{"id":5,"date":"2024-08-07T14:21:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T18:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/?p=5"},"modified":"2024-08-24T10:41:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-24T14:41:00","slug":"welcome-to-the-hell-seminar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/2024\/08\/07\/welcome-to-the-hell-seminar\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Hell Seminar!"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header\"><strong style=\"font-size: revert\">Why should I dare to organize a seminar around a theme like Hell?<\/strong><\/header>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: revert\"><br \/>\nHere\u2019s why. We use few exclamations more often in response to the unfathomable, disturbing, and terrifying dimensions of human experience. Hell is everywhere&#8211;in politics, war, religion, sports, jobs, personal relationships, and life itself. If we want to talk about humanity, we can&#8217;t get around the subject of Hell<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>I once called this seminar \u201cTen Images of Hell in the Twentieth Century.\u201d As we entered the 2000s, I wondered if there would be enough images to shift the course\u2019s focus to the new century. I gambled, changed the course title and the readings, and have had no reason to look back. This has been great for me. Too bad for humanity.<\/p>\n<p>I define our Twenty-First Century as the period from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 to the current day.<\/p>\n<p>In a mere 24 years, images of Hell abound:\u00a0 the bloody war between Russia and Ukraine; rising threats of dictorship everywhere; liberal democracy spiralling into crisis; unrelenting poverty and increasing social stratification in advanced democracies, and especially the US; the tragic movement of peoples over artificial state borders; man-made climate disaster; a pandemic that killed more than 1.2 million human beings in the US alone; and the rapidly escalating war and humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Seminar Themes<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p class=\"wp-block-heading\">We will explore our troubled century of Hell by focusing on four themes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li>The experience of Hell<\/li>\n<li>The causes of Hell<\/li>\n<li>The consequences of Hell, and finally,<\/li>\n<li>Our moral obligation to others who are suffering through Hell<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To address these themes, we will turn to ten contemporary images of Hell:\u00a0 America\u2019s continuing engagement in Iraq; existentialist Angst (in both a world without God <em>and<\/em> a world with God); technological dystopia and technodictators; torture at Abu Ghraib prison, Iraq; the moral bankruptcy of utilitarianism; eviction from hearth and home; the \u201cdevil\u2019s highway\u201d of migration to the US; pandemics of death and denial; our willing destruction of our natural environment; and life on the edge in war-torn Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>You will see that our journey is about much more than our ten topics.\u00a0 It is about us: our lives and the lives of billions of other people who live with us in a world that is as unstable as it has ever been in past centuries.<\/p>\n<p><em>YET<\/em>:\u00a0 I do not aim to bring you down. I come with good news. We must not allow our exposure to Hell on Earth to become a recipe for pessimism or cynicism.\u00a0 As you will see by the end of this semester, this course is also about Hope.\u00a0 There is no better place to think about Hope than at a Catholic university. Indeed, no secular university can accomplish what we will do in this seminar.<\/p>\n<div id=\"dropdown-e82a2\" class=\"bcv d-container go2888862000\" role=\"button\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-labelledby=\"dropdown-e82a2\">\n<div class=\"dropdown-display\">\n<div class=\"dropdown-display-text\" style=\"text-align: right\"><strong><em>Isaiah 40:31<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n<div class=\"dropdown-icon\" style=\"text-align: right\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"dropdown-ecdfa\" class=\"translation d-container go2888862000\" style=\"text-align: right\" role=\"button\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-labelledby=\"dropdown-ecdfa\">\n<div class=\"dropdown-display\">\n<div class=\"dropdown-icon\"><em><span style=\"font-size: revert\">but those who hope\u00a0in the\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"small-caps\" style=\"font-size: revert\">Lord<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-size: revert\">will renew their strength.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"passage-text\">\n<div class=\"passage-content passage-class-0\">\n<div class=\"version-NIV result-text-style-normal text-html\">\n<div class=\"std-text\">\n<div class=\"poetry top-05\">\n<p class=\"line\" style=\"text-align: right\"><em><span class=\"text Isa-40-31\">They will soar on wings like eagles;<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Isa-40-31\">they will run and not grow weary,<\/span><\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Isa-40-31\">they will walk and not be faint.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Seminar Goals<\/h5>\n<p>I have five equally important goals.<\/p>\n<p>First, I will use the concept of Hell to introduce you to some of the major political and social issues of our times.<\/p>\n<p>Second, I will introduce you to the four key concepts of the social sciences\u2014description, explanation, analysis, and prescription.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Because this is a social science seminar, you should keep in mind that we live at a strange time in world history. In our world, populist leaders have convinced many people to think that their \u201cfeelings\u201d should trump scientific truth.<\/p>\n<p>Third, I will work with each of you to develop your reading, writing, and speaking skills. There is nothing easy about these skills.\u00a0 I, for one, am still working on each of them.<\/p>\n<p>Fourth, I aim to teach you how to <em>persuade<\/em>.\u00a0 Life is all about persuasion. We are single beings within a universe of other single human beings. Each of us\u2013both the most downtrodden\u00a0<em>and<\/em>\u00a0the most privileged\u2013has the capacity to persuade others that we have something to offer. If we are indifferent\u2013which is one of the greatest sins\u2013we will be lost in the haze.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, I am on a mission. My mission is to challenge each of you to become a leader in whatever dimensions of life you choose to pursue. By virtue of your presence at Notre Dame, each of you is now a member of the Ruling Class. Your good fortune comes with two weighty obligations. The first is to learn to be a leader while others sit back and wait. The second is to become a <em>good<\/em>\u00a0leader. In the battle against Hell,\u00a0<em>good<\/em> leaders affirm the intrinsic dignity of each and every human being. They refuse to compromise. They are beacons of hope.<\/p>\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Seminar Structure<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>I intend to challenge you both intellectually and personally. To avoid being left behind, you must keep up with all of your assignments. I expect each of you to participate fully in everything we do. This includes speaking in class, citing your readings, communicating with your classmates over media like Google Docs, and most importantly\u2014daring to think for yourself.<\/p>\n<p>You are now looking at the authoritative syllabus for our seminar. I do not use paper syllabi in my courses.\u00a0Killing trees is <em>sooo<\/em>\u00a0. . . . Twentieth Century.<\/p>\n<p>I will modify our schedule and assignments on a regular basis throughout the semester. I will add some items and delete others. You should consult these pages routinely to see what I have changed and what new assignments you need to complete.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">NOTE: Please leave your technology at home. This includes electronic devices of any kind, such as laptops, Kindles, iPads, iPhones, video cameras, video games, dog fences, and other personal digital devices.\u00a0 I will make one exception to this rule. You may use a tablet, but only if you confine yourself to taking notes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>My class is a no-\u2018X,\u2019 no Musk zone. Some behavior is just not dignified!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why should I dare to organize a seminar around a theme like Hell? Here\u2019s why. We use few exclamations more often in response to the unfathomable, disturbing, and terrifying dimensions of human experience. Hell is everywhere&#8211;in politics, war, religion, sports, jobs, personal relationships, and life itself. If we want to talk about humanity, we can&#8217;t &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/2024\/08\/07\/welcome-to-the-hell-seminar\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Welcome to the Hell Seminar!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":400,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5\/revisions\/400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}