Buddhist Philosophy Unessay Symposium

Beyond Essays: The Unessay Symposium

Urtė Radavičiūtė

As the Fall semester came to an end, the Topics in Buddhist Philosophy class moved from its regular classroom to Cendana Rector's Commons. The final seminar before the holidays was allotted to the presentations of unessays – creative projects we worked individually and collaborated on to discuss topics uncovered in class, and to apply them to a more relatable, familiar context. It felt very much like a cozy atmosphere rather than the expected stress of presenting final projects. Students were buzzing with excitement to share their creations, and we were treated with delicious açaí bowls from ahimsa sanctuary accompanied by kind words of congratulations for reaching the finish line.

The task itself – to go beyond the production of a traditional essay – encouraged us to surpass our comfort zones and create something more vulnerable. We were free to choose our own medium of operation and encouraged to think of unexpected ways to materialize our ideas. Because of the unique nature of the unessay, the task’s value went beyond its academic context, and incentivized introspection, posing questions like “What do I take away from this class?” or “How does applying a Buddhist Philosophy lens in my day-to-day enrich my lived experiences?”

The personalities and interests of my peers were reflected in the final outputs of the Symposium. They varied from a live performance of a rewritten version of Taylor Swift’s “Karma” to more accurately reflect Buddhist principles, to an Instagram account with descriptions of the bodily sensations arising with the feeling of jealousy; from the reworking of a self-help book for first years at Yale-NUS into a no-self-help book through blackout poetry, to the creation of a scrapbook filled with personal memories, attempting to come to terms with their impermanence.

My collaborative project was with a Yale-NUS student and close friend. It was a visual mantra in the form of a zine, meditating over the lack of essence in all beings, namely, some of our friends. The output was deeply personal; however, presenting it at the Symposium did not feel like a challenge, mainly because of the heartfelt attempts of Professor Ngaserin and all students involved in class to create a safe space to share our views throughout the past 12 weeks. 

As a visiting exchange student, I found participation to be easy because of the culture fostered in the classroom – that of respect and acute awareness of the amount of space one takes up in discussion. Being a part of the Topics in Buddhist Philosophy seminars, and its culmination, has been an absolute pleasure.

The Unessay Symposium was a wonderful monument to the power of liberal arts education. It merged academic content, our individual creative capacities, and our unique views of the world to the production of something sure to last beyond my years at university. The zine we produced will be a way to remember both the nature of my experience at Yale-NUS and the transformative ideas I have come across in the past few months that continue to shape my personal journey.