Sophomore Year Academic Core

How have the classic traditions in humanities reflected
on the question of the good citizen?

2008-2009 Seminar Descriptions

The students in this program will be introduced in three quarters courses to the issue of ethics in civic life.

The first quarter focuses on “The Good One.” Students will study how one person can be a good moral agent, even when alone, or unobserved, or in small ordinary acts. How can leaders with exceptional moral courage be developed? How can the principle of veracity be taught? It is assumed that The Brady Scholars chosen for the Program will have taken introductory classes in ethics, philosophy, the social sciences and religion, and are ready to delve deeply into virtue theory and other philosophic methods for reflection on personal commitment.

The second quarter focuses on “The Good Neighbor.” Students will study how one should act in relationship to the Other. We will explore relationships, duties and correlative rights between friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors. What do we owe one another? How do promises bind us?

The third quarter will focus on “The Good Place.” Here, the students will study ethical and social issues in relationship to the environment, to the state, and to global affairs. What will be required of American leaders in a new economy, in a world faced with global warming and avian flu, in a time of war and unrest?

In the third quarter students will also meet with members of the Evanston community to learn about the specific issues that create unmet needs in our city. They will focus on direct experience at venues related to a particular problem: the local congressional offices, the Council on Urban Affairs, the local high school, the foster care agency, the police station, the non-profit environmental group for Great Lakes protection, the Naval Base, the Mercantile Exchange, our NU research labs, the Medical school, the Tribune, etc. In the final quarter students will also analyze laws, norms, or strategies relevant to the ethics at issue at the various sites.

These seminars will meet once a week for 3 hours.

First Year Retreat

During the first year, the students will participate in a two and a half day retreat with the Brady Distinguished Visiting Professor who will lead a seminar on a specific problem faced by America's leaders in a selected discipline, reflecting on a case study and analysis of the ethical challenges faced in that case. In the retreat, we will introduce the thematic questions for the next year:

What is a good place?
How does a country create itself as a good place?
In addition, during the first year retreat, we will select the target issues for the senior year project.