Brady Program in Ethics and Civic Life
It was an honor to serve as Interim Director of the Brady Program while Kyla Ebels-Duggan was on fellowship at Notre Dame completing her book on Iris Murdoch. The Brady Program is unique at Northwestern, asking students to use their strong grounding in moral and political philosophy (sophomore year) to formulate and execute a civic engagement project in Evanston (senior year). This year’s sophomore classes were taught by Rowan Mellor (The Good Life), Anthony Laden (The Good Society) and Yvonne Tam (The Moral Life). I led teas where discussion continued in a less formal idiom; I used the opportunity to introduce students to literature and games as vehicles for moral reflection (Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun; Ari Aster’s Eddington; the game Werewolf). Students continued to find new ways to help the Evanston community. The seniors finished their project, renovating the Resource Center at Evanston Vineyard Church, for which they raised significant funds. Juniors honed their plans to help homeless youth in Evanston; they will partner with Connections for the Homeless to make 1-2 of their apartments for 18-24 year-olds feel like home. Sophomores are in the early stages of planning a project to assist District 65 with six already identified gaps in middle school education. It is exciting to watch students deliberating on these projects using their philosophical background, and bringing them to fruition over the course of their three years in the program. In April, I had the pleasure of helping to select next year’s sophomore class and the Graduate Fellows who will mentor them. I enjoyed the opportunity to helm the program in Kyla’s absence, and hope to remain actively involved with Brady in the coming years.
- Vivasvan Soni - Associate Professor of English