Word: emersonic
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Before I even arrived at Harvard for my first year, I completed one of my first intellectual requirements at the College: reading Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Self-Reliance," which had been mailed to all first-years during the summer. In this famous text, Emerson addresses the value of independent thought and asserts that the propensity to confront authority and orthodoxy was one of the hallmarks of a great intellect. He writes: "I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions... I ought to go upright and vital, and speak...
...ease and security of reaping the type of success that a Harvard education can offer presents a serious challenge to intellectual and ideological resistance. In his day, Emerson realized that the scorn of one's peers was a major barrier to nonconformity; this pressure is still a moderating force today. Yet, Emerson still attempted to articulate a philosophy of radical autonomy. Aspects of his vision remain meaningful, especially his declaration of hope for the future: "I hope in these days we have heard the last of conformity and consistency... Let us affront and reprimand the smooth mediocrity and squalid contentment...
...Hanford suspends a College rule prohibiting personal solicitation of funds in the houses and dormitories, allowing the Food Relief Committee to collect funds for relief efforts in countries including Greece, Poland and China. The campaign is supported by folk singer Pete Seeger '40, who gives a free concert in Emerson Hall two weeks later...
...first year, I used to walk through the Old Yard at dusk to catch the first lights as they gleamed from centuries-old dorm windows. These beacons provided comfort and an excursion for the mind: John F. Kennedy '40 lived behind one of these windows, and Ralph Waldo Emerson another, and Quentin Compson another, in William Faulkner's fiction and the collective Harvard consciousness...
...discussion section and a reception in Emerson's Becutel Room followed the talk...