Welcome back to 10 blocks, the podcast of City Journal. This is your host for today, Seth Barron,

Associate Editor for City Journal. Jacob Howland is McFarlane Professor of Philosophy and past chair

of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Tulsa. His recent piece for

City Journal, Storm Clouds Over Tulsa, addresses turmoil at the university where he has taught for many years.

My conversation with Jacob Howland begins after the music.

The Music Thanks for joining us, Jacob.

Thank you.

So tell us about the University of Tulsa, its reputation, and its mission, historically.

Well, I've been here since 1988, and when I came, the previous provost who actually left

just before I arrived in the fall of 88, had hired some serious scholars, particularly

in the humanities.

So my colleague Paul Ray, the eminent ancient historian, arrived, I think, in 83, something like this. The English department was outstanding. We had a superb department or sort of collection of scholars who did political theory. It was a vibrant place.

We audited each other's courses.

We read books together like the Gulag Archipelago and, you know, Spirit of the Laws by Montesquieu and so forth.

And we had a very reasonable teaching load.

It was 3-2, and that allowed for a very nice combination of teaching and research. And for the last 30 years, I have really had outstanding

students, in particular, in an excellent great books program called the Honors Program. I think

it's really one of the best in the country. And, you know, our students have gone on to do wonderful things.

Actually, one named, her name is, excuse me, her name is Jennifer Croft, and she won the

Man Booker Prize.

She entered to you at 15 in the late 90s and went through the honors program and studied Russian, won the Man Booker Prize. She entered to you at 15 in the late 90s and went through the honors program

and studied Russian. Won the Man Booker Prize last year for translating a Polish novel into English.

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