UNDERGRADUATE WORKING GROUP

“Thinking about Thinking”

The Undergraduate Working Group is an opportunity for undergraduate students to discuss the necessities of deep thinking and good intellectual work. This working group on "Thinking about Thinking" will provide students with tools to harness the possibilities of their undergraduate education. Through conversations with Senior Fellows, we will discuss and experience together the patient process of intellectual inquiry. Some questions may include: How do my commitments inform my academic work? What habits support rigorous thinking? What is the role of creativity in intellectual work? And, what do different forms of thinking allow for?

We ask that students commit to attending all four scheduled events (see below for more details). The fifth event will be scheduled later on, among working group participants. If you would like to participate but foresee a scheduling conflict, please do still apply and let us know on the registration form.

In the coming week, we will add more information about each event. Please reach out to info@binst.org with any questions.

Dates: throughout the Fall 2023 semester

Location: Berkeley Institute (2134 Allston Way, 2nd floor)

Space is limited. Register by Friday, September 15.

  • Thinking about Thinking

    facilitated by Dr. Dena Fehrenbacher &
    Dr. Monica Mikhail

    Wed., September 20 from 6-7:30PM

    Our first session will frame this series. We will discuss why reflection on our thinking matters to intellectual rigor, both inside and outside the classroom. And we will discuss questions that arise once we take notice of how we are thinking: what do I do with intellectual discomfort? Are prior personal commitments simply biases that get in the way of thinking, or can they help inform the pursuit of truth? And what is the role of thinking with others when thinking well? We hope to conclude this session with practical tools for being a serious and patient interlocutor — with others and with ourselves.

  • Dinner Social

    with Undergraduate Working Group Participants

    Tues., Oct. 17 from 6-7:30PM

    A time to get to know each other and reflect on the content of the first session of the Undergraduate Working Group.

  • BAMPFA Visit

    a tour with Alan Templeton

    Fri., October 27 from 2:30PM- 4:30PM

    This visit to the BAMPFA will reflect on, among other things: what kind of thinking is required by a visual art — especially paintings from the distant past whose context partly eludes us? And how might we be more equipped to do this kind of thinking than we may often assume?

    This tour will include a close look at specific 17th and 18th century paintings in the BAMPFA study room, and will also open up questions related to our Berkeley Institute Semester theme: “Our Relationship with the Past.”

  • Thinking With Poetry and Philosophy: Arendt and Dickinson

    facilitated by Professor Katie Peterson

    Sat., November 4 from 10:30AM-12PM

    In this session, we'll look at short but electric readings from the work of two great minds, Hannah Arendt and Emily Dickinson, and ask: What does thinking look like for a philosopher, and what does thinking look like for a poet? How does the form of thinking in each writer reflect what they believe thinking can do? Is thinking a form of action or something different? What is thinking actually for? Are poets and philosophers really all that different? We'll get to all these questions, and your questions, and more, if you arrive with attention, bravery, and an open mind (which I am sure you will!).

  • Creativity: Perspiration, Inspiration or Desperation?

    facilitated by Professor Karl van Bibber

    Wed., November 15 from 6-7:30PM

    This seminar will explore the meaning and practice of creativity: What is it, and what isn't it? What conditions prepare one to be creative? Does the creative act originate with the subject? Or, is it received and recognized by the subject? We will discuss both conceptual accounts of and practical tools for creative work, and take inspiration from ideas expressed in Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions and Cal Newport's Deep Work.