Humanities in Action:
Ideas that Harm and Heal the World
A&H, Diversity
Nicolaas P. Barr (he/him)
Jenny Holzer, 1985
“Poetry is not a luxury.”
Audre Lorde
"There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism.”
Walter Benjamin
Expanding Audre Lorde and Walter Benjamin’s insights, this course argues that the arts and humanities are indispensable for thinking about and engaging with the multiple catastrophes the world is experiencing.
This course introduces students to some of the genres and modes of thinking in the humanities and makes a case for their relevance for repairing a wounded world. How can literary, philosophical, artistic, and historical ways of thinking help us respond to urgent issues like war, climate change, genocide, and structural violence, both locally and globally? This course explores some of the “keywords” of the humanities as sites of contention, deliberation, and inspiration for seeing how ideas have the power to harm and heal.