For many, “uncertainty” has become an era-defining word.
Rapid technological advances, shifting global landscape and even an unclear picture of what happens after college graduation has led to a feeling that the future is one big, looming question.
In his upcoming Aims of Education address, Prof. Kenneth Warren won’t attempt to provide all the answers—but he will try to help incoming students feel more empowered to press on even in the face of that doubt.
“I think there is a more pervasive sense of uncertainty that all students face nowadays,” said Warren. “However, I see that as a call to action for students to come to the defense of the education that they will receive here over the next four years and truly make the most of their UChicago journey.”
This year’s address, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 24 in Rockefeller Chapel, will be webcasted on the UChicago College’s YouTube channel and website.
When Warren steps up to the lectern, it will mark nearly 20 years since his first Aims of Education address in 2007. While he knows he couldn’t give the same speech today that he did then, Warren views it as an opportunity to show how the mission of the University has never wavered in the face of change.
“A UChicago education has always put importance on a familiarity with various areas of intellectual activity no matter what you want to specialize in,” he said. “That still stands true today even as students deal with the clashing of artificial intelligence and traditional learning and curiosity.”
Warren began his UChicago tenure in 1991 and is currently the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor of English and Literature and associate chair of the department of English in the College. He has authored or edited several publications focusing on American and African American literature from the late 19th century through the middle of the 20th century and received the Quantrell Award, believed to be the nation’s oldest prize for undergraduate teaching, in 2005.
While being asked to deliver the Aims address by Dean Melina Hale for the second time “drove home how old he is getting and how long he’s been at UChicago,” the recognition was still not lost on him.
“It’s always an honor and a special opportunity to address the newest incoming class that will develop their minds in the College over the next four years,” he said
Warren knows that uncertainty and threats facing the idea of a liberal education are nothing new—the Aims of Education address started in 1961 as a response to these factors, after all—the defense against them will always be the same.
“Many of the talks presented in this series have responded to the various attacks on the attempt to achieve this liberality of mind through reading books and learning science,” he said. “Perhaps unavoidably, I will be addressing how even though these challenges have evolved, there still is an importance to understand and know how scholars, writers and thinkers from all disciplines approach the world.”
—This article originally appeared on the UChicago College website.
