PHIL 173 - What is College For?

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

In this course we read historical and contemporary philosophical texts on education, while examining the history of college education in the US and thinking about its future. Authors include Plato, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Mary Wollstonecraft, John Dewey, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Martha Nussbaum. Students research how Vassar has framed and revised its institutional mission throughout its history, and develop their own arguments in response to the course title’s question. There are several short writing assignments, involving peer-to-peer feedback and revision, leading to a longer paper on a topic of each student’s choice. Christopher Raymond.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS