Antioch and Cowboy Education

Intrigued as I am by magazine covers, the “Cowboy College” line on the cover of Antioch Review (Spring 2009) drew me in. Editor Robert Fogerty takes a moment to introduce Bruce Fleming’s lead essay on his ‘student-centered-learning’ experience at Deep Springs, “a unique educational endeavor located in the wilderness in California.” Fogerty writes, “There is more here than a look at a quirky college; it is, rather, an examination of educational vlaues and vexing questions about authority and a look at a slice of contemporary youth culture. And most important it is an essay that looks at a much more fundamental issue: what is the purpose of an education?” Explored, though I don’t dare say answered in Flemings essay, this is just the start of a very diverse, conversation-starter issue of Antioch.