I don't expect any of you will be ready to enter the MALA program next semester, but since John Dewey is in our reading today it seems appropriate to share this...
Coming to MTSU, Spring 2021 (Tuesdays 6-9 pm on Zoom)
MALA 6050 -
Democracy in America
WATCH. This 3-credit Master of Liberal Arts remote course will begin with a nod to the eponymous 19th century classic by Alexis de Tocqueville, then glance at John Dewey's Democracy and Education (1916), and proceed to examine the condition and prospects for American democracy as assessed by contemporary observers Nancy MacLean, Anne Applebaum, and Robert Talisse. We'll conclude by venturing our own evaluations, understanding the always-tentative nature of political prognostication that must be even more uncertain in unsettled times like our pandemic present. But we'll risk it.
Much, of course, depends on the outcome and integrity of the November presidential election and its aftermath. Our course will address that as well.
Genuine democracy in the world has been a rare and precious achievement, historically. Is our democracy now really "in chains" (MacLean), in "twilight" (Applebaum), are we "overdoing" it to the point of possible extinction (Talisse)? A nation that values its freedom must face these questions. That's our mission in this course.
TEXTS:
- Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum
- Democracy in Chains by Nancy MacLean
- Overdoing Democracy by Robert Talisse
- Evil Geniuses by Kurt Andersen
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