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Sheridan G. Lardner is currently a student at the University of Chicago and is studying philosophy and history.
Sheridan G. Lardner, currently a student at the University of Chicago, is studying history and philosophy and is well on his way to receive his Bachelor’s Degree in 2011. His excellence as a student is best exemplified though his dedication of much time and effort to his academic studies. In addition, Sheridan also knows the value of extracurricular activities and has tried to cultivate his interests and skills by joining clubs and organizations. For example, at the University of Chicago, Sheridan is a member of several clubs such as the Maroon Newspaper, the Gaming Guild, the philosophy club, the tae kwon do club, and the water polo club. He is also intensely interested in reading and classical literature, including such works as On Heroes and Hero Worship, The Tao of Jeet Kune Do, Pilgrim’s Progress, On Liberty, Ulysses, The Brothers K, Crime and Punishment, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The Book of the Five Rings, Candide, Leviathan, Hellboy, Forgotten Realms, Lord of the Rings, and The Prince. His favorite authors are Edgar Allan Poe, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ambrose Bierce, Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Joyce, Mike Mignola, Thomas Carlyle, George Bernard Shaw, and Tolkien. When he’s not reading or participating in his club duties, Sheridan enjoys playing water polo and practicing tae kwon do and krav maga.
Some of Sheridan’s favorite hobbies involve writing fiction, philosophizing, martial arts, building his Lego city, drawing, maintaining his website, and writing for the newspaper. He also enjoys working for the Field Museum of Natural History, where, for the past four years, has been a teen summer intern. In this position, Sheridan has led guided tours, told stories about the museum’s history, and trained new volunteers. Sheridan also maintains a website, http://realistpolitics.com where he gives a humanities viewpoint for a century increasingly turning away from the humanities.
Sheridan Lardner's Schools
Sheridan Lardner's Publications
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Sheridan Lardner's essay on Chicago Gangs, Sheridan Lardner
September, 2010
The following is an excerpt from the first part of Sheridan Lardner’s essay on Chicago Gangs. It appears, along with his regularly updated work, on his website: www.realistpolitics.com. “Can a city have one problem that is worse than all the others? Or are all of a city’s problems equal contributors to a complex picture? Or, as is often the case in academia, is there a safe and snuggly middleground that we can comfortably hide in? Our Chicago does not lack problems. But does it have one that is so much worse than the others? I invite you on a brief tour. We start with Supreme Emperor Daley, immortal be his reign, and his nepotism and corruption. Of course there are the “standard, been-there-done-that” urban poverty and public health failures, coupled with a state and city budget that was ostensibly balanced by a group of third-graders who just learned the word “economics” from a computer game. We provide an education system that seriously contemplates four-day-weeks during the year, one that simultaneously closes schools and eliminates teachers. As to getting around, Chicago’s public transportation system functions like the cliffhanger from a Dick Tracy radio show, complete with generic announcer voice. Will your bus come in an hour? Will a caravan of four come in twenty minutes?? Will your train wait for thirty minutes on the platform while the operator naps??! Or will your driver miss your stop because you did not ring the electronic, preset volume bell loud enough?!!? Not that you have much choice in transportation, unless your car is on wheels from a James Bond flick. Compare a shelled-out street in 1990s Serbia, and a pot-holed street in 2010 Chicago; the only difference is that one looks a lot colder (ours). It can be fun to discuss such problems, and Chicago loves its endless self-deprecation. But we now come to the moment where laughter gives way to sincerity, and the audience falls respectfully silent. Chicago has one problem that I am unwilling to make light of. My unwillingness alone is no indicator that this one problem is graver than the others, but I present it seriously so that it will be received seriously. The problem is gangs. It may seem like I am saying nothing new; gangs have topped Chicago headlines for decades, and it is commonly known that they are a widespread problem. But that they are the worst problem in Chicago? Are they the problem that causes almost all our city’s other problems? This is a more brazen statement. It is also the statement that I am making now.” Read the rest of the essay, and Mr. Lardner’s other works, on his website.
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