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This course will pursue the big questions in life. We will introduce students to the study of philosophy and religion through a variety of texts from a wide range of traditions that ask and propose answers to the question,“What is the Meaning of Life?” Two lectures per week.{H/L} 4 credits
Humanities
The author makes a strategic argument for the liberal arts grounded in realpolitik (that is, the “realistic” manipulation of the levers of power). In a time of neoliberal university governance, it is useful for fields of study to base appeals for their continued existence on their utility to their institutions. The growth of equity and diversity initiatives in the academy, particularly in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, gives us a means of making this argument, as the liberal arts have utility in questioning the structures of white supremacy and received history and values. By exploiting the cognitive dissonance between the demands of neoliberal governance and the need for diversity and equity, we can make a persuasive case for reinvestment in the liberal arts. Further, this reinvestment ought to be democratized and carried out through all levels of higher education, including, and especially, non-selective, vocationally oriented institutions.
Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 2003
LITERARY STUDY, MEASUREMENT, AND THE SUBLIME: DISCIPLINARY ASSESSMENT, 2011
Bulletin of Science Technology Society, 1987
Bulletin of Science Technology Society, 1987
American Council of Trustees and Alumni, 2012