You can write a paper and a lab report.
You can take an exam.
Can you participate in meaningful discussion about your experiences at Bowdoin with a diverse group of students and create positive change?
Welcome to the Bowdoin Undiscussed Spring 2010! Our mission is to provide students a space for discovery and reflection on their individual attitudes about different aspects of identity and then turn these thoughts into action. In other words, participants and facilitators engage in personal discussions, identify problems, and come up with ideas of how to address these issues at Bowdoin. Although we present suggestions that come out of these groups to administrators, this effort is completely student-run.
How it works:
Based on their schedule, participants are placed into groups of 8 to 12 students led by two impartial student facilitators. The groups meet for 1 1/2 hour sessions once a week for 4 weeks to discuss topics that typically go “undiscussed.” In the past, groups have discussed how socio-economic class, race, ethnicity, religion, substance-free housing preferences, sexuality, and other identities affect our Bowdoin experiences. However, discussion is not enough. We ask each group to get specific and generate an implementable action plan to address specific problems at Bowdoin found in these conversations. The steering committee and other interested students compile these findings, present them to student leaders and administrators, and work in the late spring and fall to make them happen.
This spring, we are tackling three related questions: How do the choices we make affect our own identity? How are the choices that we make perceived by others? How do these choices affect Bowdoin?
How to get involved:
Check back here the first week of classes for a link to sign up to participate in a dialogue circle in 2010. Circles will meet the second week of February through the first week of March.
Explore this site or email us at [email protected] to find out more!
The 2009-2010 Steering Committee:
- Rebecca Schouvieller ’10, co-president
- Elise Selinger ’10, co-president
- Will Cogswell ’11
- John Cronopulus ’11
- Chester Eng ’11
- Dylan Kane ’12
- Chelsea Noble ’12
- Christina Pindar ’12
- Lindsey Thompson ’10
- Cameron Weller ’11