Articles written by Sam Rocha

The Tyranny of Practice


It is characteristic of Western modernity that in discussions of schooling and business and politics there is a common truism: “theory into practice.” At the very least, the underlying assumption of this truism can readily be found there. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in schools of education, teacher education programs, and the institutional teaching and learning efforts of higher education. This saying yields a soft hammer, a gentle reminder that the theory must always be “grounded in practice” in order to be worthwhile — and profitable.

Read More →

Aliens and the Longings of Late Modernity: Reflections on “Independence Day”


My youngest son celebrated his golden birthday on the Fourth of July. After the birthday festivities, I decided to watch Independence Day. Afterwards, I realized that almost every depiction of “aliens” I have ever seen or heard of is a projection of our love of science and technology, a sustaining narrative that fuels our inability to change the ways we live in late modernity. There are no Amish aliens. No Wendell Berry-types who fall from the sky and only want to garden and make a small life for themselves. Our “aliens” are what we would be by now if modernity got things right the first time.

Read More →

After Science?


Philosopher and social critic Slavoj Žižek has remarked that we can imagine the end of the world but we cannot imagine the end of capitalism. The world whose end I want to contemplate is the world that has been created by modern science and its progeny, modern technology. If, or when, science brings an end to the modern world it has helped to create, is a world after science possible? Can a new world emerge after the quintessentially modern scientific worldview has worn and weathered?

Read More →

Beneath the Healthcare Wars: Difficult Questions about Living and Dying


Although the ongoing healthcare wars between Democrats and Republicans have been raging for some time now, the recent HHS mandate has ignited a more direct and particular conflict. Whereas the former was and is primarily political, the latter seems to be cultural. Regardless of what we call it, this recent battle in the healthcare wars amplifies a longstanding tension between secular/American and religious/Catholic cultures and worldviews.

Read More →