The Good Society

Anthropology 297H:  The Good Society, 4 credits, offered each fall
This course engages participants in exploring and envisioning the elements of a good society.  Participants attempt to liberate their imaginations, asking: What does a good society look like?  What kind of society might we want to create if we could?  What kind of a society do we want to live in?  Answering these questions is not as simple as it might seem.  Imagination is always constrained by an individual’s culture and experience.  Many have limited experience living with or working with people whose lives, experiences, values and orientations are quite different from their own.  In the course, students do service, in part, because it gives us a chance to share in the lives of others who may not be like us.  This fundamental anthropological experience is an effective way to free the imagination, to help better understand what needs to be done, and to help sort out how to use our lives well.