Philosophy, Religion, Psychology, and Culture   

Venturing back to Europe in 1947, Martin Buber delivered six lectures to a group of Dutch religious socialists. As we closely read and discuss The Way of Humanity According to Chasidic Teaching, we may discern Buber's profound need to offer a spiritual, existential, and moral anchor to a European humanity shattered by the Holocaust, the devastation of World War II, and the alienation of modern life. Is the advice from a breakaway 18th-century Jewish movement applicable to us today? Martin Buber (1878–1965) was a renowned Austrian-Israeli philosopher, theologian, and educator, best known for his philosophy of dialogue and the "I-Thou" relationship, developed in his 1923 masterpiece I and Thou. A proponent of cultural Zionism, he advocated for a binational Arab-Jewish state before moving from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine in 1938, where he became a professor of anthropology and sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The Way of Humanity will be on a shared screen during class discussions. If you wish a copy of your own, see: https://www.amazon.com/Way-Humanity-According-Chasidic-Teaching/dp/0881236373.

This course will explore the story of America's Great Migration, a large-scale movement of Black Americans from the rural American Southeast to cities in the Northeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West, beginning in 1917 and continuing through 1970. Pulitzer Prize winning author, Isabel Wilkerson's book The Warmth of Other Suns will be the required course text. Wilkerson employs inspiring, true stories to illustrate the real-life hardships and motives that were typical of women and men who chose to uproot their lives in search of a better future for themselves, their children, and future generations. Arthur Jones will provide his own perspectives and occasional music samples. His own parents were active participants in the Great Migration, moving from Norfolk, Virginia, to New York City in 1931.

Required Reading: Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Sons. New York: Random House, 2010 (or paperback edition, 2011).

This course explores a series of imagined future societies and what they can teach us about the world we live in today. Through structured discussions, participants will examine several thought-provoking models, including Rationalia (inspired by Neil deGrasse Tyson), Symphonia (a society based on cooperation rather than competition), Aethel (a world without money), Equinox (a world without politics), Aura (a world without either politics or money), and Autonomized State (a society without formal social systems).

The discussions are organized around historian Yuval Noah Harari's idea that human societies are built on three shared systems: belief systems, political systems, and economic systems. Together, we will consider how changing these foundations might reshape human life.

When the word "God" is mentioned, most people in the West automatically assume a particular idea of God. The Asian religions challenge that idea. In this class we will look at the Hindu concept of Brahman, the Buddhist concept of Nirvana, the Taoist concept of Nature, and the Confucian idea of how our actions relate to the "Way of the Gods." But the class will not be limited to the concept of God. We will cover other central ideas like the nature of knowledge and what it means to be human. It is also inevitable, especially in the Asian religions, that many practices are connected to their philosophical ideas — their rituals and lifestyles. The ethical perspective of each religion will be central, as will the concept of an afterlife. Personally, I have found the Asian religions a rich challenge to the beliefs with which I grew up, and they have opened the door to other ways of seeing the world.

Judith Shklar articulated a version of liberalism distinct from the rights-based liberalism associated with John Rawls's egalitarianism and Robert Nozick's libertarianism. In this course we will study some of her most important work - including 'Liberalism of Fear' - as well as critiques from other political theorists. This course will broaden your understanding of orthodox liberalism and provide a different perspective from which to consider contemporary political issues and discourse. This is an introductory graduate seminar in political theory. The only prerequisite is a commitment to engage thoughtfully with the texts and actively participate in class discussion.

Required Reading: The Faces of Injustice, Judith N. Shklar (Yale University Press, 1990)

Recommended Reading: Judith N. Shklar: Political Thought and Political Thinkers, Stanley Hoffman, editor (University of Chicago Press, 1998).

Puerto Rico sits at the convergence of the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and their intersecting influences make it unlike anywhere else. This four-session course takes curious learners on a lively journey through the island's layered history: from the ancient Taíno to the complexities of its unique political relationship with the United States, from the rhythms of bomba and salsa to the global phenomenon of Bad Bunny, from the economic upheavals of the 20th century to the hard-won resilience that followed Hurricane María and the mass protests of 2019. Participants will leave with a richer understanding of Puerto Rico's past and present, and a clearer sense of how the island's story connects to broader questions of identity, colonialism, and resilience. No tests, no homework, no pressure — just fascinating stories, lively conversation, and a few surprises along the way.

This course explores how psychedelics are used in religious practices. We begin by discussing different definitions of religion, who defines what a religion is, and how religions are viewed. This leads into a study of religious experiences involving psychedelics, using the following case studies: hallucinogenic mushrooms in Mexico, marijuana in Jamaica, peyote in North America, and ayahuasca in South America. We will also explore the concept of psychonauts and their use of DMT, as well as religious experiences linked to events such as dreams and near-death experiences.

What happens to human consciousness when we die? In 1975, Dr. Raymond Moody's landmark book Life After Life reported on 150 people who died clinically, but were subsequently revived. Because they reported similar extraordinary experiences, his book started a revolution in popular attitudes regarding an afterlife and forever changed how we understand both death … and life. Now five+ decades of research conducted on thousands of NDEs by physicians and professors at prominent universities, medical schools, and hospitals have brought us powerful evidence that there is indeed "life" after physical death—and what awaits us is both heart-warming and comforting. This course brings you up to speed on these findings and on what we now know about other exceptional paranormal phenomena, like “out-of-body” and “shared death experiences.”