Learn how to learn: McGill ethicist tells students

BY MARC LALONDE

marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca

The workplace has changed so much and there is so much crossing of discipline lines in science and commerce that students are best served on getting a good, general base of education before deciding on their career, a controversial McGill University ethicist told students at a private school in Kirkland on March 7.

Margaret Somerville, who made news in 2003 when she presented her case against same-sex marriage to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, spoke to Grade 11 students at Kuper ¢ in an intimate question-and-answer session before a speech at the school as part of its International Speaker Series Wednesday morning. "When you look at careers today," said Somerville, who was born in Australia and moved in Canada in 1975 to study at McGill, "it's (a different situation) than it used to be. You can't just say 'this is my career and this is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life.'"

Somerville said some disciplines, like science, molecular biology and engineering are blurring together, as are many other careers worldwide. "For instance, Harvard University has deconstructed all its faculties. They took power away from the individual deans and gave it to university-wide committees that take everything into consideration when making decisions," she said, adding many universities still divide students into disciplines that isolate them from each other. "Universities are still rivers, where you study and stay in your own river. In the early 90s, we in the ethics community realized this; it is a good thing to study in a certain program, get a good base, and branch off and find out what it is you want to do in this world," she said.

Somerville, whose views against same-sex marriage hinged on the idea that married heterosexual couples have a larger responsibility for procreation and thus should have that responsibility protected by law, said it really doesn't matter what students study when they’re in university, as long as they learn how to open their minds, accept ideas and form critical arguments and opinions. "I don't think it matters much what discipline you study, but you need to know how to study a discipline and that's what's important to learn," she said.

When a student posed a question about the AIDS epidemic in Africa, Somerville expressed optimism, but said it's because she's an optimist by nature. "I think we're all born with certain amounts of optimism, and I think I got more than most. I'm very concerned with the situation, though," she said.

The Kuper students in vice-principal Eric Casarotto's World History class have been studying Somerville's 'The Ethical Canary: Science, Society and the Human Spirit' for the last three weeks and were eager to have the author iron out some of their questions.

Students listened attentively and got their books signed by Somerville before noshing on pastries and chocolate milk. "It's pretty good, but it's pretty tough, too," said Ken Montero, a Dollard des Ormeaux resident. "It's very complicated. You can't just look at ethics as one thing; it's everything and you have to be able to look at things from different angles, like the difference between the utilitarian thinker and the principled thinker; I appreciate how complicated it is," he said.

Kuper headmistress Joan Salette said having speakers like Somerville as part of their International Speaker series benefits students immensely. "The object is to expose them to someone who is on the world stage and for whom the topic will be relevant; The students' lives will be affected by the topics we address here," she said.