Health Guidance Under Welcome
John deVille was born in Highlands in 1962 in a hospital that his sister converted to the nonprofit Peggy Crosby Center in the 1990s. His mother, Lynn deVille, was a teacher in Highlands and both she and his father started the Stone Lantern in 1960 which remained a family business until 2019. His parents were married in a UU Fellowship Hall in 1959.
John holds a BA in philosophy from UNC Chapel Hill and a BS in Social Science Education from Western Carolina. He has taught American history, philosophy, and government at Franklin High School since 1996 and was Macon County Teacher of the Year in 2006. He has conducted free philosophy and history classes for adults the past seven years and is currently leading seminars on the American Revolution this Spring and Fall. He has served as the Executive Director for the Macon County Historical Museum since November 2024.
As we are in the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the beginnings of the American Revolution, we are called to pause about some of the morally questionable behaviors of the Founders, especially when it comes to issues of slavery and the dispossession of Native American lands. What are constructive ways to reflect … Continue reading How Should We Think About Moral Issues in History?
As we return to a new school year, John deVille joins us to explore Gandhi’s Seven Social Sins as applied to the public school classroom: Wealth without work / Pleasure without conscience / Knowledge without character / Commerce without morality / Science without humanity / Religion without sacrifice / Politics without principle.
The musings of a 27-year veteran of the classroom and advocacy front.
