Abishay Reddy's Three Semester Review
My experience in the Science and Global Change Scholars program has had a transformative effect on me. Coming into college during the latter half of the worst part of the COVID-pandemic was a bit stressful as I had trouble initially adjusting along with being unfamiliar with the people and places around me. The program had an early effect as I met many of my close friends through the program and found that the “living-learning” aspect of the program offered some form of grounding as I figured out my priorities and space at the University of Maryland. Along with the social aspects of the program itself, each colloquium offered an opportunity to be exposed to unique and relevant topics regarding the changing world around us and how to face it. The most important aspects of the program that affected me was learning how to apply deeper critical thinking skills to my life and learning to navigate the information filled world around me and not be fooled by misinformation.
A new-related item that I encountered outside of SGC colloquium that dealt with climate change which struck my attention was an article that I read online, linked here: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/10/climate-change-greatest-threat-world-has-ever-faced-un-expert-warns. Prior to my time in the program I knew that climate change was a global event with major implications but never really understood the real extent it could have on every aspect of life on earth, along with the major players behind it. This article stuck with me in particular because of how matter-of-fact it was compared to other climate change literature that I had read online which used more passive verbiage and spoke of climate change effects in a “probable” sense which always seemed to help me consider the event of climate change as a manageable project. Time in SGC this semester especially showed me the truth behind the words that I was reading and imprinted a sense of urgency regarding climate change which the article also attempted to communicate. Along with this, colloquium this year broke down the major players behind human-driven climate change and partially the psychology of the corporations and political entities that unfortunately play a key role in the advent of any real change that could drive humanity in a positive direction. Through these means my time in SGC only enhanced the message that the article brought to light along with my actual understanding related to the topic of climate change and my understanding of scientific ideology and change associated with a world as dynamic as the present.
A time I faced a situation where I encountered a failure of critical thinking skills was during a global literature class that I took my first semester. This situation occurred where each student presented a piece of literature they chose. One of the students in class chose a piece of anti-war literature that was told from the perspective of a soldier whose perspective was ironically glorifying war. The student presented the work as a work that glorified war but ignored many logical fallacies which the author mixed in throughout writing which wasn't touched in their argument. This came after an SGC lecture which covered the various logical fallacies that one may encounter which allowed me to spot and recognize those very fallacies.
Two items from class that I found to be very interesting and helped change my approach to science as an idea, along with promoting my critical thinking skills were lectures regarding mad science and using science as a tool to promote democracy. As a student I knew science had lots of power when it was rooted in physical concepts that helped people understand the world around them. These lectures allowed me to look at science from a different perspective which not only deepened my understanding of science as a concept but also showed me the power science has outside of a technical sphere, especially in the development of society.
The lecture regarding science as a tool to promote democracy was extremely interesting to me while providing context behind historical figures suppression of scientists. This lecture exposed the idea of science being inherently subversive, as it is a practice based on challenging authoritarian beliefs and breaking the mold at every turn. This lecture helped me connect how authoritarianism and controlling information almost always starts with the discrediting of scientific authorities, a tactic that was seen very often during the COVID pandemic. By disregarding the scientific institutions that have kept society progressing, society faces many problems especially in the spheres of misinformation and pseudo-science.
Outside of connecting me with other scholars I found that being in a living learning community helped me learn from the friends I made through the program, due to being exposed to various perspectives. This allowed me to widen my knowledge and perspective on all kinds of topics and helped me to adapt easier to campus life.I felt that I have personally contributed to SGC by continuing to be in the program, being an active student, and advertising the program to those who are interested. By giving back to the program in these ways I hope that others can experience the same benefits that I have from my time as an SGC scholar.
Scholars brought me into contact with a lot of people that helped me expand my perspective past the bubble that I had grown up in by learning about their own unique experiences which I didn't know about. SGC also introduced me to a lot of topics that challenged some beliefs that I had about how the scientific community operated and how power and influence, especially in the corporate world, can transfer over to other aspects of the scientific community and actually change the world around us.
I feel that scholars will inform my future as I enter the world of work through internships in my junior and senior years. Scholars taught me a lot about how to view the world around me by enhancing my perspective and knowledge regarding how to process information. I feel that this will come to benefit me greatly in the future.
Last modified: 06 December 2023