Prindle Intern Spotlight: Conner Gordon

Conner is a junior intern from Carmel, Indiana. He is an Honor Scholar and Political Science major at DePauw.

1. Tell us about an ethics/social justice issue that is particularly important to you.

Most of my campus work/activism has focused on issues of race and privilege, both at DePauw and in the country as a whole. It would be blissfully ignorant to assume that issues of race don’t persist today, and in some ways discrimination has become more entrenched in our society than ever. At DePauw I’ve come to know many who face these struggles on a daily basis, so trying to be an ally and speaking out on these issues has become a primary focus of mine.

2. What has been one of your favorite Prindle events during your time as an intern?

I’d say the Conflict Kitchen visit, for sure. It was great to see people talking about issues surrounding Palestine, especially in a format that promotes understanding and dialogue rather than the talking heads treatment we’re usually exposed to in most of our media. Combining art and politics has been one of my key interests, and it was quite refreshing to see the approach that Conflict Kitchen took. That, and the maftoul was delicious.

3. Which class(es) at DePauw have most challenged and expanded your worldview?

It’s pretty safe to say that every Honor Scholar class I’ve taken has been a paradigm shift of its own. My first-year seminar on tattooing and body modification was probably the coolest way to be introduced to DePauw. Through HoScho I’ve been able to take seminars on the history of coffee, the literature of Haiti and the science of human nature, and each of them has been a high point in their own way. I’ve also loved my classes in literature, particularly those on analyzing/performing dramatic literature and feminist performance. At the end of the day, I’m a political science major, so I’m also a big fan of my class on the ethics of humanitarian intervention.

4. Tell us about the coolest thing you’ve heard about in the past week. This could be something you read, listened to, watched, talked about, etc.

I had a pretty excellent discussion about the need for “blue skies” science research with a friend the other day. I learned from him that lasers were discovered in research with no apparent outcome, a practice facing pretty clear scrutiny today. I love the idea that, despite the fear of it not paying off at all, these researchers ventured into the scientific unknown and discovered incredibly important knowledge. In my view, this is only one more reason why funding the pursuit of knowledge as a whole should be one of our top priorities as a society.

5. Tell us about something you’re looking forward to.

I’ll be studying abroad in Belgrade, Serbia next semester as part of a conflict resolution research program, so I’m quite excited for that. I’ll hopefully be exploring the connection between landscape, trauma and memory, so that’ll be really interesting to study. Part of me also can’t wait until senior year, when I start work on my Honor Scholar thesis. It seems a little bit self-destructive to wish such a massive undertaking on myself before I need to, but I honestly can’t wait to get started.

Read more about Conner here.