Word: learne
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...restructurings of biology and anthropology have suggested, a century-old logic is not necessarily a logic that best promotes research, teaching, and inquiry. For many faculty, our current departments reflect only a part of our intellectual and teaching horizons. Much the same is true for our students, as I learned this year. So if the decks were reshuffled, wholly new departments might emerge: a department of evolutionary studies, say, or perhaps a department of cognition and neurobiology which would unite professors from the sciences with those involved in the arts and humanities. The possibilities are endless. The idea of reshuffling...
...first time, the campus reminded me in some aspects of a space colony. One of its most immediately puzzling aspects was political. I remembered reading what Naomi Klein had written in January 2000 about the American left: that it apparently “seemed surprised to learn that, contrary to previous reports, it did, in fact, still exist.” Although news reports tried to convince me that Republicans were in power, I saw very little Republican presence on campus, and didn’t know any personally. Although I would meet a few eventually, the political uniformity reinforced...
...surprising they find it. To the vast majority, science is solely about answers—the material that’s sandwiched between the covers of their textbooks. It’s understandable. For the most part, we teach science as if it were a technical trade: Learn these facts about cells. Memorize these equations describing motion. Balance these reactions that underlie oxidation. And then demonstrate competence by passing an exam. With this lopsided focus on the end points of research, the scientific explorations themselves receive the most minimal attention...
It’s when the latter thought process becomes prominent that it becomes clear for its fallaciousness. Institutional failures certainly exist—my time in charge of the one you are reading helped me learn as much—but an experience made up of so many moving parts, diverse events, and disparate happenings is an institution that we, thankfully, have the most agency on making what we want...
House life at Harvard is wonderful and provides many unique opportunities for interacting with and learning from our peers, but it completely insulates us from the worries of everyday life. It is possible to graduate from Harvard never having cleaned a bathroom, never having cooked a meal, and never having had to look for an apartment or pay rent. All of these things are taken care of by the houses, and while the shared dining halls bring students together, and dorm crew prevents us from having to clean up after our disgusting roommates, the sorts of life skills that would...