Last night, Professor Tony Brown was the speaker for the “What Matters to Me and Why” program. What Matters to Me and Why (WMMW) is a faculty-student interaction program that brings together Duke students with faculty, staff, and administrators who are willing to discuss their personal values and beliefs. WMMW hopes to encourage conversation on campus about what truly matters to a person and why members of the Duke community value what they do. In the end, they aim to create a greater community around values, in allowing students to understand faculty, professors, and staff on a more personal level. WMMW was born in Tony’s spring 2013 Enterprising Leadership course; John Temple T’13 started it as his Enterprising Project in the class. Last year, the program received funding from Dean and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Duke, Steve Nowicki. This year, Andrew De Donato T’14 has been continuing the initiative along with Joanna Kuang T’16.
Past speakers have included the following: Gary Glass: Assistant Directory of Counseling and Psychological Services; Dean Gerald Wilson: Senior Associate Dean and Pre-Law Advisor; Wallace “The Omlet Guy” Burrows: Marketplace Chef; Dean Sue: Dean of Students and Assistant Vice President for Student Affair; and Professor Owen Astrachan: DUS of Computer Science.
Future Speakers will include: Professor Abdul Sattar Jawad: Professor of Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies (Tuesday, Nov 5th at 6:30 PM), and Professor Muhammad Noor: Professor and Chair of Biology (Monday, Nov 18th at 6:30 PM)
If there is interest after a talk, WMMW admin will plan a follow-up lunch with the speaker, similar to a flunch, but specifically for attendees to further engage with the speaker about their values in a personal setting. Most speakers are also open to a follow-up meeting if you send them an email after their talk. If you are interested in getting involved with WWMW, email Joanna Kuang at jmkuang16@gmail.com.
Tony Brown speaks at “What Matters to Me and Why” series.