Truth and Sandwiches
Truth and Sandwiches
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Next Meeting:Tuesday, October 26, Happy Hour – Noon to 1:30 Place: Auerbach 422 Is voting worth our time? Is
democracy rational? Do elections make a difference? There are three very short recommended readings: Steven E. Landsburg, “Don't Vote! It makes more sense to play the lottery,” Slate (September 29, 2004). http://slate.msn.com/id/2107240/ Jordan Ellenberg, “Vote! Why your ballot isn't as meaningless as you think,” Slate (October 11, 2004). http://slate.msn.com/id/2108029/ Larry M. Bartels, “Is ‘Popular Rule’ Possible? Polls, political psychology, and democracy,” Brookings Review 21 (Summer 2003). http://www.brookings.edu/press/review/summer2003/bartels.htm All are welcome, even if you haven't had time to finish the reading. Truths may (or may not) be on offer at the meeting. You will have to bring your own sandwich.
Coming attractions
ContactIf you have any questions, please contact Christopher Anderson at chranders@hartford.edu or x4583. ParticipationTruth
and Sandwiches is open to any member of the University of Hartford
community. GoalsThe purpose of the group is to discuss all kinds of scholarship—new, old, or ancient—which members believe might include "usable truths" or otherwise help make sense of human life. Our aim is to take fuller advantage of the intellectual resources of this university and to facilitate fertilization of our thinking across disciplines. Any kind of material may be the subject of discussion: novels, criticism, philosophy, research, etc. Meeting FormatThe group will meet approximately once per month. One or two participants will be responsible for conducting the discussion. Before the meeting, the discussant(s) might (or might not) recommend that participants pay attention to a few issues. SandwichesParticipants are encouraged to bring their own lunch, but need not bring actual sandwiches.
Previous Topics16 September 2004 What is a liberal education for?An open discussion of the Primer on General Education compiled by Joseph Voelker and the College of Arts and Sciences Preliminary General Education Committee.
Discussant: Harald Sandström, A&S Politics and Government How should we understand a people's right to self determination? Do human rights limit sovereignty? Zhen Chen, State Sovereignty and Self-determination of Peoples, from LawInfoChina.com (Peking University Center for Legal Information). International Committee on Intervention and State Sovereignty, The Responsibility to Protect (Ottowa: International Development Research Centre, 2001). [Read Chapter 2, "A New Approach: The Responsibility to Protect."] Stephen
D. Krasner, "Sovereignty,"
Foreign Policy (February 2001).
6 March 2003 What ever happened to the good society? Discussant: Doug Eichar, A&S Sociology How did America lose a sense of greater social purpose? Can we get it back? Should we? Lyndon Johnson, "The Great Society," May 22, 1964. Frank W. Abrams, "Management's Responsibilities in a Complex World," Harvard Business Review (May 1951).
6 February 2003 Teaching Ethics, Teaching Facts, Teaching Propaganda Discussant: Sally Porterfield, A&S Drama Arthur Miller is certainly our best-known playwright of the contemporary morality play. In Miller's "All My Sons," two men are exposed as war profiteers who have taken shortcuts in manufacturing aircraft parts, resulting in the death of American airmen. One of those deaths is the son of one of the partners. In teaching material like this, and, indeed, in much literature, dramatic or otherwise, a discussion of ethics is unavoidable, as it is in many of the humanities. How do we handle the question of ethics across the disciplines? Do we have an obligation to urge our students toward a more examined and more conscious life? Do only some of us have that obligation? Is teaching facts enough? When does inquiry become propaganda? How does all of this play out across a wide spectrum of disciplines?
5 December 2002 Why service learning? An open discussion of the service learning idea. Discussant: Jim Highland, A&S Philosophy
7 November 2002 Does Race Exist?
A discussion of the meaning of race. Discussant: Christopher Anderson, A&S Politics and Government
3 October 2002, Is Time Speeding Up?The Economic, Cultural and Psychological Implications of The Increasing Pace of our Society Discussant: Benyamin B. Lichtenstein; Assoc. Prof. of Entrepreneurship and Management
7 May 2002, Truth, Beauty, and Self Image
Suggested reading
Discussant: Mala Matacin, A&S Psychology
5 March 2002, Is beauty truth?
Recommended reading:
Discussant: Christopher Anderson, A & S Politics and Government
5 February 2002: The State—Who Needs It? A discussion on the comparative merits of anarchy and the state.
13 November 2001: Truth, Love, and Duty
23 October 2001: Just and Unjust War
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