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The Community College Course Redesign Institute in American Political and Social Thought aims to help instructors in history, political science, and related social sciences explore discussion-based approaches to studying transformative works in American political and social thought. Community college faculty participants will support each other as they explore readings and discussion prompts based on the work of authors like Plato, Locke, Wollstonecraft, Phillis Wheatley, Publius, Tocqueville, Maria Stewart, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, W.E.B. Du Bois, Dr. King, and other works, which reflect contemporary engagement with this tradition that the participants selected for this institute will bring to the discussion.
Institute work takes place both online and in-person at host institutions.
Participants will develop new syllabi that include transformative texts, preparing students to engage in meaningful discourse on critical issues.
This initiative seeks to enhance civic knowledge and discussion skills for all community college students.
Together, we will help provide our students with essential opportunities to engage directly with the texts and ideas that shape our political and social lives. In an era of declining civic knowledge, fueled by a lack of civic education offerings and increasingly acrimonious polarization, the task of grappling seriously with American politics and history is especially vital. Classes in these areas need to provide opportunities for meaningful discussions where students encounter opposing beliefs and engage in collegial discourse. Political questions invite disagreement, and our task is to equip students with essential skills for citizenship in a pluralistic republic like our own. The work we will do together will help introduce you to discussion-based pedagogical techniques that can help you effectively explore texts in American political and social thought with your students in class discussions. You’ll engage in small group discussions with your peers on curriculum development and design, and help one another consider how best to help our students more freely and openly express themselves on political and social issues about which there is principled disagreement.
Is it possible for a political or social order to treat all of its members fairly, even those who greatly challenge it? What contemporary ideas about the Good Life (i.e., political or social ideas people may have about the best way for humans to live) do you think should not be tolerated in our society, and what would the strongest Apology (defense speech) be for living according to one of those visions?
Antigone believes that there is a difference between what is legal and what is just. What is the difference between the “legal” and the “just”? How does she know that Creon’s command regarding her brother’s burial is unjust? Creon argues that whatever he, the king, commands isjust because it is the command of the ruler. How does Antigone respond to this? Are there laws in our society today that are legal but nerveless unjust? How do we accurately tell the difference between just and unjust laws?
Spartan society under the laws of Lycurgus lacks many ills that plague our own, such as lawsuits, fights over money, obesity, jealousy, infidelity, substance abuse, unemployment, unsatisfying jobs, childhood illness and more. How did Lycurgus eliminate these ills from Sparta and was it worth it?
Alexander Hamilton argued that the teaching of Chapter 14 presented an “absurd and impious doctrine”, which he believed Hobbes advanced because he “disbelieved the existence of an intelligent superintending principle, who is the governor, and will be the final judge of the universe.” Do you agree with Hamilton that this disbelief would lead one to conclude that human beings have the, “moral power to deprive another of his life, limbs, property or liberty?”
How does Locke understand the basis of human equality? How would you state his argument for why human beings are naturally equal in a way that would be clearly understood by people today but that is also faithful to what he says in Chapter 2?
Montesquieu praised the separation of powers in the English constitution. How do you see the principle of separation of powers functioning in the U.S. today, especially in light of recent debates over the use of executive orders, the independence of the judiciary, or Congress’s role in checks and balances? Are these branches of government maintaining a proper balance of power?
Can equal rights and dignity be established and secured on anything other than ideals that are regarded as universal and natural?
What are the self-evident truths discussed here? What does it mean for a truth to be “self-evident”? Do you think most people in the US today still believe that these are truths and if so, that they are self-evident, regardless of their political affiliations?
Hamilton argues that the primary aim of society is, “moral security, for our lives and properties,” and that “such security can never exist, while we have no part in making the laws that are to bind us and while it may be the interest of our uncontrolled legislators to oppress us as much as possible.” Which groups or individuals might truthfully advance this same objection today and why?
What do you imagine Abigail Adams’ perspective would be on contemporary issues related to race and gender, given what you’ve learned about her thoughts on such issues from reading her letters to her husband, John?
In her poem, To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth, Wheatley argues that her “love of freedom” was born from her experience of being kidnaped from Africa and brought to the United States enslaved, “I then pray others may never feel tyrannic sway.” How does her poetry contribute to the fight for freedom, both in her time and in ours?
Why do you think they chose to write “more perfect” rather than simply “perfect.” What might that tell us about their expectations for the government they sought to create? What change to the constitution would you recommend to make it “more perfect”?
What is Madison’s definition of a faction and what are the examples he provides of factions? Why do factions pose such great problems in popular governments? According to him, every individual may be considered a member of one or more factions. To which faction do you belong and in what respect is your faction “adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interest of the community”?
Why do the anti-federalists believe that ambitious, self-interested people will be attracted to serve in positions of authority under the proposed constitution? If they met our political leaders today, would they feel vindicated for expressing these fears?
How optimistic was Jefferson that the Declaration’s principles were taking root around the globe? Do you think this optimism was misplaced? What was Jefferson referring to when he mentioned “monkish ignorance and superstition” as a force keeping men in chains?
What threats do Individualism and the myopic pursuit of material well being pose for democracies? What structural, institutional and/or cultural guardrails does Tocqueville observe that contain these problems, and do you see them functioning in that way in the contemporary US?
If Stewart were speaking to an oppressed or marginalized group today, how would she exhort them to most effectively confront their situation? What concrete steps might she argue that this group take towards that end, given what she has written in these essays?
What does Mill mean by tyranny of the majority? In what political and social environments does tyranny of the majority arise?
In what areas do people have the most fear about freely expressing themselves? When have you kept quiet there out of fear of appearing out of step with prevailing views?
Lincoln claims that “a house divided against itself cannot stand”, and that our nation must be united on an issue as fundamental as the morality of slavery if it is to remain standing. Why does Lincoln believe that a nation must be united about basic moral principles? What fundamental issues are dividing our nation today, and what might unity look like about one of them?
In Chapter 7, Douglass explains how he traded bread for the “more valuable bread of knowledge” with hungry children who could teach him to read, suggesting that physical nourishment is less important than spiritual sustenance. How is your education aimed at providing both the bread of material well-being and the bread of knowledge?
questions forthcoming
questions forthcoming
Cooper argues that, “Any act performed by an ignorant slattern is menial, while no amount of indignity can really degrade a soul truly in possession of itself through scientific development of its faculties.” What kind of education does Cooper believe is necessary to develop these faculties? Are you receiving that kind of an education today?
What kind of education does Du Bois think is required for a free people? What sorts of things do they need to study and how should that education be conducted? Is your education an education for freedom?
Which of your enemies would be the hardest to love, and what would you have to do or see to be able to love them? Think of someone whom you dislike very much. Attempting to practice what Dr. King preached here, consider one element of good in that person. What is that good thing?
Associate Professor, School of Civic Life and Leadership, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Senior Lecturer in American Studies and English at Columbia University
Adjunct Professor of Government at Austin Community College in Texas
Assistant Professor in the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin
Professor of and Program Coordinator for Political Science at Rose State College in Oklahoma
Speech Communication Faculty and Faculty Advisor for the Civil Discourse Program at Linn-Benton Community College in Oregon
Participants who successfully complete all institute requirements will receive a stipend, presently set at $1,500 for the currently scheduled institutes. Requirements include full participation in all online and in-person activities and meeting all other expectations and deliverables detailed below.
Participants or their institutions will be responsible for their travel to the institute, but hotel accommodation and meals will be covered by the program.
The Great Questions Foundation seeks to promote liberal education and core-text and discussion-based learning at the community college through supporting faculty development and course redesign and helping to establish and support core-text programs and courses.
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