Private Discernment and Public Action

I just finished reading Annmarie Caňo’s Leading Toward Liberation: How to Build Cultures of Thriving in Higher Education (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025), and I confess that I am struggling a bit with what to do with it. Caňo’s study provides a clear argument for and an actionable guide to academic leaders who, whether we hold administrative titles or not, “want to be part of a liberating culture shift,” working to create “academic cultures in which everyone can thrive” (3). Her text is grounded in an understanding of liberation psychology, which is suffused with the principles of liberation theology and liberation pedagogy. Each chapter concludes with a set of “Questions for Reflection and Action.”