Following a thread of questions: Pursuing intellectual curiosity at Parami

“What does intellectual curiosity mean to you?” 

This was the question Dr. David Golding, Chair of the Division of Social Studies, posed at the beginning of the “Pursuing Your Intellectual Curiosity” orientation workshop with the Class of 2030. As new undergraduate students begin their journey at Parami through a matriculation ceremony, a series of orientation workshops led by faculty and staff helps prepare them for the journey ahead. 

At Dr. Golding’s session, instead of defining intellectual curiosity, he invited students to think about their own drives to learn. Drawing from Voltaire’s words, "Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers”, he encouraged students to look beyond simply finding the right answer and examine the questions themselves. For example, in this statement: “Why a man?” “How do we judge the questions?” “What are the good questions?”

Following a thread

Dr. Golding described intellectual curiosity as following a thread or a chain and seeing where it takes you. He compared it to navigating a fork in the forest, where there are different paths to explore. 

At Parami, students can choose which questions and ideas they want to pursue. Dr. Golding asked students to reflect on a question of their own: “What are the questions that you hope to answer during your time at Parami?” 

Students began practicing this process by exploring their own questions, seeing how one question leads to another and how curiosity can open unexpected directions. 

Every path can lead somewhere

Dr. Golding also reflected on his own intellectual journey, which was shaped by unexpected turns. From discovering that Chemistry is not for him to becoming curious about the buildings around him as a child, different experiences gradually led him towards his path today. Even studying Business and realizing it was not the right path became part of his intellectual journey. 

“Figuring out what is not for you is just as important as discovering your own path, if not more so,” said Dr. Golding. 

In his journey, books were the major turning points. Reading books like Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire, and On Violence: A Reader by Bruce B. Lawrence and Aisha Karim (eds.) raised new questions and sparked new interests.

Same question, different perspectives

The workshop also highlighted how the same question can be explored through different disciplines. A simple question: “Why do people behave or act in certain ways?” can be answered in multiple ways. A psychologist might respond from a cognitive perspective, a sociologist might explore through a social-structures lens, and an economist might answer from the view of incentives and resources, while a philosopher might question the ideas and assumptions underlying the question itself. 

This is where intellectual curiosity meets the value of liberal arts education; one question can open many ways of seeing the world. 

Your intellectual curiosity becomes your story

Dr. Golding told the students that, by the end of their time at Parami, they will have their own story of intellectual curiosity shaped by what they read, the questions they ask, and the ideas they encounter. 

Their intellectual journey will also invite them to view the world around and within them and make them ask questions like: How much power do we inherit from our ancestors? How have they shaped the world we live in today? Is the world what we make of it? Do we inherit the world from our ancestors?

As they travel through time with what they learn at Parami, these questions may evolve, lead to new questions, or even change their interests. 

At the end of the workshop, Dr. Golding reminded the students, “As you embark on your studies at Parami, you are journeying through history and learning that history is written, unwritten, and rewritten.”