Assignments

Due Dates and Links

Sat. September 24:
Argument Analysis Essay

Mon. October 3 – Sun. October 9:
Live Like an Aristotelian Week

Mon. October 17 – Sun. October 23:
Live Like a Confucian Week

Wed. October 26:
Midterm Debate: Cancel Ancient Philosophy?

Sat. October 29:
Comparative Analysis Essay

Mon. November 7 – Sun. November 13:
Live Like a Daoist Week

Mon. November 21 – Sun. November 27:
Live Like a Stoic Week

Mon. December 5:
Final Debate: Which Life is Best?

Sat. December 17:
Comparative Analysis Essay

Course Work

Readings: For most class sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays, there will be assigned readings. These should be read before class. Readings will be available electronically, linked from the course site and available in Perusall (see section on Perusall). Students will be expected to annotate and comment on the texts regularly, and to interact with other students’ comments and questions online. There will sometimes be optional readings as well, which will provide more depth or background and additional perspectives on the material.
Exercises: For each unit, there will be several immersive exercises designed to help you get some experience putting philosophical approaches to living well into practice. The format for doing these will vary — some will be in-class, others will involve daily journaling — and some but not all will require turning in a brief written reflection.
Essays: There will be three essays in this course: a paper in argument analysis and two papers on a topic that involves comparative philosophical analysis. All essays will be turned in via Google Docs.
Dialogue sessions: On Fridays, there will be peer dialogue sessions, each of which will be led by two of our student Dialogue Facilitators. Some of these sessions will be based on material discussed in class during the week; others will involve independent activities. Students are expected to attend and participate in their dialogue section each week.
Attendance and participation: Students are expected to attend all plenary lecture, breakout, and dialogue sessions, and to be ready to participate, particularly in the breakout and dialogue sessions. Your professors reserve the right to “cold call” people who have not raised their hands.