| source Georgetown (X) |
level |
department Liberal Studies - Human Values (X) |
Credits: 3
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Has religion been a force for good or evil in the world? After so many centuries of religious wars, persecutions, inquisitions (of which the events of 9/11 are only one of the most recent manifestations), one might well question whether religion has a place in civilized society. But is it really possible (or desirable) to outgrow our need for religion and to mature into a species that relies on reason alone? This course will try to address the religious issue through a case study--the history of slavery and abolition. Slavery has existed since before the beginning of recorded history, and has been (officially, at least) dismantled only relatively recently. This course will examine the long, tortuous route to the abolition of slavery. The central question will be whether the abolition of slavery has been due to purely secular, philosophical motivations or to religious ones. We will begin with slavery in the ancient Near East and trace its presence in the Bible and then in Greek philosophy. We will then examine some of the differences between Eastern and Western Christianity on the issue. We will conclude with the emergence of modern antislavery among the Quakers and the issues surrounding the slavery question before and during the American Civil War. (Not available for students who have completed PHIL 106.)
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
The Nanjing Atrocity like Dachau or the Bataan Death March has become emblematic of the central ethical question of the post-war era: how to account for and atone for large-scale acts of violence and inhumanity. In the case of Nanjing, symbol of Japanese military brutality during the war with China, differing memories, differing perceptions continue to be the source of bitter disputes between China and Japan, damaging a relationship which holds the key to Asiaâs future. With Nanjing as the historical pivot point, this course provides an overview of issues and choices in Chinese-Japanese relations from the mid-19th century to the thirties, asking why the path to war was the alternative taken. Second, it examines what happened at Nanjing, how Nanjing has played out as a moral and political issue between China and Japan over the last seventy years, and what the prospects are at present of achieving a breakthrough in the long process of reconciliation.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
In many ways, the hallmark achievement of the American founding was the end of religious intolerance, enshrined in legal protections for religious freedom. The 1st Amendment aimed to protect citizens from encroachment by the state upon their conscience, to prevent a religious group from hijacking the political order, and to ensure religions had the freedom to pursue their noble ends unfettered by state administration. This course will examine the history and context of the Constitution's protections for religious freedom and the ways that these principles have played out over time--in cases, popular opinion, and political wrangling.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Credits: 3
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Credits: 3
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Credits: 3
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
This course will examine the complex ways in which religion is implicated in human violence and self-destruction. We shall look at aggressive acts such as holy wars and crusades along with religiously sanctioned terror. But the course will also look at self-directed violence, such as severe fasting, austerities, self-flagellation, martyrdom etc. The purpose of the course will be to examine whether religion justifies violence or actually causes it, whether religious ideas and beliefs or deeper emotions are at work in cases of religious warfare and acts of self-destruction. The underlying assumption is that the explicit reasons cited by different religious actors, the folk-theories, are seldom sufficient for understanding the true causes of such violence. There are universal factors at work that transcend explicit religious discourse, and these must be fully understood if religious conflicts are to be resolved. Students will look at the scriptural and theological justifications for warfare and for self-destructive behavior. These will be applied to specific historical and contemporary cases. A number of scientific theories will then be studied and examined in relation to the cases. Finally, using both the theological and the scientific data, the students will attempt to design methods for reducing the level of religious conflict in hypothetical situations (e.g. an Iran-Israel nuclear showdown). A number of existing conflict resolution programs, including that of Gandhi, will be addressed.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
The historical, sociological, and normative dimensions of modern war, with a view to explaining, controlling, and perhaps eliminating this ancient institution will be examined. The study identifies historical and comparative patterns and trends in the causes, characteristics, and consequences of war since the fifteenth century, highlighting the complex relationships among armed conflict, cultural norms, social institutions, political economy, and technological change. Students will review various theories of the determinants of war; approaches to its prevention and control; the moral and legal aspects of contemporary war, including decisions to resort to war; and the principles embodied in the "just war theory" as applied to current issues of war and peace.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
This seminar course is a focus on the entire text of The Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist opposition in the historical context of the Ratification Process, 1787-1788. It uses the Federal Convention and the adoption of the Bill of Rights to round out the edges of a concentration on the Papers themselves and explores their continuing relevance today.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Problems such as tolerance for opposing views; social conflict among groups with clashing interests; respect for the rights of minorities; the respective rights and responsibilities of the individual and the community; the tension between order and liberty; between the public interest and special interest groups; and the capability of the U.S. political system of fragmented authority to deal with the problems of nuclear strategy, environmental threat, and international interdependency will be analyzed. For students planning generalized courses of study, or concentrations in the Humanities or International Affairs, this course offers a wide-range survey of values issues in domestic public policy. For those planning to concentrate in Public Policy, this is a basic course in values issues that instructors in other more specialized public policy courses will assume are familiar to their students.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
This course will attempt to answer the question that Hector de Crevecoeur asked during the American Revolution: "What is this new man the American?" Starting with that question, the course will explore the evolving definition of what constitutes American cultural identity. We will focus on individuals, from Benjamin Franklin to Malcolm X, and the many questions involving race, gender, ethnicity, memory, and place that historians and cultural analysts have pursued in exploring the deeper meanings of the American experience. The course will attempt to frame questions about these historic issues, their roots and causes, shifts in meanings of core words and definitions, and their particular significance in clarifying the nature of American identity and society. While not designed to be a comprehensive survey, the course has been organized to provide a broad overview of the United States from the time of origins in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries down to the current debate over America as an increasingly diverse society.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Students will survey Old Testament literature to show that social ethics is at the core of Old Testament revelation. Major sections of the literature will be examined: Torah, Prophets, Wisdom, Apocalyptic; and specific themes of social ethicsâcovenant, rule of law, political authority, holy wars, human freedom and sin, poverty and oppression, justice, the problem of evil, suffering, etc.âwill be considered. Hermeneutical considerations concerning the diversity of viewpoints on how the Bible relates to contemporary ethics will introduce the course. Finally, in light of the hermeneutical debates and of the Old Testament survey itself, the class will discuss the application of the material to current issues of social ethics.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
One of the most perplexing and pervasive problems of our time, the alienation or estrangement of humans from various aspects of their âgivenâ reality, will be examined with attention given to these personal areas: the sense of the hostility of nature, guilt in relation to others, despair over oneself, and the sense of estrangement from some totality or ultimacy of being. The discussion will be pointed toward ways individuals must learn to cope with the various determinants of existence and come to an understanding of who they are. This interaction of "alienation" and "self-identity" will be dealt with in terms of personal, social, and transcendental dimensions.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Will the nation-state continue to be the dominant form of government as our small planet progresses in the twenty-first century? This course will focus on a set of issues that directly bear upon the above question: for example, the mis-match between state boundaries and ethnic, tribal, and religious groups; the existence of planet-wide environmental threats demanding multi-nation management; the diminished role of nation-states in controlling their own economies in a world of regional trading blocs, multinational corporations, and enormous international capital flows; and the spread of weapons of mass destruction causing sovereign nation-states to be recipes for Armageddon. The course focuses on a series of threats to world order that challenge the viability of the nation-state itself.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Credits: 3
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Students read ancient examples of poetic narrative from an oral tradition and examine questions about what is meant by "oral tradition," or "oral literature." For instance, what are the characteristics of "oral literature" and what are the unique features of the Greek oral tradition? What are poetics of oral poetry: how is it composed; what makes the poet's job easy or hard? Is there a difference between oral and written poetry? And, what kinds of changes does a tradition undergo as it matures or deteriorates? Students take up three interconnected themes in relation to each: the hero's "beautiful death" and the poetics of return; heroes as performers/poets; and "dangerous voices"âwomen in a man's world. Finally these epics endure as monumental reflections on learning to question both how they frame the issues and how they answer them. Thus, students also are asked whether and how these epics have "legs" for the new millennium.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Is the use of force justified, or even obligated, in world politics? Are the rules for moral behavior of nations different from those for individuals? Can there be just wars, either in classic times or in the nuclear age? When the imperatives of non-intervention and national security conflict, which should take priority, and who assigns such priorities? Is the nation-state still the appropriate unit for world politics, and if not, what options might we have, such as regionalism, divided sovereignty, or world government? These and other values issues are analyzed in this course that provides a broad survey of moral issues in foreign policy.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Since its colonial beginnings, America's idea of itself and its place in the world has been shaped by a belief in the importance of the individual, the value of progress, and the possibility of prosperity for every American. The great writers of America are all concerned with America's sense of itself, though all respond differently to the American idea. Focusing on specific historical issues, the course will explore the ways in which American literature reflects and judges the beliefs that form the American idea and shape America's sense of itself.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Credits: 3
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Credits: 3
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
This course will survey the major traditional myths of the ancient Greeks and examine myth as a concept. We will explore myths' meaning(s) against the background both of ancient culture and history and of modern critical theories. Authors will include Aeschylus, Euripides, Hesiod, Homer, Sophocles, Plato, and Jung, among others.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Credits: 3
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Credits: 3
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page
Modern Western culture is uniquely baffling, with its chaotic images, its incoherent messages, its confusing and contradictory moral values. This interdisciplinary course encounters not only the chaos, but the constructive responses to it articulated in the work of creative imaginations such as Richard Rodriguez, T.S. Eliot, Annie Dillard, Paul Tillich, Aaron Copland, Henry Moore, and Loren Eisley.
Score: 11.157585 Details | Listing | Web page