Though only in its second year, the Brady Scholars Program in Ethics and Civic Life is becoming an attraction for prospective Northwestern students.
“They come deliberately asking to be a part of it,” said Program Director Laurie Zoloth. “One of our current scholars is someone who came to us on the first day and said, ‘I’m here because I want to be part of the Brady Program.'”
The three-year program is funded by NU alumna Deborah Brady, WCAS ‘65, and her husband, Larry Brady. To apply, freshmen have to be referred by a professor and submit a formal application during Spring Quarter. About 14 students were accepted in 2008. This inaugural class spent last year taking quarterly seminars on what constitutes a good person, neighbor or place.
About 19 students who are currently taking the seminars joined the program last year.
“What we’re trying to do is have them learn three different types of knowledge,” Zoloth said. “One is what you learn from the classic arts and moral philosophy, and that’s what you’re learning from the seminar.”
Four graduate students oversee each class of Brady Scholars, and this year two of the three sophomore seminars will be taught by visiting professors Robert Audi, a philosophy professor, and Sondra Wheeler, a professor in religious ethics.
“We have a diverse graduate student group, a diverse group of undergraduates and not just one but two distinguished visiting professors,” Zoloth said. “So there’s a lot more activity going on this year.”
Weinberg sophomore Peter Skopec said his current class, taught by Audi, has given him an ethical perspective he felt was absent in the classes for his political science major.
“(Audi) seems to have an answer for everything,” he said. “He seems like such a knowledgeable person (and) such an ethical person as well.”
Following their sophomore year seminars, Brady Scholar juniors are required to spend a semester or year abroad. Weinberg junior Natalie Noble is currently studying in London at the Institute of Economic and Political Studies. In a Skype interview, she said the Brady Program has not been what she expected – but that’s not a bad thing.
“I’m glad it wasn’t,” said Noble. “It challenged me to apply what I’ve learned outside of the classroom, which is something very unique and, for me, unexpected about the program.”Zoloth said the purpose of the study abroad requirement was to have students observe and think about how other cultures view morality.
“What does it mean to be a good person in Buenos Aires?” she asked. “What does it mean to be a good person in Edinburgh? It’s going out there to learn, to listen. It’s a struggle in every society and we can learn a lot about how other people live.”
Noble said her work for a non-governmental organization in Nicaragua this summer, in addition to her time this quarter studying human rights in London, has provided her with plenty of opportunities to apply what she learned in her sophomore year seminars.
“These two experiences are directly in line with what I learned as a Brady Scholar,” she said. “The program does a nice job of teaching material that is directly applicable to the outside world.”
Next fall, Brady Scholar students will return from abroad, take on a civic issue in Evanston and apply it both nationally and internationally.
“We’re trying to support the kind of hopefulness and idealism and energy that many students begin their careers with,” Zoloth said. “We’re going to allow that to go as far as we can – not put constraints on it, but to say dream your biggest dream, take your biggest risk.”
