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Together Apart: Freshman Colloquium

Panel 7: Reconsidering Institutions in a Century of Crises

Even before the massive system shock of a global pandemic, phenomena like climate change, racial tension, mass refugee migration, Trumpism, and the glaring inequities of late capitalism threatened existing, seemingly timeless institutions of practice and thought. In these papers, which range across time and space and cultures and ideologies, our writers take on a variety of subjects: Hawaiian land politics, racial caste in America, white privilege, and biopolitics in the shadow of COVID. Across texts, their work is united by a common skepticism about the often-painful weight of tradition and history. --R. B.

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Contents of this path:

By Alice Hernandez

My first ever college writing assignment for my WRIT 150 course prompted me to examine a normative practice in education and to analyze its implications of the underlying values that shape education. Based on my personal experiences, I was immediately compelled to center my paper around the expectation for students in America to recite and adopt the pledge of allegiance. Although this longstanding tradition in education is typically overlooked, my paper argues that the expectation for students to adopt the Pledge reveals the educational system’s underlying value of adherence to authority. By calling upon my own personal elementary school experiences and observations, I claim that this educational norm jeopardizes a student’s freedom and impedes their ability to question the authority of their educators, of educational standards, and of the American state itself.
By Taylor Simonian

Students from a lower socioeconomic background face an uphill struggle early in our educational system and experience inequities in ways that are often not considered. The educational divide has become even more prominent with the recent Coronavirus pandemic. Throughout my essay, I discuss the importance of education in our society, and how we must recognize the problems that contribute to the inequities in our education system. It is critical to recognize these issues because it is only in that way will we have an opportunity to break the cycle of inequities of education resulting from socioeconomic differences.
By Isabella Griggs

The fundamental values of Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism vary drastically from one another, as do their approach toward education. Confucianism grounds its beliefs in Humanism, highlighting the importance of being a morally "superior man," developed through continued access to education. Taoism encourages non-interference of the natural order of life, meaning that education should be through "doing" and experiencing rather than studying. The strict laws of Legalism demand the rejection of formal education altogether. This paper explores how the fundamental philosophical values influence the thought systems’ attitudes toward education, and examines the benefits and drawbacks of each.
By Damien Chang

Indigenous peoples—disadvantaged, marginalized, and abused—can be found disjointed and without formal government representation in every corner of the world. The Bishop Estate of the Kamehameha Schools is a unique institution that possesses both the jurisdiction and the financial means, through its vast land holdings and investments, to unite their sole beneficiaries, the Native Hawaiians. Numerous antitrust lawsuits and board-member scandals that have racked the institution in the past few decades raise the concern of how to ensure proper governance and representation for its native peoples. I explore both past and recent controversies surrounding this case through the voices of scholars, columnists, and jurists who offer varying criticisms on the institution. Nevertheless, I hope to also explore the bigger picture behind the Estate itself and why its survival and integrity is so crucial for the people of Hawaii.
By Jasmin Wang

Proponents of paternalism generally assume that governmental actions to extend and optimize life are morally good. However, by delving into French philosopher Michel Foucault’s theory of biopolitics through the specific context of public health policies in World War II Hawai’i and drawing connections to COVID-19 America, it becomes clear that the optimization of life prioritizes the interests of the state. It is difficult to imagine a world in which we rebel against the optimization of life, but we must actively resist the way paternalism sacrifices the lives of the most vulnerable to ensure its own health.
By Megan Zhang

As race is a widely debated topic with so many nuances and gray areas, this essay is my take on what race truly is. In short, I believe that race is a social construct created by man in order to justify the countless injustices and crimes committed to different peoples throughout the ages. I analyze the historical roots of race, focusing most specifically on America's relationship with race, and how Americans seem to use and perpetuate this concept to justify the genocide of Native Americans, slavery, exclusion, and more.