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Course Offerings

Lives of Commitment

Who am I? What is my purpose in life?  What is my obligation to my neighbors, my community and my planet?  How can I make a difference in the world?  These are questions that we face as citizens of a campus, a city, a nation, and a global community. In this course we will examine how citizens with a passion for the common good nurture that commitment in the face of cynicism, fear or a sense of powerlessness.  Through the use of biography, film and mass media, we will read and hear the stories of individuals who are inspired to make a difference in their communities, both locally and globally.  Through the use of sociological analysis, we will explore how those commitments are challenged, nurtured and sustained.  Our subjects will range from Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health, to local community activists on issues of poverty and prison reform, to individuals chosen by class members.  By studying the lives of committed individuals, we will develop a more complex, nuanced understanding of community engagement locally and globally, and students will have the opportunity to start formulating their own self-understanding as citizens in a complex world, and to consider how they can lead lives that reflect their convictions. 

Course taught by

Karen L. Wood