2/5/2023, The “moral” consulting industry – Nada Awadalla ’23 and Charles Mirsky ’23
Organizations have expressed deep frustration with struggles concerning mental health and diversity. This has led panicked institutions to look for ways to make these problems go away. As a result, a new era of consulting was born, often characterized by mandatory trainings and surprisingly revolutionary rhetoric that are frequently followed by a continuation of business as usual. This discussion grapples with those trends and dynamics.
2/12/2023, Laugh Now, Cry Later: Using Humor as a Coping Mechanism – Youmin Park ’24, Sakib Arnob ’23, and Lawrence Narotsky ’23
This discussion examines the functional and contextual aspects of humor to talk about how it can help, hurt, or heal. The ethics of humor, what does ‘appropriate’ mean with jokes, how can we use humor for positive social change, when does it not do that? Those and more in our discussion.
2/19/2023, Urban Planning and Community Building – Carter Brand ’25 and Colin O’Shea ’25
How we design our communities plays an important role in people’s health, job opportunities, overcrowding, and general quality of life. This discussion examines the neighborhoods we all live in, how they came to be that way, and how they can be improved.
2/26/2023, Hustle Culture – Eva Mei Vogt ’25 and Shreya Suresh ’25
Hustle culture can valorize the ways we grind long hours and often sacrifice self-care. This discussion tackles the topic by asking about personal experiences as students and exploring how intersectional identities, health and wellness, and of course capitalism, all tie in to the issue.
3/26/2023, Psychedelics Today: from the war on drugs to the renaissance of treatment – Heather aikman ’23 and evangeline coffinas ’23
This week’s discussion is about psychedelics and their potential therapeutic properties, the market that seeks to exploit them, and the ethical ramifications of reintroducing these long ostracized substances back into society, including asking how research and development around psychedelics can continue while maintaining respect for their origins.
4/2/2023, What’s in a Face? Beauty, Appearance, and Privilege – Cia Negron ’23, Jefrey Alexander ’23, and SHirley Liu ’23
This week is about how appearances and our conceptions of beauty affect the ways we move in the world, including discussions of race, gender, ageism, fatphobia, and capitalism.
4/9/2023, ChatGPT – blessing or a curse? – Angela Busheska ’25 and Zihao (Kevin) Ding ’24
Our topic is ChatGPT; the purpose is to touch on its pros and cons. We will discuss whether it is a revolutionary technology that will change life for better, whether it is a life hazard, and how or whether it is something in between.
4/16/2023, Askers, Guessers, and the Norms of Politeness – Helena Koffigoh ’23 and Virginia Sacotingo ’25
This week’s discussion is about the norms and politics of politeness, the differences between askers and guessers, and the cultural contexts of any possible answer to a host of questions about etiquette and social interaction.
4/23/2023, reigniting creativity – Fatimata Cham ‘23 and Abigail Schaus’24
Why isn’t creativity encouraged, what confines are placed on people’s creativity throughout the years, and how can we reimagine a new world full of creativity? That is the topic of this final discussion for the 2022-23 academic year.