NEH Enduring Questions Course on "What Does It Mean to Be Free?"

FAIN: AQ-50956-13

University of West Georgia (Carrollton, GA 30118-0001)
Jesus Salvador Peralta (Project Director: September 2012 to September 2015)

The development of an undergraduate seminar on the question, What does it mean to be free?

What does it mean to be free? This course aims to expose undergraduate students to the works of diverse individuals ranging from philosophers, playwrights, novelists, and political dissidents who have provided competing and incomplete answers to this question. The readings will present students with competing voices exploring the tensions between individuals and society, and will be structured around ancillary questions: Should individuals pursue truth and knowledge even in the face of mortal danger from authorities? Is there a social arrangement that nurtures, protects, and enhances individuality while promoting and maintaining a strong sense of community and order? Do individuals owe obedience to God, authority, society, each other, or what? How can individuals maintain their freedom, their individuality, their autonomy under some of the most repressive and dehumanizing conditions? What actions can help individuals free themselves from oppression, while resolving the tension between