Values and Ethics: Social Justice in America

Catalog description

This course explores the experiences of individuals and social movements in American culture who from a variety of traditions -- for example religious, political, cultural, philosophical -- found meaning in their lives and ways to make a difference in their worlds. Our approach in this course will examine contradictions and struggles: between the individual and the community, between the ideals which have always motivated Americans and the hard reality in which many Americans have lived, between the commitment to democracy and the tragic failure of its promise, and the ways in which individuals and groups nonetheless worked to build a better future.