Written by: Maya Johnston and Josiah Self
Monday night in the Curris Center Ballroom, scholars waited excitedly for the arrival of Dr. John Kinkade–a Governor’s Scholars Program (GSP) Alumni–and English professor at Centre College. Scholar Nora Martin of Harrodsburg introduced the celebrated speaker, highlighting his background as a former GSP campus director as well as his outstanding professional achievements.
Dr. Kinkade opened his speech with a poem, a tribute to his past tradition of starting community meetings with poetry as GSP campus director. The poem “Did I Miss Anything,” by Tom Weyland gave an interesting opinion on the cumulative effect of education and highlighted the importance of being present in our studies.
After letting the words of the poem sink in, Dr. Kinkade jumped straight into his speech. Titled “Habits of the Mind”, Dr. Kinkade’s message was simple but thought provoking. He explored the idea that language isn’t as simple as grammar rules and pronunciation. He expressed the idea of, “there is a whole range of ways to be right sometimes.” Dr. Kinkade used a variety of examples from social media and pop culture to emphasize how important it is to be forgiving in language. During the convocation, scholars also got the opportunity to participate in interactive activities such as listening for the “American Flap” in the word butter and saying “comfortable” to hear the metathesis effect. These activities helped the audience understand features of language that Dr. Kinkade was discussing.
Throughout the speech, Dr. Kinkade emphasized how language can be used to build social connections and open our minds, two of the largest goals for the GSP community. Furthermore, he highlighted the importance of intellectual humility and open mindedness concerning language. Dr. Kinkade argued that we should reverse the social norms of judging others by their accents and grammatical errors, keeping in mind that grammar is meant to aid our community rather than tear each other apart.
To close out the convocation, Dr. Kinkade opened the floor for scholars to ask questions. The majority of the questions were in regards to the linguistic information he presented. One scholar from Ashland, KY, asked how social media has influenced our language in recent years. In his response, Kinkade stated that social media has accelerated the pace of language change. New words catch on quicker because of this acceleration. However, he doesn’t think this change is negative. Kinkade believes that this faster evolution of language allows people to be more expressive and creative. Another scholar, Kate Friedman, stayed after the convocation to gather further information. Dr. Kinkade believes it is very important to unlearn biases in regards to different accents, tying in to his earlier point of the importance of being open minded.
Dr. John Kinkade left scholars pondering about the importance of language, and how it goes beyond basic grammar and spelling rules.