To Eric Bowman, the revolution starts with a small step, even in the tiniest corner of New Hampshire. The ConVal High School social studies teacher has long been a proponent of ethics, philosophy, divinity, and well-being.
“I devour these kind of topics,” he said.
His calling for these subjects led to a masters degree in Philosophy and Ethics from Yale Divinity School, and eventually the Revolution Ethics Project.
Commonly referred to by ConVal students as “Rev,” short for “revolution,” the project was founded by Bowman in 2009. It started as small meetings with a select group of students whom Bowman tabbed as interested in thought-provoking conversations centered around philosophy, history, religion and the ethics of each one.
These meetings were originally held in his own home, but gained more widespread traction within the student community in the following years. Starting in 2012, weekly, open door seminars were offered in partnership with the Civic Leadership Foundation at Monadnock Community Hospital and continues today.
“I dreamed that it might be this successful, but I never expected it would be. I really have to credit the students because they keep coming back,” Bowman said.
First-timer Finn Wegmueller, a senior at ConVal, had heard about Rev for years, and he finally decided to go to a meeting this past fall.
“We talked about such amazing things that I wouldn’t have thought about at all,” he said. “When people talk to me about going I thought for sure that I would be a listener and not say anything at all, but I found myself wanting to say things because I felt like my opinion would really make a difference in the conversation.”
The project also returns many former students while they are on break or return to the area.
“Rev is always something that I will come back to and will continue to come back to,” said Kylie Procita, a former ConVal student who is now a sophomore at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Her path was similar to most students. She was invited to attend a meeting by her sister and her best friend, and she hasn’t stopped going since. The most important thing for Procita is the freedom to learn in whichever way she wants.
“I’m not someone who always likes to talk and that makes it a good avenue to expand my perspective or think or draw or whatever else,” she said.
There is no strict way of doing things, and that is what makes the seminars so appealing to adolescent learners.
The project examines the works of great thinkers like Dorothy Day and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but also cultural icons such as Mister Rogers.
“It’s really just talking about things that have to do with values, who we are, and the right and wrong,” said Bowman.
The goal is not only to delve into these topics for moral betterment, but also to put young people in environments that they are not accustomed to in today’s modern schooling. It urges them to think independently and do things solely because they want to do them, not for any transactional purposes.
“At its best, it should be a conversation with people who you normally wouldn’t have these types of conversations with,” he said. “It is very counter-cultural, and in that sense revolutionary.”
Bowman strongly urges attendees to be uncomfortable, to ask questions, and to expand outside of society’s norms.
“When we are here, instead of small talk we’re talking about big things,” he said. “It’s a place where we truly get together, where a lot of society’s rules and expectations go away. People are free to be themselves. People are free to explore. We challenge each other, but we practice radical hospitality so everyone is welcome no matter what. In a subtle way that is very revolutionary compared to the way that we do everything today,”.
For more information, visit revolutionethics.org or email revolutionethicsproject@gmail.com.