The Quest V Question:
How is it connected?
Submitted by Adrian L. Bitton, '09
Leadership Studies and Rhetoric & Communication Studies Major
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kevin Kuswa
Director of Debate and full-time faculty member in the Department of Rhetoric and Communication Studies.
How is it connected?: Rationale
This is not a simple inquiry into our collective six degrees of separation; rather, this interrogation is about the links, contacts, arrangements, and relationships that define and surround us. Googling "connection" yields 337,000,000 hits. A few of those links remind us that, "the ankle bone's connected to the...leg bone," but many more join our call to push beyond academic jargon and embrace the connections that make us human and propel us forward. "What moves us?" may be connectivity, but we must continue to ask: "How?"
"How is it connected?" highlights the interdisciplinary nature of the Quest, and the beauty of this interrogation lies in its particularity and transcendence. The "it" could refer to anything-the earth, a melody, the human body, Baghdad, a solar panel, love(1), civilization-and everything is connected, if only through language and our capacity to know(2). Connections gain meaning through the elements they draw together.
In The Journal of Higher Education, Daniel Rossides contends that education may be one of the most important arenas upholding our hopes for equal opportunity. Many barriers to equitable and quality education persist, and free competition is not a magic cure for the challenges facing society. Rossides reminds us that intersecting identities-class, race, gender, religion, ethnicity, orientation, to name a few-require new connections(3). We hope to forge a few of those unique connections as well as trace some from the past, both foundational and forgotten.
This is not an exhaustive array of possibilities, but we must note that the very concept of "connection" is contagious...we came together as student and mentor in a Communications class and have already made connections through this project, our conversations, and our respective academic backgrounds. Welcome to the tip of the iceberg.
Religion and Science
Relying on scientific method and embracing a leap of faith are seemingly contradictory. With the release of biologist Richard Dawkins' book, The God Delusion, the debate has intensified and concepts like genome mapping and Darwin's theory of evolution have been presented as complete explanations for creation and human development. Dawkins states: "(S)cience offers us an explanation of how complexity (the difficult) arose out of simplicity (the easy). The hypothesis of God offers no worthwhile explanation."(4) Some may believe that this divide really is a dichotomous struggle, neglecting how both science ("How did we get here?") and religion ("What is our purpose?") tackle some of life's most thought-provoking questions and share a common instinct to explain the unknown. But with the recent profile of people claiming to be both scientists and religious practitioners (Former President Jimmy Carter declared himself to be "a Christian, a trained engineer and scientist, and a professor at Emory University,")(5) the connections are growing stronger.
Potential class: Debates in Science and Religion
This course would examine major scientific breakthroughs such as cloning, stem-cell research, and embryonic genetic selection to explore how scientific discoveries are reconciled with various religions.
Technology and Human Rights
New uses of technology such as Instant Messenger, TiVo, and Facebook are becoming more omnipresent, in addition to the ever-evolving cell-phone, laptop computer, and television. We forget all too quickly that to download the latest video or to view a friend's picture gallery requires a number of preconditions. What connects the source of electricity to the computer and modem? What connects the computer user to the people that maintain the system, keep the buildings and rooms intact, and administer the resources for the faculty and the institution? By contrast, for the poorest of human rights groups around the world, these privileges are not available, and "connecting to information technology systems will, without assistance, be an impossible and far-off dream."(6) These inequalities are significant because connecting with one another is essential amidst globalization. Information technologies can contribute to human rights protection through verification and email networking, making access an important part of the equation. The absence of "connectedness" is as important as its presence and expansion.
Potential class: The History of Global and Local Technology
This course would explore questions such as, "Is technology neutral?" and "Where can resources most effectively address local needs?" From either angle, connections can shrink the globe through dance(7) or wreak havoc through communicable disease.(8)
Business, Politics and Society
Donald Trump's impersonal "You're Fired!" command reinforces a common perception of the business world: an arena of cut and dry competition, managing capital instead of people. But this stereotype ignores the fact that business professionals must connect with their consumers and clients in order to maximize profits, and the most successful have an understanding of sociology, psychology, and rhetoric and communication studies. Brand loyalty, niche marketing, group behavior, and employee productivity all hint at complicated answers to "How is it connected?" And, to further complicate matters, business and politics have had to confront and adjust to the rise of security issues with the War on Terrorism. The faces of terrorism and the struggle against political violence must be conceived as an interconnection of economic, social, political, and rhetorical factors.
Potential Class: The Economics of Terrorism
This course would study the costs and consequences of terrorism on a broad level, including financial instability and social trauma.
Environmental Studies and Philosophy
The environmental crisis may represent more than an "inconvenient truth," and the threat is so monumental that it becomes hard to pinpoint blame. Individuals find it difficult to make the connection between their own actions and the larger ecosystem, creating apathy and powerlessness. Without a comprehensive approach that asks "How is it connected?" in meditative as well as calculative ways,(9) well-intentioned actions can backfire and contribute to the imbalance.
Hybrid cars, for example, include ethanol gas requires a strain on corn crops, leading to heightened competition for resources and the subsequent depletion of rain forests, an important carbon sink. When Pielke and Cotton observe that climate change has a "cause-and-effect relationship to human activity" they also note the complexity of feedbacks and single-sector solutions.(10) Complexity theory, an important angle of connectivity, suggests a closer union between philosophy and environmental science. Examining uncertainty and risk is one way to join environmental studies with philosophy and ethics whether we are discussing climate change, "a strain of bacteria becoming resistant to an antibiotic, the scientific community testing new theories, or an artist implementing a creative idea."(11)
Potential class: Sustainability and Anthropocentrism
This course would assess the political and ethical choices that have contributed to our current ecological predicaments and contemplate options for future human agency.
Leadership, Law, and the Richmond Community
Leadership and law are arenas in which success is contingent on persuasion-making a connection to the common good or legal principles. The Jepson School of Leadership Studies teaches leadership in the context of placing responsibility on the civic community. The law school teaches about regulations and procedures, while impressing upon their students a drive for enlightened policy making. Leadership and law both have direct partnerships within a community in the sense that leaders and politicians make fair laws by understanding the needs of the community and advocating laws that best serve the people. The University of Richmond has pioneered a number of programs with these goals in mind, including the Bonner Scholars, the Center for Civic Engagement, and the Common Ground Initiative. All of these efforts rest on hopes for enhanced human connections based on tolerance and compassion.(12)
Potential class: Service, Diversity, and the Law
This course would assess local legislation, the advent of service learning, and policies promoting diversity, including a component on urban planning and a community outreach requirement.
"Making the Connection": Speakers
These speakers could come as a duo, supporting similar viewpoints or debating a controversial divide.
Dr. Edward L. Ayers and Dr. Eugene P. Trani, President of VCU - to talk about using their leadership positions to generate connections with the community.
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert - to talk about encouraging young people to develop a passion for current events.
Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith - to talk about accomplishing common goals and the personal struggles involving race and community expectations.
John McCain and Hillary Clinton - to talk about representing the concerns of constituents and strategies for connecting to the country.
Rabbi Jack Spiro and Reverend Tommy Nance - to talk about an individual's connection to spiritual authority.
Michel Woltèche, Linguistic Interpreter at the Olympics, and Olympic skier Bode Miller - to talk about connecting across boundaries and the way athletics can overcome cultural difference.
James Randi, demystifier of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims, and David Copperfield, founder of Project Magic - to talk about the logic, perception, and physics of magic.
J.K. Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe - to talk about connecting to their characters and bringing them to life despite the make-believe elements of their roles.
Dikembe Mutombo and Bono - to talk about the ways they have extended their celebrity status, one as an athlete and the other as a musical performer, into successful human rights campaigns in Africa.
Works Cited
Yeung, King-to (September 2005). "What Does Love Mean? Exploring Network Culture in Two Network Settings," Social Forces 84.1, pp391-420.
Knight, Peter (1999). "Everything is Connected: Underworld's Secret History of Paranoia," Modern Fiction Studies 45.3, pp811-836.
Rossides, Daniel. (2004). "Knee-jerk formalism: Reforming American education," Journal of Higher Education 75.6: 667-70.
Dawkins, Richard (2006). The God Delusion. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co.
Branch, Glenn & Scott, Eugenie C. (Feb. 15, 2004). "Religious Opponents of Darwin's Discovery Open New Battles in schools, Public Arena," National Center for Science Education, http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/AssaultsOnEvolution.htm (accessed 2/19/07).
Metzl, Jamie (1996). "Information Technology and Human Rights," Human Rights Quarterly 18.4, pp705-746.
Knott, Laura (Feb. 2001). "World Wide Simultaneous Dance: Dancing the Connection Between 'Cyberplace' and the Global Landscape," Leonardo 34.1, pp11-16.
Choi, Tina Young (Summer 2001). "Writing the Victorian City: Discourses of Risk, Connection, and Inevitability," Victorian Studies 43.4, pp561-589.
McWhorter, Ladelle (1992). Heidegger and the Earth: Essays in Environmental Philosophy, ed. L. McWhorter. Kirksville, Mo.: Thomas Jefferson University Press; Lanham, MD.
Pielke, Roger Sr. & Cotton, William (2007). Human Impacts on Weather and Climate, 2nd edtn. Cambridge, Mass: Cambridge U. Press.
Gell-Mann, Murray (1994). The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex. New York : W.H. Freeman.
Tietz, Ward (2004) "Linking and Care in Connection." New Literary History 35.3, 507-522.