Sections offered FALL 2022:
#10918 |
NORMAN FURNISS |
TuTh 1:15 PM–2:30 PM |
HU 111 |
CLASS NOTES: IUB GenEd S&H credit; COLL (CASE) S&H Breadth of Inquiry credit; COLL Intensive Writing section
Class meets In Person. For more information visit https://covid.iu.edu/learning-modes/index.html
All of us face immense challenges to our normal ways of living and to our normal ways of thinking. The pandemic, the continuing turmoil surrounding the legitimacy of the 2020 American Presidential election, and the unsettling (to put it mildly) international security and economic situation have highlighted our concerns. The aim of this seminar is to use the ideas of liberty and equality to help us understand the nature of our challenges as they play out concretely in our lives as members of society, as citizens of the United States and as citizens of the world.
We will explore questions such as these. On liberty: Is it within our liberties to burn the American flag, to “flip off” the President and still keep one’s job, to refuse to be vaccinated against COVID and still be able to travel and eat out? On social and political issues: Who should decide basic life questions concerning who can marry whom? What is “cancel culture” all about? Is it a threat? Why in the United States do we see such high levels of political polarization, such widespread resentment among all social groups? We will even venture a bit further afield and consider whether animals can be said to have enforceable “rights.” Our case study will be Happy the elephant.
There will be a variety of course materials—classic texts, court cases, news articles, poems. Together they will be brief enough to allow us to engage with complex arguments, not just to absorb information. Core written assignments will center on a series of short essays based on class readings, discussions, and your own life experiences. Additional “research” is not necessary and is rarely useful. There also will be an examination toward the end of the semester.
I would be pleased to discuss seminar themes, readings and assignments in more detail. My email is furniss@indiana.edu. My office is in Woodburn Hall, room 405.