See as well as be seen, advises President Faust at Baccalaureate Service
In the age of social media and selfies, Harvard President Drew Faust urged graduating seniors gathered in Memorial Church on Tuesday to embrace the value of noticing rather than being noticed, of seeing rather than being seen. “Remember, the art of noticing is not a job,” Faust told Harvard College’s Class of 2017 during the Baccalaureate Service, an annual tradition leading to Thursday’s Commencement ceremonies. “It is a way of being, a habit of moving through the world, alert and unbounded and open to others, and to discoveries that impel you to learn and to change. This is what I most hope Harvard has instilled in you.” Noticing is at the heart of a liberal arts education, said Faust. “Noticing — not just passively seeing but actively looking — is connecting your mind and awareness to something beyond yourself and often beyond your existing knowledge and assumptions,” Faust said. “Noticing is the pathway...