I first heard the term “unpack” in our INTD class I could easily figure out what was being asked of us on the surface. Of course, I had no real idea of the deeper meaning of the term when the semester first began. I had never heard the term before so it was very foreign. Throughout the semester I assumed it was a term exclusive to our course because I had not heard it mentioned in any of my other courses from this semester or the last.
As finals approach, I have to write a ten page research paper for a mandatory political science course I am taking for my major called Developing World. I picked a topic I enjoyed: a comparative study of Russia and Nigeria and recently I had to pick sources. So when I began reading an article about a fragmented Nigeria and it mentioned that to understand the dire situation for the country they had to “unpack” several layers before getting to the root of the issues. I immediately recognized the term we often used and was surprised; the term was more well known and used than I anticipated. Then I realized that even GLOBE had asked us to “unpack” things as well. It is their first point in Geneseo’s Learning Outcomes. “Students will demonstrate critical thinking..” and this is identical to unpacking. When we unpack we take bigger ideas and dig deeper until we get to the core of the idea, what we’re looking for. GLOBE encourages “investigations” and to evaluate the underlying assumptions. If I remember correctly, when we read Descartes he claimed to never believe anything or make assumptions unless he knew them to be undoubtedly true. This is the method of unpacking I have learned that is utilized in several disciplines and is crucial to them.