A Blog on McConnell Center Life

Janna Imel meets Harry Wu, a former political prisoner in China I had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. Harry Wu on two different occasions on Wednesday, Jan. 23. In the early afternoon, I joined fellow Scholars and university faculty for a luncheon with Mr. Wu. Later that evening, I had the opportunity to hear Mr. Wu give a lecture hosted by the university's Center for Asian Democracy , which I will be commenting on in this blog. Harry Wu is one of the rare lecturers who possess the ability to take his audience into the past and allow them to grasp the greatest understanding of his trials and triumphs. In Mr. Wu’s lecture entitled “In the Mouth of the Dragon: U.S. and China Relations in the 21st Century,” he recounted his imprisonment in a Chinese forced labor camp and shared with us our duty to help stop the human rights violations in China. Mr. Wu began his lecture speaking about his life as a teenager in China. He enjoyed baseball and spending time with his girlfriend....

Taryn Mahanes By Taryn Mahanes, Class of 2013 Every year, the new freshman class at the McConnell Center is asked to participate in a seminar titled, “A Liberal Education.” This term has been thrown around a lot in the Center as well as on this blog, but it is something that is essential to this program and what it does for the students in it. A liberal education is one that students take into their own hands. Rather than getting an education in order to seek a degree, liberal learners choose to become a well-rounded person by educating themselves in and outside the classroom. As you know, the McConnell Scholars Program strives to give students an opportunity to explore a variety of different topics outside the classroom setting and provides us with speakers and educators with whom we would normally not be familiar. The message of the “Liberal Education” seminar is that education is both a pleasure and responsibility that should not be taken for granted. As a senior in the pr...

Joel Ben Thomas Joel Ben Thomas , Class of 2015 “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau The key catch phrase at the McConnell Center this autumn has been “reTHINK.” Over the course of the semester we’ve reTHOUGHT the use of the gold standard, gender in American society, the dominance of the two-party system in American politics, affirmative action policies, economic systems, American exceptionalism, and social redistribution, among other topics. Of all the events, realizations, and discoveries made and experienced this semester at the McConnell Center, all have been connected to this central theme of rethinking: a process of reevaluating your knowledge, opinion, and approach to a variety of issues and complications affecting the United States both domestically and abroad.   This theme has also pervaded into a number of conversations with a host of profound intellectuals and public servants including former director of ...

Tyler Bosley By Tyler Bosley, Class of 2013 As I finish up the final fall semester of my undergraduate career, I find it difficult to think of a life away from Louisville. Sure, I am applying to graduate school and my academic career is far from over but the thought of being anywhere else than where I am now is a difficult thing to envision. The life that I have built as a McConnell Scholar and as a undergraduate student at the University of Louisville has been better than I ever could have imagined. I have met some of the greatest people that I have ever met in my life and I have had some of the greatest, often life-changing, experiences that I have ever had. The memories that I have created in the past four years at this institution are ones that I will never forget. With that said, the future that I have been working towards for four years is nearly upon me. I have applied to some of the finest academic institutions for my continued education in the field of pharmacy and have ...