At this time of year, as we welcome thousands of students to our campus, I often reflect on the experiences that made a lasting difference in my own undergraduate education. One of those was discovering the deep importance of close and repeated examination of images, ideas, and texts. As you embark on your studies in the year ahead, I encourage you to relentlessly seek answers to the questions you have, and then to critically question the answers you receive. I hope you will consider using a new perspective, reframing the question, digging deeper, inquiring with others and listening carefully—particularly those with a different point of view—and evaluating with care, with intention, and with an open mind and heart. This is what sits at the core of a liberal arts education, this deep interest in and ability to look again. In the College of Arts & Sciences, we are here to support you on your journey of discovery.
In the spirit of creativity, I’ve written a poem (though I am not a poet, I love experimenting with new forms of communication) that I hope will resonate with you throughout this year. Let your journey begin!
Warmest welcome to all,
Dianne Harris, Dean
Look again.
That thing you see.
Or think you see
Look again.
That painting, that code
That passage of text, that idea
That assertion, that theorem
That theory
Look again.
That thing you think you know
That belief you took to be true
That song you heard now anew
Look again.
Did you hear that?
Did you see that?
Did you know that?
Look again.
Up close
Quizzically
Methodically
Look again.
Rewrite
Redraw
Revise
Review
Rethink
Reiterate
Look again.
The world just opened.
Look up. Look out.
Look again.
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