptions about women, particularly women as teachers.  Their lives and works point to questions we continue to grapple with today.

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