Viral curiosity

September 15, 2022

Bernoulli and beetles, cancel culture and chemotaxis were there.

Cincinnati City Council, decaffeinated nematodes, and even Justin Bieber also made appearances in Alter Hall on Friday afternoon.

A battle of the bands? No. The Summer Research Symposium, one of my favorite annual events.

I love hearing students share the questions that animated their summers, walk us through their research processes, and explain their findings.

Even more, I relish the Q&A, when one student's curiosity sparks several new questions. Sometimes you can almost see the curiosity catching through the audience.

Viral curiosity. I can think of worse ways to describe how a liberal arts education works.

Multiply that by the three dozen presentations? You might be tempted to call it a pandemic of curiosity.

But surely it's too soon for that metaphor.