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This course considers the role of education in a democratic polity. It takes a theoretical approach, and questions and topics addressed include: how or how much democratic governments ought to be involved in education; what virtues or qualities should be instilled in a democratic citizenry; the political role of the university and of the intellectual; the place of religion in citizen education. Our starting point in John Dewey's influential and controversial DEMOCRACY AND EDUCATION, following which we study various contemporary theorists of democratic, civil, and multicultural education, as well as Locke and Rousseau on education in the modern state. In the first part of the course we attend to the problem that while liberal democracy seems to have great need of educated citizens, its means of producing them are inherently limited. In the latter part of the course we read some spirited defenses of and attacks upon contemporary academic and intellectual life, and consider the problems that arise whe n one attempts to lead "the life of the mind" in a democratic society.
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA PHIL Grading Mode: Student Option
Prerequisites: NONE
Last Updated on MAR-19-2002
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459