Fostering Intellectual Virtues with Jason Baehr

To kick off the spring semester, the Bok Center (together with Intellectual Vitality, FAS Civil Discourse, and the Safra Center for Ethics) hosted the philosopher Jason Baehr (Loyola Marymount University). Jason’s pioneering work on teaching and learning for intellectual virtues like curiosity and epistemic humility has been central to the College’s approach to Intellectual Vitality and has informed the pedagogical methods that new and experienced instructors in the College Writing Program and Gen Ed have been exploring.

During Jason Baehr’s visit to campus, he led four separate events for various stakeholders. On February 4, graduate student teaching fellows were led through ways in which new teachers can center intellectual virtues to help foster an open classroom environment. Later that day, Jason discussed intellectual virtues and teaching writing with preceptors from the College Writing Program. On February 5, Jason led the launch event for the FAS Civil Discourse Workshop and participated in a conversation about intellectual virtues and teaching with Ned Hall (Norman E. Vuilleumier Professor of Philosophy, Harvard and chair of the Intellectual Vitality Faculty Advisory Board), open to the FAS community.

Jason’s presentations are available here:

• Intellectual Virtues in Discussion Sections for Teaching Fellows
• Intellectual Virtues and the Writing Classroom
• The Real Morality of Public Discussion”: From Civility to Intellectual Virtue