Two-week residential academic program aims to make philosophy and college more accessible to Springfield and Holyoke students
At once a program name and life motto, , a new residential summer program launching June 26 from the UMass Amherst Department of Philosophy, aims to make philosophical concepts and college more accessible to high school students from Holyoke and Springfield, Massachusetts.
Co-led by Julia Jorati, associate professor of philosophy, and Ned Markosian, professor of philosophy, the academic program will help make college feel like a possibility by providing high school students with a chance to experience university life while also improving their critical thinking and reasoning skills and encouraging curiosity.
鈥淗igh school is an age where students are questioning everything. They鈥檙e trying to figure out who they are, their place in their world. They're thinking about big notions like social justice, and big, philosophical questions," explains Jorati. 鈥淚n school, they don鈥檛 get as many opportunities to explore these concepts, so it鈥檚 nice to give them a chance to think about these questions with like-minded peers.鈥
Question Everything was created for rising sophomores, juniors and seniors from lower-income families, as well as students from marginalized groups underrepresented in higher education. It will provide a full scholarship to each participant to cover everything from room and board to transportation.
Though the program was originally set to begin in 2020, it was delayed due to the pandemic. This summer, the inaugural class will spend its two-week residency on the UMass Amherst campus studying identity and diversity and exploring questions such as: What makes you who you are? If you lost your memories, would you still be the same person? What are race and gender?