10 Big Questions, And Dozens Of Answer

UCLA’s ‘10 Questions’ class/public lecture series had professors, students and the audience pondering what is space, freedom, and even a university

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“What is freedom?” asked Brett Steele, dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture.

Nearly 200 undergraduates and members of the public were packed into the audience for UCLA’s 10 Questions course, which debuted in fall quarter. Responding to Steele’s query were four UCLA faculty members: Seana Shiffrin, professor of philosophy and law; Andrea Fraser, professor of art; Lauren McCarthy, professor of design media arts; and Ananya Roy, professor of urban planning.

Gathering professors from disparate disciplines to weigh in on complex societal topics was the structure of the new course, which draws its name from the discussion of one “big question” each week of the quarter. Its chief objective is enabling students to experience the almost alchemic conversations that can drive innovation at UCLA.

Throughout the quarter, 40 professors from 33 disciplines considered questions such as, What is space? What is failure? And, what is a body? But on the day panelists considered the meaning of freedom, their insights offered a snapshot of how different academic approaches can lend new meaning to any of those topics.

For example, Shiffrin pointed to the legally protected right to refuse to say the Pledge of Allegiance. “Compelled recitations deprive recitations of much meaning; they become coerced and empty rituals, not true affirmations,” she said. “But by contrast, the freedom not to speak not only serves the integrity of the thought of the person who chooses not to speak; it also renders the speech of those who continue to participate more meaningful.”