Hey Mita, I love your idea of having New Year's questions instead of resolutions, or maybe resolving to keep asking questions.
And isn't that at the heart of the profession too? I guess I'd say that the challenge and reward are in the process. (The new 'Ways of Knowing' class offered at the University of Windsor is perhaps a gesture towards that kind of learning.) Maybe it's not a question of one but in asking and exploring many you enrich yourself and your community. And isn't that a life worth living? Putting the quest back in question, your friend, Alec
[For those of you who do not follow links until convinced first that its worth your time, I'll provide you a brief summary of said Slate article: researcher Alison Gopnik believes that college students shouldn't sign up for courses dedicated to a subject but instead, sign up to help solve a designated problem.]
The reason why this article has caused me cognitive dissidence, is that as an "academic librarian" I am supposed to be dedicating some of my time to scholarly research. And while I have done some such librarianship, what I haven't done is define exactly what question I am trying to answer. This makes me quite the hypocrite since I have advocated on a number of times to students that defining a question is a good way to approach their research papers.
I'm thinking that its not so much that its the "unexamined life that's not worth living" but its un-questioned one that is unfulfilled. And so I'm reconsidering to replace the ritual of making a list of new year's resolutions with a short list of questions that I want to pursue.
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Close this window Jump to comment formHey Mita,
I love your idea of having New Year's questions instead of resolutions, or maybe resolving to keep asking questions.
And isn't that at the heart of the profession too? I guess I'd say that the challenge and reward are in the process. (The new 'Ways of Knowing' class offered at the University of Windsor is perhaps a gesture towards that kind of learning.) Maybe it's not a question of one but in asking and exploring many you enrich yourself and your community. And isn't that a life worth living?
Putting the quest back in question, your friend, Alec
2:53 AM