Education & the Life Worth Living

What is an education for? What does it have to do with real life—not just any life, but a life worth living? We will explore these questions through engagement with the visions of five very different ways of imagining the good life and, therefore, of imagining education: the traditions of Confucianism and Christianity and three diverse modern thinkers. By the end, students will be prepared to ask the question of the good life and to put that question at the heart of their college education.

Assignments and Evaluation

All written assignments should be submitted via the Canvas assignment tool. Late papers will receive a grade reduction of one step (e.g., from A- to B+) for each day or part of a day that they are late.

1. ‍One 1000-word (maximum) paper analyzing our Confucian authors’ account of the human being and of education. (20 percent of final grade)‍
2. One 1000-word (maximum) paper analyzing our Christian authors’ account of the human being and of education. (20 percent of final grade)‍
3. Peer review of drafts of classmates’ final papers, online and in person (10 percent of final grade)‍
4. 1250 word (maximum) paper outlining what sort of person you want to become and how your college education will help you become that person. ‍(30 percent of final grade)
5. One purpose of a seminar like this one is to provide the opportunity for dialogical learning, not only between students and faculty, but also among students. Consequently, the quality of your participation in class greatly influences the relative success or failure of this course. Accordingly, your participation will be assessed. (20 percent of final grade) But since the goal is a flourishing seminar, not a competition for “participation points,” participation cannot be reduced to “saying smart things frequently.” Please put some thought into how you contribute to the seminar environment. As you do so, bear the following in mind: (1) Quality matters more than quantity. (A few moments of silence spent thinking things through is nothing to be afraid of.) (2) Charity counts for more than cleverness. Scoring points at another’s expense is not to be smiled upon. (3) Listening should demand more of your attention than talking. You are here primarily to learn, not to perform.

Required Texts

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Bloomsbury, 2000. ISBN: 978-0826412768

Jennings, Willie James. After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020. 978-0-8028-7844-1

The Analects of Confucius. Trans. Simon Leys. New York: Norton, 1997. ISBN: 978-0393316995

Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and A Vindication of the Rights of Man. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0199555468