On Sept. 27, incoming UChicago students will gather at 6:30 p.m. in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel for the Aims of Education address, a celebrated UChicago tradition in which a distinguished University faculty member discusses the meaning and value of liberal education.
This year’s speaker is Gabriel Richardson Lear, professor in the Department of Philosophy, the Committee on Social Thought and the College. In her address, which will be webcast on Facebook Live, Lear will talk about wonder and how it helps us understand the world and ourselves.
“Instead of talking about the ultimate aim of education, I talk about its beginning,” Lear said. “The sort of wonder that orients us to wisdom is already an intellectual accomplishment. I try to clarify what wonder is, in the hopes that this will help students take the first step in their education.”
Held during Orientation Week since 1962, the Aims address provides incoming students with an opportunity to reflect upon the purpose and definition of education and engage in the type of discourse that is integral to the College experience. Following the address, faculty members will join students in their houses across campus to discuss the speech.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
