Looking Towards Philosophy to Define the Human

I worked for the Professor Nancy Bauer in the Tufts Philosophy Department. Her work focuses on the role that philosophy can play in ameliorating the challenges of being human; much of her writing combines disciplines such as feminism or film studies with philosophy. Professor Bauer was also a dean at Tufts for ten years. The book she is currently writing is “equal parts a philosophical meditation on the nature of higher education and a dean confidential.” ​

The work I did for Professor Bauer aided in writing this upcoming book. I researched higher education and problems with it that she might not have thought to explore, providing a helpful new perspective as a current college student. I especially explored schools relevant to my life, such as Bowdoin and UNC-Chapel Hill (where I’m from). Some topics I covered included: the end of affirmative action, legacy admissions, need-blind aid policies, boards of trustees’ corruption, and private high school advantage.​

I hope to go into academia myself, and this experience was very informative not only because I was able to work with a professor, but because my research directly focused on the behind-the-scenes of higher education. Though I am now very aware of problems in this world, I also have a greater desire to be part of the path towards solving them.

Internship funded by the Annual Fund for ​Career Readiness ​provided by Dave Kirkland '03, Alexis Kirkland '04, ​Brian Dunn '05, ​Sanida Dunn '04, ​Bucky Jencks '05 and Paulette Jencks '04.