To the Editors:
I read the Bowdoin Orient article "NAS research now occurring on campus" (November 18).
Michael Toscano, the primary researcher for this project asks the question, "What does Bowdoin teach?" I too would like to know what Bowdoin teaches. Oh, not the names of courses and programs.
Looking at the state of affairs in the U.S. right now—the increasing social decay, the increasing violence and corruption in America, the complete disregard for life and life support systems, including our water, our air, our soil and food systems, the profit-driven corporate-organized medical profession and so on, I must ask the question: What does Bowdoin or any university really teach?
Have we not asked the correct questions?
Are we aware of what questions to ask?
What knowledge is missing in our society that enables us to normalize such catastrophic social disasters that cause such harm to humans, other life forms, and this planet?
Does anyone ask the difficult questions that might bring greater insights into their lives; questions that might help us transcend the current paradigm that has been devastating to life for centuries?
Sincerely,
Joe Ciarrocca
Brunswick, Maine