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‘Born American, But in the Wrong Place’—Remembering Peter Schramm

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In this very special episode, Steve Hayward uses some unaired material from a long interview with the late Peter Schramm of the Ashbrook Center. Peter passed away in August 2015, and left a legacy of brilliant and inspirational teaching to a generation of students at Ashland University. This Hungarian immigrant is best known from his lecture and essay on how he became an American, "Born American, But in the Wrong Place." In this wide-ranging conversation, Steve and Peter talk about education, classroom teaching, great books, American exceptionalism, and also immigration, where Peter offered some prescient thoughts about the incompetence of Republicans in handling the issue—very timely meditations for today.

Host:
Steve Hayward

Discussion (3)

  • colleenb@colleenb

    Dear Professor Hayward: Thank you to this introduction (for me) to Professor Schramm. I will look for his writings to learn more. I remember a book by another Hungarian immigrant (a pianist who taught in Florida) about his love of America. I want to cry too when I think of what we may be losing in this country but continue to hope.

  • JuliaBlaschke@JuliaBlaschke

    As the daughter of Eastern European immigrants to Australia and a US immigrant upon my marriage, I found Professor Schramm's essay to be quite wonderful. I'm encouraging my American children to read it. I do not agree with Steve that the Professor would have liked Trump. I think he would have been appalled by him.