It was my first week of Divinity School at Vanderbilt University, and the professor responded to my comment in a facetious manner - - "Wait, do you actually want to use this stuff?" As an academic with one foot in the ivory tower and another on the ground, I have struggled to make use of what I learn and order out of what I have experienced. Yesterday, with two months remaining in my Masters program, Dr. Muhammad Yunus sat next to me and spoke of the dangers of the university ranging from the hegemonic relationship between student and teacher to the unending elitism associated with higher education. He said, "Universities don't know much about people." Continuing, Dr. Yunus said what I have waited to hear all along, "the answers are known by those on the ground." I live in Nashville, Tennessee and attend Vanderbilt for graduate school, - just like Dr. Yunus once did.I can only hope to find my own way to utilize what I have learned in order to empower those on the ground who have the answers but lack an access to the opportunity to change circumstances.
1 comment:
That's the trick, isn't it? It's incredibly hard to walk in both worlds at once – "real life" and the academy. On the one hand, having a degree helps. If nothing else, it opens up networks to utilize later. I'm sure Dr. Yunus has found his degree to be helpful. He can certainly capitalize on his newfound credibility (thanks to his Nobel Prize). On the other hand, the University can also kill the spirit. Not that people with degrees can't do things better than people without degrees. I, for one, can read and understand complex books better than lots of people. But in the end, that probably doesn't amount to much. So kudos for you for trying to make both work together. Tell me sometime about your talk with Dr. Yunus. I'd love to hear more.
Post a Comment