HOW 2026

House Of Windows
“Your assumptions are your windows on the world.
Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.” ― Alan Alda

Northfield's “eyes” have aged since 1993. So as we plan for the 26-27 school year, we hope to perform a summer renovation to the windows of the Stanley House which you can think of as pedagogical cataract surgery. It will permit the inhabitants to look out on the world with fresh clarity and insights — both near and far — in cultural monovision. What is cultural monovision? It is an accommodation reflex that allows old cultures to be renewed in a process both Piaget and McGilchrist clinically observed and documented in modern science.

HOW we understand the world depends on three things:

~ where we are AT,
~ what we are looking THRU and
~ what we are looking TO.

We want to name each new Stanley House window for an historically proven perspective that will encourage us to consider HOW we see the world differently depending on which window we are looking thru. For example,

~ a window named INTENTION implies a will to change the world outside while
~ a window named ATTENTION implies a willingness to accept the world as it is.

Each new ProVia [”for the road”] window will cost about $1000 installed and should provide many hours of vital vision for Stanley House inhabitants for many years to come. We invite you to join us in this natural and regenerative phase of Northfield’s mission to educate by

~ naming and defining a few perspectives thru which you view the world,

~ contributing towards completion of this age-appropriate surgical procedure and

~ coming to see HOW the liberal arts are providing cultural vision in Wichita.

To contribute go to the Contact page ... and mark your contribution HOW2026 ... thank you!

INTENTION, ATTENTION, JOIN ...

Here are the named perspectives suggested thus far. We hope you, as Northfield community members, will help us define them ... and combine them when several seem to apply to the same idea. Each academic year we will ask our students to review ALL the perspectives and choose those which they believe will be most useful ... then memorize the definitions and use the perspectives during the year. Signs naming and defining the perspective chosen for each window will remain on the wall during the academic year.

Send your suggested perspectives and their definitions to us and we will organize them ALL as a memorial of your participation in the GREAT CONVERSATION that happens at Northfield every year. Thanks for playing a part.

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