Personal statements: "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" - Henry David Thoreau So what do you see when you look at those seven letters: RESPECT? A myriad of associations comes to my mind: I tend to think of Kant's Categorical Imperative, reminding that people are always an end in themselves and should never be treated as a means to anything; the first article of the Declaration of Human Rights, calling all people to act towards each other "in a spirit of brotherhood", as they are all born free and equal in dignity; or even the motto of the International Rescue Committee, where I worked last summer, stating: "Refugee Relief, Respect, Renewal".
Inevitably, the images of my parents, of previous and current teachers, of inspiring people that I have met, or even just read about flash through my thoughts… - I look again and I wonder how all those things fit together. There must be a relationship between them, but how can I see it? Challenging, without any doubt, is the task the RespectResearchGroup has undertaken. To take a concept, as multi-faceted and encompassing as the one of Respect, to define it, to break it down to its components, to try to analyze in different contexts, and interpret it through the prism of several academic perspectives…Could there possibly be a research project more exciting and fascinating than this? I am extremely honored and happy to have an opportunity to join in the journey towards understanding Respect and I am looking forward to the coming weeks and months of working with and learning
