The Purest Form Of Learning

I had a great experience as a faculty member last night.  I was walking back to my office when a group of students who were sitting behind Old Main waved me over.  It was the Wesley Fellowship, and with them were Rev. Robinson and Dr. Abercrombie.  As I walked up, a young woman asked "Can you tell me all about the Civil War in 30 seconds?"

Talk about a challenge!  Leave it to Wofford students to come up with a good one.

I'm not sure that I  adequately described the Civil War in thirty seconds!  But fortunately, that question was followed by an explanation from a young woman as to why she wanted so much information so fast.  She hadn't taken American history since 10th grade, and she felt that because she hadn't studied it in much detail, she was missing some of the nuances of the Religion in the South class.  So she asked another question.  And another.  And then the person on the other side of the table chimed in, followed by the person in the back.  It was all that we could do to handle those inquiries!  And it literally took all three of us, because the questions were not just about history---they were about Southern culture and faith and even a bit of biology.

It was absolutely exhilarating.  Not only were the questions good, they were honest.  I had the feeling that here, in a circle of friends, over pizza and soda, the students were getting to the heart of things, letting their curiosity lead them.  Outside of a classroom, removed from tests and papers and ticking clocks, they cut straight to the chase.  They had questions.  We (hopefully) had some answers.

As I walked away, I thought how much I wish this experience could be repeated every night of the school week. For many Wofford students, the moments of greatest discovery aren't going to happen in classrooms or labs, they're going to arrive through conversation, discussion, and even laughter.

Comments

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You've made me very nostalgic for my days at Wofford...
Its hard to explain to people who DIDN'T go to a true "liberal arts" college just how important and wonderful those after-hours discussions are. As you alluded to in your post about stem-cell research, we too often are ignorant about ideas and concepts outside of our specialization. Wofford does its best to combat this trend--I majored in Chemistry, but I had to understand Seamus Heaney, Richard Dawkins, and Augustine of Hippo before they'd graduate me.