The Virtue Field

Harriet's life was dedicated to freeing herself and her people. But she believed she was responding to a higher voice–the voice of God. Was Harriet Tubman a prophet? In this episode we look at the evidence including, most importantly, Harriet's own feeling that God was speaking to her. And if she is a prophet, what was God saying to us through Harriet?Eric Bowman, M.A.R., is the founder and teacher for the Revolution Ethics Project, a non-profit ethics seminar for all ages. He has been a public high school teacher at ConVal High School in Peterborough, NH for over 25 years. Website: revolutionethics.org Email: revolutionethicsproject@gmail.comInstagram: @revolutionethicsProduced, mixed, and scored by Echo Finchwww.echofinch.comA complete bibliography for season 1 of “The Virtue Field” is available at https://revolutionethics.org/bibliography-season-1Special thanks to Adam Arnone at Echo Finch for his endless patience. Thank you to Jason Dustin for a great microphone and for three beautiful portraits of Harriet Tubman. Thank you to Olivia Bregani, Ethan McBrien, and Anne Staley for help with final edits. Virtue Field photo by Ben Conant and lastly thank you to Isaac Perreault for graphic design.

In this episode we explore Harriet's seemingly endless struggle to rest. This episode explores Harriet's later life, after the war and after slavery is abolished. American society tends to value people based on what they can produce, what they can accomplish. In what ways did Harriet defy that? How might the struggle for rest be a part of a struggle for justice?Eric Bowman, M.A.R., is the founder and teacher for the Revolution Ethics Project, a non-profit ethics seminar for all ages. He has been a public high school teacher at ConVal High School in Peterborough, NH for over 25 years.Website: revolutionethics.org Email: revolutionethicsproject@gmail.comInstagram: @revolutionethicsProduced, mixed, and scored by Echo Finchwww.echofinch.comA complete bibliography for season 1 of “The Virtue Field” is available at https://revolutionethics.org/bibliography-season-1Special thanks to Adam Arnone at Echo Finch for his endless patience. Thank you to Jason Dustin for a great microphone and for three beautiful portraits of Harriet Tubman. Thank you to Olivia Bregani, Ethan McBrien, and Anne Staley for help with final edits. Virtue Field photo by Ben Conant and lastly thank you to Isaac Perreault for graphic design.

How could a formerly enslaved person work with the system in order to fight the injustice of the system? Harriet's actions go from local to global as she joins in the struggle to end slavery–the Civil War. In this episode we see that ethical action might include fighting in war, or working with the military. It might also include mundane, undistinguished tasks. But they all count when you are standing in solidarity against injustice.Eric Bowman, M.A.R., is the founder and teacher for the Revolution Ethics Project, a non-profit ethics seminar for all ages. He has been a public high school teacher at ConVal High School in Peterborough, NH for over 25 years. Website: revolutionethics.org Email: revolutionethicsproject@gmail.comInstagram: @revolutionethicsProduced, mixed, and scored by Echo Finchwww.echofinch.comA complete bibliography for season 1 of “The Virtue Field” is available at https://revolutionethics.org/bibliography-season-1Special thanks to Adam Arnone at Echo Finch for his endless patience. Thank you to Jason Dustin for a great microphone and for three beautiful portraits of Harriet Tubman. Thank you to Olivia Bregani, Ethan McBrien, and Anne Staley for help with final edits. Virtue Field photo by Ben Conant and lastly thank you to Isaac Perreault for graphic design.

In episode 4 we learn about what Harriet did once she began the process of liberating herself. We see that she goes beyond her self and her immediate family to attack the system of slavery. This takes a number of shapes through her life. We return to the thought of Howard Thurman as a framework to describe the connection between self-liberation and creating community. We see what ethics in action might look like.Eric Bowman, M.A.R., is the founder and teacher for the Revolution Ethics Project, a non-profit ethics seminar for all ages. He has been a public high school teacher at ConVal High School in Peterborough, NH for over 25 years. Website: revolutionethics.org Email: revolutionethicsproject@gmail.comInstagram: @revolutionethicsProduced, mixed, and scored by Echo Finchwww.echofinch.comA complete bibliography for season 1 of “The Virtue Field” is available at https://revolutionethics.org/bibliography-season-1Special thanks to Adam Arnone at Echo Finch for his endless patience. Thank you to Jason Dustin for a great microphone and for three beautiful portraits of Harriet Tubman. Thank you to Olivia Bregani, Ethan McBrien, and Anne Staley for help with final edits. Virtue Field photo by Ben Conant and lastly thank you to Isaac Perreault for graphic design.

In this episode, we start to see that Harriet Tubman lived her life by moving from one heroic act to another. In the process, we see her ethics are emerging. We're beginning to understand that ethics can only truly be understood in the context of a life story. Her philosophy, her religion, is being worked out ‘in the field'. Philosophers write about what we ought to do, but that is done from the comfort of their desk. What Harriet did gives us a much clearer version of ethics that is relevant to real people in real situations. Eric Bowman, M.A.R., is the founder and teacher for the Revolution Ethics Project, a non-profit ethics seminar for all ages. He has been a public high school teacher at ConVal High School in Peterborough, NH for over 25 years. Website: revolutionethics.org Email: revolutionethicsproject@gmail.comInstagram: @revolutionethicsProduced, mixed, and scored by Echo Finchwww.echofinch.comA complete bibliography for season 1 of “The Virtue Field” is available at https://revolutionethics.org/bibliography-season-1Special thanks to Adam Arnone at Echo Finch for his endless patience. Thank you to Jason Dustin for a great microphone and for three beautiful portraits of Harriet Tubman. Thank you to Olivia Bregani, Ethan McBrien, and Anne Staley for help with final edits. Virtue Field photo by Ben Conant and lastly thank you to Isaac Perreault for graphic design.

In episode 2 we explore the life that Araminta Ross was born into–slavery on the Eastern Shore. She was born into a system that had rules and practices which had direct and specific impact on the enslaved, who were simply a commodity in that system. In short, the system denied personhood to Minty and her fellow enslaved people. The philosophy of the great Howard Thurman gives a framework for understanding how Minty liberated herself so that she could liberate others–as Harriet Tubman.Eric Bowman, M.A.R., is the founder and teacher for the Revolution Ethics Project, a non-profit ethics seminar for all ages. He has been a public high school teacher at ConVal High School in Peterborough, NH for over 25 years. Website: revolutionethics.org Email: revolutionethicsproject@gmail.comInstagram: @revolutionethicsProduced, mixed, and scored by Echo Finchwww.echofinch.comA complete bibliography for season 1 of “The Virtue Field” is available at https://revolutionethics.org/bibliography-season-1Special thanks to Adam Arnone at Echo Finch for his endless patience. Thank you to Jason Dustin for a great microphone and for three beautiful portraits of Harriet Tubman. Thank you to Olivia Bregani, Ethan McBrien, and Anne Staley for help with final edits. Virtue Field photo by Ben Conant and lastly thank you to Isaac Perreault for graphic design.

In episode 1 we present the argument that ethics is about confronting evil, standing in solidarity with people who suffer. In the case of American slavery, a system was created where many profited while some suffered in unimaginable ways. Any argument that American slavery was a “positive good” for the country or that poor treatment of the enslaved is exaggerated falls apart when we see the countless examples of the enslaved rebelling. It is into this context that the hero of our story is born.Eric Bowman, M.A.R., is the founder and teacher for the Revolution Ethics Project, a non-profit ethics seminar for all ages. He has been a public high school teacher at ConVal High School in Peterborough, NH for over 25 years.Website: revolutionethics.org Email: revolutionethicsproject@gmail.comInstagram: @revolutionethicsProduced, mixed, and scored by Echo Finchwww.echofinch.comA complete bibliography for season 1 of “The Virtue Field” is available at https://revolutionethics.org/bibliography-season-1Special thanks to Adam Arnone at Echo Finch for his endless patience. Thank you to Jason Dustin for a great microphone and for three beautiful portraits of Harriet Tubman. Thank you to Olivia Bregani, Ethan McBrien, and Anne Staley for help with final edits. Virtue Field photo by Ben Conant and lastly thank you to Isaac Perreault for graphic design.

Eric Bowman, M.A.R., is the founder and teacher for the Revolution Ethics Project, a non-profit ethics seminar for all ages. He has been a public high school teacher at ConVal High School in Peterborough, NH for over 25 years.Website: revolutionethics.org Email: revolutionethicsproject@gmail.comInstagram: @revolutionethicsProduced, mixed, and scored by Echo Finchwww.echofinch.comA complete bibliography for season 1 of “The Virtue Field” is available at https://revolutionethics.org/bibliography-season-1Special thanks to Adam Arnone at Echo Finch for his endless patience. Thank you to Jason Dustin for a great microphone and for three beautiful portraits of Harriet Tubman. Thank you to Olivia Bregani, Ethan McBrien, and Anne Staley for help with final edits. Virtue Field photo by Ben Conant and lastly thank you to Isaac Perreault for graphic design.