On September 3, something special is going to happen in my Neighboring 101 class. Marc J. Dunkelman, author of The Vanishing Neighbor: The Transformation of American Community , will join us as a guest on this Zoom link . And I’ve decided that this shouldn’t be an ordinary class session.  I’m opening the class to others who want to come, listen, ask questions, and wrestle with a question that I believe is becoming increasingly important:  What does it take to be a good neighbor in America today? I first encountered Marc’s work in 2018 while reading The Vanishing Neighbor , and I was struck by how closely his argument connected with something I have been thinking. Marc writes about something we have all experienced: the disappearance of the neighbor. Not necessarily the physical disappearance of the people who live next door. They are still there.  It is the relationship that is disappearing. We can know hundreds (or thousands) of people through our phones and soc...

He is going to be our special guest for a "bonus" edition of Neighboring 101 at 12 noon on Thursday, Sept. 3: Marc J. Dunkelman. If you are not already in enrolled in Neighboring 101, visit the website to enroll with a modest one-time fee. Dunkelman is a writer, public policy scholar, and fellow at Brown University Watson School for International and Public Affairs whose work focuses on community, civic life, and the changing structure of American society. Over the course of his career, he has served in a variety of leadership and policy roles, including work with members of Congress.  His writing has appeared in major national publications including the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. Dunkelman is perhaps best known for his influential book The Vanishing Neighbor , which explores the decline of what he calls America’s “middle-ring relationships” — the everyday connections formed with neighbors, fellow church members, civic cl...