RE LOG Spring '25

SPRING 2025 Ransom Everglades LOG 21 “My project was a unique opportunity to connect abstract concepts to real-world challenges, all while exploring how the humanities foster collaboration and dialogue,” she said. “By engaging with diverse perspectives, I came to understand how storytelling and ethical analysis can bridge ideas, shed light on systemic issues like gentrification, and inspire meaningful change in our broader society.” It is perhaps a testament to the growing cultural impact of the program that students in seemingly unrelated courses are pursuing ethics projects on their own. At the beginning of the year, my own Journalism and Media Studies student, Isla Dua ’27 , pitched an opinion column series called “The RE Ethicist.” At the center of each column would be a question: What are the ethical implications of our daily choices, like buying fast-fashion from Shein or using TikTok? To King, that kind of reexamination of the everyday is the entire point. “A lot of people kind of compartmentalize ethics in their mind. ‘Oh, ethics belongs over here. It’s the job of a philosopher, perhaps a judge, a theologian, a counselor,’” King said. “My goal is to help students see ethical dilemmas where they didn’t see them before.” Bringing Ideas to the Public On a Monday evening in early July, King logged in to a Google Meet and saw a grid of familiar faces in settings that couldn’t have been more distinct. Sindhu Talluri ’25 was in Taiwan. Jordan James ’25 was in Vietnam. Kenzie Kaplan ’25 was on a bus heading to a remote village in Argentina. And Ethan Sullivan ’25 was in a tent on the Appalachian Trail. These were, of course, the current class of Dan Leslie Bowden Fellows in the Humanities. Since the program was endowed by former Bowden student Jeffrey Miller ’79 in 2016, students have honored the legacy of the legendary English teacher by pursuing independent research projects around the world, on a huge variety of topics. But something was a little different this year: a sense of camaraderie, as if they weren’t just exploring their own topics but contributing to something together, something shared. “We had a really great group of kids this year,” said King. “They supported each other more than any group so far.” The group just clicked. But their cohesion might have also stemmed from an increasingly undeniable reality: at Ransom Everglades, being a Bowden fellow is a big deal. Not only do self-proclaimed Humanities Kids Trustee Brett Sundheim and Daniel Sundheim