A Tradition of Voluntary Service (1993)
“The only way out of our moral and economic slough of despond is the fragile and uncertain tradition of voluntary service.” At 67 years old, Payton observes many societal ills in America and suggests a work force of volunteers could help address some of these problems. The benefits of volunteering are not reserved for the beneficiaries. Rather, “voluntary service reminds us that we depend on other humans on whom we have no other claim than a moral one.”
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Demographics, Democracy, and Education (1986)
Written in 1985, a discussion of the implications of an increasingly aged and ethnically diverse America. The experiences of France, the Soviet Union, Iran, and the United Republic Cameroon are used to illustrate the impact of such changes on modern societies. Payton argues that a less Western America, “will force us to think more carefully about the Western values that should be preserved.”
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Dissent (2001)
This email message was the eighth of nine messages sent by Payton to the Jane Addams-Andrew Carnegie Fellowship list serve following the events of September 11th. He discounts the effectiveness of anti-war demonstrations like those in Dunn Meadow on the Indiana University campus. Again Payton stresses the importance of a discourse of ideas: “Respect rational discourse; protect it, use it wisely. It’s the best instrument for peace we have.”
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Intergenerational Dialogue (2002)
This email contains Payton’s proposal to assemble older liberal arts faculty members for informal discussions. He suggests that these discussions also include graduate students, thereby providing a unique forum where ideas are exchanged across the generation gap.
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Misanthropy (2001)
This email message was the fifth of nine messages sent by Payton to the Jane Addams-Andrew Carnegie Fellowship list serve following the events of September 11th. In this short message Payton resolves to “read and reflect” on the tragedy instead of writing about it. “There are times when teachers should be silent, too.”
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Public Teachers (2001)
This email message was the first of nine messages sent by Payton to the Jane Addams-Andrew Carnegie Fellowship list serve following the events of September 11th. He challenges his former students to serve as public teachers, helping “others think about complex and difficult public issues so that they can come to their own conclusions, as is appropriate in a democratic society.”
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Successor Generation (1999)
In referring to generation X (the successor generation), Payton asks, "what is the state of the philanthropic tradition that we will pass on to them and what will they make of it?" Payton examines these issues using history, philosophy and his experiences with the Jane Addams Fellows.
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The Right To Be Intelligent (1981)
Comparing educators Georgi Lozanov, Michael Thomas, Edward DeBono and Luis Alberto Machado, Payton investigates the idea of "liberating" people, especially in the third world, from ignorance.
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Tool of Thought (2001)
This email message was the second of nine messages sent by Payton to the Jane Addams-Andrew Carnegie Fellowship list serve following the events of September 11th. Payton offers a tool of thought that provides 5 levels of awareness. He admits that exploring these levels has brought moments of “great sadness—that this could happen to the world I will leave to my students and my two grandsons.”
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Academic Teachers ()
In this essay Payton differentiates between two types of teachers of philanthropy: “those who treat it as education and those who offer it as training.” He maintains that neither approach does justice to the discipline.
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Discourse in Schools (1981)
Payton delivered this lecture to the Port Washington, New York public school system during his tenure as president of the Exxon Education Foundation. It discusses "'rhetoric' in the classical sense: instruction in the arts of language and thought as used in persuasion." His examples range from third world underdevelopment and education reform to the evolving dynamics of mass media.
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Getting Back to Normal (2001)
This email message was the fourth of nine messages sent by Payton to the Jane Addams-Andrew Carnegie Fellowship list serve following the events of September 11th. It highlights the question “When is it all right to get back to normal?” Payton holds that our society, with its short attention span, will need something more than Cicero’s notion of decorum in trying to cope with the September 11th events.
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Letter to Friends (1992)
A letter written to friends of the Payton family on the occasion of the death of Joseph Payton, Robert and Pauline's oldest son. The letter recounts Joe's life of service and commitment to Africa where he worked in emergency relief. The personal account shares lessons learned from the loss of two children (son Matthew as well as Joseph) and their dedication to service in the lives they lived. It is for these two that the Joseph and Matthew Philanthropic Studies Library is named at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis is named.
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On the Jane Addams Fellowship (Letter to Dan and Wendy) (2000)
A year-end reflection on the ninth class of Jane Addams Fellows that emphasizes philanthropic studies as an exercise in liberal education.
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Racial Harmony (1992)
In this essay Payton analyzes the elusiveness of racial harmony. He claims that it is time to reassess the mission of the civil rights movement. Payton asserts, “Mutual respect must be based on earning respect rather than on claiming it as a right of race or social position.” Payton stresses the importance of citizens’ working together to achieve a harmonious society.
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The Impact of Individuals on Philanthropy in America (1995)
American philanthropy is described as a mosaic of cultural influence. This essay focuses on some of the best known figures in the history of American philanthropy. Written in 1995, it concludes with speculation about the impact on George Soros on the future of central and eastern europe.
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Threat or Promise (2001)
This email message was the last in a string of messages sent by Payton to the Jane Addams-Andrew Carnegie Fellowship list serve following the events of September 11th. Payton recalls an unsuccessful, thirty year-old movement to infuse international education into undergraduate studies. After September 11th, this type of global education seems relevant and necessary. “The education of all undergraduates will have to include some serious engagement with Islam and Buddhism and their critiques of modernism and secularism as well as Christianity.”
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Voluntarism: Learning how to "pass it on" (1990)
This essay was included in the August 1990 issue of Progressions published by the Lilly Endowment. Payton emphasizes the need for philanthropy and the importance of passing it on. He aruges that we must educate ourselves about the tradition of philanthropy in order to relay its importance to generations to come.
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