By nurturing empathy through a liberal education, educators can help their students understand their connections to other humans, animals, and the planet--and perhaps, eventually, find their way back to themselves. The author often use case studies in her undergraduate classes. The author wrote a new case study called "Toys for Haiti."…

As a teaching artist in public schools, the author is paired with classroom teachers to teach poetry and to give students an opportunity to experience their academic curriculum through the arts. At the beginning of the school year, she gave her students the on-going, yearlong assignment to watch the news, to pay attention. Knowing many of them…