Questioning is generally part of life for all university students.
At Quest University, though, it makes up the formal part of each student’s education.
Unlike other liberal arts schools where students focus on majors and minors, Quest students devise their third and fourth years around a formal question that sets out their area of study.
“In some ways, it’s what defines Quest,” said life sciences professor Colin Bates.
This process starts during their second year, and last week several students delivered short presentations that set out how they intend to direct their studies.
“We have them present their ideas to the broader university to get feedback,” Bates said “It’s a really exciting time for them.”
The question marks the point where the students will transition from the foundation or core courses in physical sciences, life sciences, social sciences, math or humanities they take during their first two years to a more concentrated study plan.
The university stresses that students need to find out what others know in the area and then build this into the question. Students must include certain elements, such as finding a mentor to help direct their inquiry and setting up practical experiential learning. They need to lay out their course plan and note particular “touchstones” in their area, such as key works.
For example, someone venturing into biology could cite anything from contemporary peer journals to a classic like Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species. As well, the students need to come up with a “keystone” project, similar to an honours thesis, which is focused around their question.
The questions are as diverse as the students themselves. On Friday afternoon, Tenea Dillman’s presentation question was “How does the Earth work?” It will allow her to pursue her interest in geology, including field studies, and examine how it can be applied to anything from studying the scarcity of oil to even predicting earthquake or volcanic activity.
She was followed by Kevin Wood, whose presentation originated in the experience of a homophobic slur, which led his question, “What is liberation?” It defines empowerment in the sense of raising someone’s position within a system that continues to oppress versus real liberation, which calls for oppressor and oppressed to humanize each other. For his experiential learning, he is considering a law firm that focuses on human rights.
Following Wood, Tevye Cowan asked “What is radical Judaism?” and will set out to look at the question from multiple viewpoints including radical secular and traditional Judaism. Along with touchstones that include works from the Torah to contemporary Jewish thought, she plans to attend a summer program at a Yiddish farm near New York City.
Other student questions examined autism spectrum conditions, nature and mathematics, resolving violent conflict and consumerism.
“The questions are often unanswerable, and they’re really defining an area of inquiry,” Bates said.
Quest operates on a block system, in which instead of taking several courses simultaneously in a semester, students focus their studies on one class at a time during a block of three and a half weeks before moving to the next block.
“It really helps accomplish the inter-disciplinary part of our mission,” Bates said.
They each make a question presentation between the blocks at some point between December and April of their second year. The presentations are held on campus and open to all students and the general public.
