There are some lectures that you move you in ways that only intimate
conversations can.

I am referring to Prof Alpaslan Ozerdem’s last lecture with us. It was
a Thursday morning. He was talking about post-conflict reconstruction
in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

There was something special and sacred about this class. Alpaslan
spoke from a place deep inside himself, full of feeling, such that I
could empathize with the pain and suffering of the people he spoke
about.

It was an optional lecture, attended by very few people, thanks to the
long weekend awaiting us. Only those who really wanted to be there
were there, and they were fully engaged. It was a quiet little
semi-circle formation around him.

We listened with our hearts, not just our ears. And that was made
possible not just by skilful oratory, but by the power of empathy
unleashed in us by someone who was speaking about people he had
listened to, worked with, and felt for.

I wish more people would have the courage to honour personal
experience in academic settings. Our learning would then be more than
cerebral, and able to embrace all aspects of ourselves.

Chintan