Fall 2024 Syllabus
Each section of the course will comprise no more than 15 students and 2-3 faculty members from various disciplines. Sections meet for two hours one evening per week. In the first week of the semester, we will have a brief organizational meeting with all the sections to give everyone a chance to get acquainted.
Books are available in the bookstore, and a few copies of each text will be on reserve in the library. Texts should be read (paper or ebook is fine).
Requirements
The requirements of the course are attendance and active participation. You are expected to be present at, prepared for, and to contribute to every session, although illness or family emergencies will be taken into consideration. If you have to miss a session, you are expected to attend another section after having first coordinated with all section leaders. At the end of the semester, you will be given a questionnaire about the readings. Completion of this form is a requirement for course credit.
Schedule
Mandatory Meeting: Tuesday, September 3 at 7 p.m., Eliot Chapel
Week of September 9
Julie Schumacher, Dear Committee Members
possible topics
Week of September 16
Kerry Howley, Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State
possible topics
Week of September 23
Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, Let Them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Inequality
Week of September 30
Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air
possible topics
Week of October 7
Greg Berman and Aubrey Fox, Gradual: The Case for Incremental Change in a Radical Age
Week of October 14
Eloísa Solaas, Las Facultades (documentary) and interview
possible topics
Week of October 21
Fall Break
Week of October 28
Svetlana Alexievich, Voices from Chernobyl
possible topics
Week of November 4
Anne Applebaum, Autocracy, Inc.
Week of November 11
Robin Schiff, Information Desk
Week of November 18
Thi Bui, The Best We Could Do
possible topics
Week of November 25
Thanksgiving vacation: no class
Week of December 2
Samantha Harvey, Orbital