Hello BIC alumni and friends,
I hope the change of season finds you well in the midst of these tumultuous times. The devastations of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria are concrete reminders of the interconnectedness of all beings. In these challenging and divisive political times, I’m finding myself heartened by the enthusiasm for learning and self-less service that our BIC students, faculty, staff, and alumni exhibit. That so many alumni are out there doing all kinds of good work in the world gives me hope for the future on a daily basis.
As many of you know, one of our BIC Assistant Directors, Adam Moore, has been expanding our outreach to alumni. In the spring we had 15 alumni who volunteered for the first BIC Alumni Mentor Program and this semester we have 32 BIC alumni involved. We also have 57 alumni involved in our Informational Interview Program. If you would like to get involved, you can learn more on our website. We’d love for you to join us.
We are also expanding our BIC outreach efforts to include parents and family of current and former BIC students. Our increased alumni outreach has caused us to realize that BIC touches the lives of many people beyond just the students in our program and the alumni. The influence of the BIC continues to grow wider and broader in scope.
On the Homefront here in Morrison Hall, the BIC continues to grow. We have increased the Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship in Rhetorical Studies, expanded our Peer Instructor, Peer Mentor and Undergraduate research assistant programs and welcomed new temporary full-time faculty to the community. We are also hiring a new BIC advisor position. Two of our BIC faculty Mike Whitenton and Sam Perry recently welcomed new BIC babies into the world. Also, I’m pleased to announce that Sam Perry and Candi Cann both received tenure this year and were promoted to Associate Professors in the BIC.
As part of my own ongoing project of living the examined life, I read Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns in preparation for her visit to Baylor as the Beall Russell Lecturer. It is a stunning and sobering book about the Great Northern Migration. I highly recommend it. I also found Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy a compelling, thought provoking read. Both books are reminders that the path of life-long learning is not always an easy one.
If you happen to be in the Waco area the first Friday of November, I’m giving a Keynote address at the Southwestern Philosophical Society. The title of the talk is “Stirring up America’s Sleeping Horses: Cornel West, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Socratic Parrehesia and Platonic Writing in the Public Sphere.” It is based on work I’ve been doing in the context of the social justice reading groups I am part of in both Austin and Waco.
I will also be giving a keynote talk on “Forms of Reason in Socratic Autobiography on Friday, April 13th at the History of Philosophy Society which will be held in San Antonio Texas at Saint Mary’s University.
Please stay in touch and consider donating to the BIC excellence fund.
Best wishes to all,
Anne-Marie Schultz
Director, Baylor Interdisciplinary Core
