HON-1099 - How Do You Know?

Class Research Assignment

Students will delve into one of the following, social justice research topics and then plan to carry out a project to make a modest improvement on campus regarding that issue...

Issue 1: Economic Inequality: What factors contribute to economic inequality? What rights do individuals have to a sustainable, basic lifestyle? What does ‘inequality' mean in this sense? Why do some jobs pay more than others? What responsibility do corporations and government have to provide for the common good? What systems perpetuate economic inequality, and why does it exist?

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Issue 2: Democracy & Discourse:  Do we still know how to listen to, learn from, and respect one another? Increasingly, the nation is polarized into camps that assume everyone else is crazy, wicked, or at least grievously misinformed.   

This trend is not limited to the United States—in many places charismatic ‘populist’ leaders hold sway (Viktor Orban, Boris Johnson, Rodrigo Duterte, Recip Erdogan, Mohammed bin Salem, Vladimir Putin….)  What can be done? Is the era of democracy—and America as a model—over? Or can democratic, Enlightenment values be reinvigorated (on campus, in NJ, in the USA, in this hemisphere, etc.)