HUMS 3411: Life Worth Living

What does it mean for a life to go well? What would it look like for a life to be lived well? In short, what shape would a life worth living take? We will explore these questions through engagement with the visions of seven modern figures and foundation texts that influenced them: Abraham Joshua Heschel and the Tanakh, the Dalai Lama and the Buddhist scriptures, Mohandas Gandhi and the Bhagavad Gita, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Bible, Robin Wall Kimmerer and North American Indigenous wisdom, A. Helwa and the Quran, and Oscar Wilde and expressive individualism. The course will also feature visits from contemporary individuals who understand their lives to be shaped by the figures and traditions in question.