Towards a Philosophy of Education: My Journey into 2020 as an Educator-Learner-Researcher

As a second-year education doctoral student at Teachers College, I, Catherine Cheng Stahl, took my first philosophy course with Professor David Hansen. This ‘philosophy of education’ course has transformed me, my thinking with regards to my own education, and my sense of self-trust in my own writing process. Here, I share the very last essay I wrote as part of my own philosophical journey—an essay that I believe provides the foundation for my own philosophy of education to guide me into the new decade.

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Capturing Moments of an Intimate Wedding: My Search for a Local New York City Wedding Photographer

After many, many weeks post-wedding, I am finally sharing some of my favorite photographs capturing memories from our small wedding at The River Cafe under the Brooklyn Bridge. In this post, I also detail my journey in search for a budget-friendly local New York City (wedding) photographer. I reflect on my experience meeting with and later being photographed by Shelby Phillips on my big day. The end result has been a beautiful collection of photographs that my husband and I will treasure for the years to come. Thank you, Shelby.

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12 Favorite Places to Think, Read, and Write in New York City (Manhattan)

Here are 12 of my favorite places (organized by neighborhood, beginning with the one in which I reside) to daydream, read, doodle, and get work done in New York City. I acknowledge that there are likely hundreds of similar blog posts out there with recommendations of places to go in the city for these purposes. What I am offering is the perspective of a 29-year old teacher-turned-student who has lived in the city now for a little over a year, who is a self-identified introvert, an enthusiastic user of public transport, and an avid people-watcher (i.e., ethnographer-in-training).

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Dough Becoming Farfalle: Trying My Hand at Homemade Pasta

Drawing inspiration from both Deleuzoguattarian theory of becoming and Kathleen Stewart’s evocation of ordinary affect, this visual entry is an experiment-in-process with the raw materials of flour, eggs (and some water). Here, I share the simultaneous unraveling and entangling of these materials as they become (through manual labor) dough and eventually homemade farfalle. I will be re-turning (in a Baradian sense) and sharing additional insights as I revisit this entry in the near future.

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The Becoming Process of Graduate School: An Unsettling Time and Space

For this first day in March, I’m sharing more reflections regarding my first year at Teachers College as a doctoral student in education. I have recently been reading Deleuze and Guattari’s works, along with that of Erin Manning on the minor gesture and will share some of my sense-making process. And as always, I’m sharing original photographs taken during strolls through New York City…

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