Student Reflections
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Undergraduate Student Reflections:
Aurelia Savener
I'm a sophomore Jefferson Scholar, a psychology major, and a premed student. I was drawn to this program by the opportunity to study many subjects outside my chosen field. What I’ve especially come to value is the vibrant community and the great friendships that have sprung up around reading and discussing important books.
One of my favorite books so far has been The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. This autobiography is a moving, important book, and, for all the American history I’d studied, this was the first text I’d read that allowed me to understand the perspective of an enslaved person first-hand.
Probably my favorite class in the program so far has been The Bible and Its Interpreters. I don't come from a religious background so I enjoyed learning about such a foundational cultural text in an academic setting. We studied it from various perspectives: historical, Christian, Jewish, mystic, feminist, and as a class we reexamined our beliefs from all of those perspectives. Courses like this have taught me how to discuss with people I disagree with in a civil and productive way. In the class we discussed books that many us had deeply-held beliefs about, but we still needed to arrive at a collective understanding of what the texts meant. By focusing on the text itself rather than the convictions we came to it with, we were able to have lively debates that stayed civil and that helped everyone refine their ideas.
A lot of what we do in our CTI classes is participate in this quest for shared truth. We can have strong opinions and still say: here's the truth I see in your perspective, even if it's different from mine, and maybe you can acknowledge some truth in my perspective, and let's examine where we disagree and why. It's an amazing experience and way to connect with people. I've recently started a book club focused on contemporary literature in the hopes of creating more space for that sort of discussion. The culture of civil discourse abounds in JSP and it's such an important skill that I appreciate getting to practice every day with this community.
Undergraduate Student Reflections:
Zach Springer
I am tremendously grateful for The Jefferson Center for the ways it has enriched my time as an undergraduate student here at UT. I have loved my Core Texts and Ideas courses, particularly The Bible and Its Interpreters, The History of Christian Philosophy, and Might and Right Among Nations. Through the Jefferson Center’s programs and in its lounge and library I have cultivated friendships and had conversations that have proven deeply formative for me as a thinker. The Center has also been generous in allowing my friends and me to use the lounge to host our own reading groups on such authors as Augustine and Boethius.
The Jefferson Scholars Program has encouraged me to engage in the practice of civil discourse and the free exchange of ideas, aiding me in navigating certain modern political and social tensions. This is facilitated through a general approach to courses that emphasizes close readings of texts and the sense of a common project in discerning the meaning of a text. The Jefferson Center has proven a place to practice the virtue of courage in articulating what I think, even when it is relatively unpopular.
A Graduate Student's Perspective
Evan Cree Gee
The Jefferson Center provides invaluable opportunities for graduate students from the beginning of our careers. We are able to hold discussion groups as TAs, lead book club meetings, and most importantly, teach our own courses. If the project of defending liberal education is to be successful, it must include cultivating future professors who have an experience in--and appreciation for--liberal education itself.
The Jefferson Center attracts the best and brightest of UT students. In my experience as a teaching assistant and now lead instructor for a course of CTI students, I have come to meet some of the most thoughtful, curious, and open minded undergraduates I have ever known. Before coming to UT, I worked for two years at an advocacy group that focuses on defending free speech on college campuses. I'd venture to suggest that if every college in America was the Jefferson Center and every student a Jefferson scholar, the work of campus free speech advocates would be rendered unnecessary.
