NEH Enduring Questions Course on the Value of Work

FAIN: AQ-50358-11

King's College (Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711-0801)
Jonathan Malesic (Project Director: September 2010 to January 2013)

The development of a general education course on the value of work.

A paradox of modern working life is that we see work as a necessary evil but expect to find fulfillment in it. Answers to the enduring question "Why Work?" emerge from the highest human ideals, yet they reflect the most concrete concerns about providing for oneself and one's family. All workers, at all levels of education, can give an answer to this question, though most can also give good reasons not to work. Our deep ambivalence toward work makes serious reflection on its place in our lives imperative. This proposal outlines the development by King's College and Dr. Jonathan Malesic of a new undergraduate core curriculum course entitled, "Why Work?" The course will be developed during the Summer of 2011 and offered twice between September 2011 and December 2012. To accomplish these goals King's College requests funding in the amount of $24,920 from the National Endowment for the Humanities Enduring Questions Program.

Media Coverage

Why work? Prof is wondering (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Mark Guydish
Publication: The Times Leader
Date: 8/24/2011
Abstract: At a time when 9.2 percent unemployment has many Americans saying “please give me work,” Jonathan Malesic concedes it may be bit hard for the average person to see logic in his new class that asks “what is the value of work?”
URL: http://http://www.timesleader.com/news/Why_work__Prof_is_wondering_08-14-2011.html?searchterm=malesic

King's College adds a course to aid students' quest for meaning (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Dave Gardner
Publication: Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal
Date: 10/1/2011
Abstract: King’s College has launched a new course that, its instructor jokes, has inspired his colleagues to talk about him behind his back. The course is entitled “Enduring Question: Why Work?” and is being offered to all students in the core undergraduate curriculum. Jonathan Malesic, Ph.D., assistant professor of theology, is serving as the instructor after developing the curriculum with the help of a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
URL: http://biz570.com/education-healthcare/education/king-s-college-adds-a-course-to-aid-students-quest-for-meaning-1.1213561

King's College receives $25,000 humanities grant (Media Coverage)
Publication: Citizens' Voice
Date: 9/19/2011
Abstract: King's College has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Enduring Questions Program to develop and teach a course examining the value of work. Jonathan Malesic, associate professor of theology at King's, will serve as project director for the nearly $25,000 grant.
URL: http://citizensvoice.com/arts-living/2.223/king-s-awarded-grant-for-course-on-value-of-work-1.1203916