Essaying the Life Worth Living

What does it mean to live well? Each week, students in this seminar will grapple with this question. Our efforts will be guided by the experimental practice of essay-writing, a centuries-old method for developing knowledge in the absence of certainty. Throughout the term, we will think with a wide range of contemporary American essayists—including journalists, scientists, and YouTubers—who attempt to address urgent questions like: What does a good life feel like?, Who do we answer to?, What should we hope for?, and What should we do when we fail? We will contextualize their essays with short readings from wide-ranging philosophical and religious traditions, identifying the ways in which these traditions provide us with “equipment for living,” and then examining how essayists “test” these frameworks against the specific circumstances of their lives.

Along the way, you will learn writing strategies that will empower you to formulate and test your own responses to these important questions within the particular circumstances of your life. We will spend our time together boldly asking big questions; reading widely and listening carefully in our pursuit of meaningful answers; learning through dialogue, including giving and receiving writing feedback; and developing a writing practice that empowers us to pursue the questions that matter most to us (in and beyond our future academic work).