Teachable Moments

"Learning requires being able to explain a topic in your own words until someone else understands it. The more you learn, the easier it is to learn."

Corporate attorney and businessman Aubrey Davies leaves private sector success to teach law in Commonwealth University's business school. Relying on class discussions, a nimble intellect, irreverent humor, and students' help, Aubrey pushes undergraduates to understand why lawyers often begin their advice with two words: "It depends."

Down the hall is fellow lecturer Valeria Conte, a former middle-school teacher and real estate lawyer. As "work spouses," Aubrey and Valeria dedicate themselves to their students in a culture that pays lip service to teaching, but values academic research and rank-improving metrics more highly. They and their non-tenured lecturer colleagues contend with second-class status and contract uncertainty, while educating the majority of the University's students.

Believing one bold move will secure its vulnerable finances, Commonwealth University acquires control of Solar Solutions, Inc., a business startup. Financial salvation grows tenuous as Solar Solutions taxes University resources and threatens its leaders, while other forces challenge the viability of its business model.

Teachable Moments tracks the career arcs of Aubrey Davies, Valeria Conte, and other memorable characters in an incisive, playful, and reflective novel featuring higher education's "teaching donkeys."