Philosophy: A Stoic Summer
On Wednesday, July 15th, the philosophy class was ready to consider the world through a philosophical approach. Led by their instructor Sarah Beach, the class participated in a variety of activities aimed at becoming more mindful and comfortable with silence. The class began in the Franklin classroom with some mindful meditation led by Sarah. Once the scholars had finished meditating they took a mindful walk to a grassy area outside. The mindful walk helped students to focus on their breathing and encouraged them to say affirmations as they walked.
Once outside, students were given journaling prompts to help them reflect on different aspects in their lives, as well as becoming comfortable with silence. Some of the prompts included questions about relationships and reflecting on different signs of growth they have noticed. Later in the classroom, the scholars discussed what they enjoyed from the journal prompts and how they benefited from them.
To provide the overarching goal of the class, Sarah explained that this summer the class focused on understanding and implementing different stoic philosophies. She further explained that in philosophy, she likes “that there’s not a right answer” and it involves “looking at things from other perspectives.” Sarah also covered why studying philosophy is important. “I think that understanding the underlying beliefs and values for why we do things is crucial…” She added that teaching at GSP is rewarding because, “I get to learn and grow myself while hopefully helping a few others…”.
Another interesting part of the class included scholars watching part of a documentary called Walk With Me. The documentary covered Buddhism philosophy as well as life as monks and nuns. During the discussion that followed, students agreed the documentary was eye opening and informational. The class also talked about the difference between the philosophical ideas of Buddhism and Stoicism. Buddhism focuses on processing all emotions and feeling them rationally. On the other hand Stoicism teaches that there are some good and some bad emotions.
Some scholars shared their experiences in the class. Ethan chose the philosophy focus area because he, “… wanted to learn about philosophy and I knew I couldn’t take a class on it … and I just wanted to see if it was something I’d enjoy.” Ethan described his philosophy experience as “eye opening.” Both scholars Brooklyn and Camden agreed that their favorite part of the philosophy focus area was getting to learn about new topics from a different point of view. Brooklyn noted “…those are really interesting because you get to… think as something different than what you usually think about.” Camden also noted that his favorite part was, “learning more in depth about things that I may not have fully understood…” Brooklyn described her experience as “out of body” and Camden described his experience as “mindful.”
Finally, Lily, another Philosophy scholar said that she would recommend this class, “… 100%. I love this class a lot more than I thought I would, even though I’m… not super interested in philosophy, but it’s been a great mix of both intellectual discussion and entertaining topics.” Overall each student had something they really liked about the class and wanted future scholars to be involved in the class. It was very peaceful to reflect and focus on emotions. The class discussions were also very engaging and interesting to listen to. The philosophy focus area is great for anyone with previous knowledge, or just wanting to try something new.
