UNDERGRADUATE WORKING GROUP

Virtuous Living as a Student

The Undergraduate Working Group is an opportunity for undergraduate students to discuss the necessities of deep thinking and good intellectual work. This Spring working group on “Virtuous Living” will provide students with approaches to cultivating virtue when we engage with intellectual content, fellow students, and faculty within the space of the classroom. Through conversations with Senior Fellows and other faculty, we will discuss and practice that which is required of us when we take thinking, learning and each other seriously. Some questions may include: What does it mean to seek to live a virtuous life as an undergraduate student? How does the pursuit of virtue shape the ways we listen to and engage others? What virtues undergird intellectual friendship, and what specific practices does it require of us? And how do we begin to explore the possibilities of intellectual play, unrestrained by our ego and the pressures of professionalization in the university?

This working group will briefly explore what virtue is and why it matters, but we encourage students to attend our other programming to explore those questions; this group will largely take as a given that students are attending with the goal of cultivating virtues for life within and beyond the university.

We ask that students commit to attending all scheduled events (see below for more details).

In the coming week, we will add more information about each event. Please reach out to info@binst.org with any questions.

Dates: throughout the Spring 2024 semester

Location: Berkeley Institute (2134 Allston Way, 2nd floor)

Space is limited. Register by Tuesday, January 30th.

  • Session 1: Intellectual Friendship

    facilitated by Dr. Dena Fehrenbacher

    Mon., February 5 from 6-7:30PM

    This session will explore virtues such as humility, tact, tenacity and generosity and their role in intellectual friendship and engaging with the ideas of others. We will discuss practical ways to listen better, have confidence in our own ideas, and patience with the process of thinking. This first session will also reflect back on Fall 2023’s Undergrad Working Group, themed around “Thinking about Thinking” – and why cultivating virtues is a necessary step in learning to think well.

  • Session 2: Work Ethic

    facilitated by Prof. Kristin Primus

    Mon., February 26 from 6-7:30PM

    Do you worry about having a “work ethic” (or the right sort of “work ethic”)? In this session, we will talk about cultivating virtues that enable a person to really thrive as they navigate the varied demands of school and work. What other virtues, beyond the dispositions or traits often associated with having a “good work ethic” (resilience, persistence) might we do well to cultivate?

  • Session 3: Writing Practice

    facilitated by Prof. Chiyuma Elliott

    Mon., March 18 from 6-7:30PM

    This session will explore what kinds of promises we make to ourselves when we commit to a routine writing practice or habit. What are we deliberately habituating ourselves to and what kind of person are we seeking to become? How can a writing practice also be a practice of cultivating virtue? We will read renowned poets’ reflections on writing practices, discuss practical tools for undertaking our own, and even do a bit of writing ourselves.

  • Breakfast Social

    Fri., April 12 from 9:30AM - 11:00 AM

  • Excursion to St. Albert's Priory

    With Prof. Anselm Ramelow, OP

    Saturday, April 13, 9:30-11AM

    Prof. Anselm Ramelow, a Dominican Friar and Senior Fellow at the Berkeley Institute, will give us a tour of the architecture and grounds of St. Albert's priory, will explain the (classical) physical layout of the monastery and its orientation toward cultivating virtue, and will give a mini-talk on the history of religious life, particularly in the Catholic tradition and the Dominican order in particular.