Why Hell?
We use few exclamations more often to capture the unfathomable, uncontrollable, disturbing, and terrifying dimensions of human experience. Hell is politics, war, religion, sports, jobs, personal relationships, and life itself—all combined!
When it comes to Hell, our Twenty-First Century may have already set a record. In a mere 20 years, manifestations of Hell abound: unending war in the middle-East,
terrorism, democracy in crisis, endemic poverty in the US, the balooning tragedy of the movement of peoples over artificial borders, and man-made climate disaster. Thanks to my pedagogical good fortune, which is unfortunately our mutual misfortune as residents of this solitary planet Earth, I have had no problem finding ten Images of Hell for this course.
I define our Twenty-First Century as the period between the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2011 and the current day.
Seminar Themes
In this seminar, we will explore our already troubled century of Hell by focusing on four themes:
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- The experience of Hell
- The causes of Hell
- The consequences of Hell, and finally,
- The obligation to do something about Hell
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To address these themes, we will turn to ten contemporary images of Hell: America’s war in Iraq (which has already been going on for nearly two decades); the Rohingya genocide; existentialist Angst (in a world without God and in a world with God); torture; technological dystopia; the moral bankruptcy of utilitarianism; eviction from hearth and home; the “devil’s highway” of migration to the US; and our willing destruction of our natural environment.
By the end of the semester, you will see that this course is about much more than than our century. 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 before. Nonetheless, here’s some good news: I can promise you a surprise. The study of Hell need not be a reciple for pessimism or cynicism. When you look closely, you will discover that this is actually a course about Hope!
Seminar Goals
I have four equally important goals for this seminar. We will pursue them both simultaneously and consecutively.
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- To introduce you to some of the major political and social issues of our times.
- To familiarize you with four key concepts in the social sciences—description, explanation, analysis, and prescription. Note: At this strange point in history, we live in a country in which agreement about the definition of a “fact” and the validity of the scientific method is in question. How bizarre!
- To develop your reading, writing, and speaking skills. As you’ll find, these skills are not at all straightforward.
- Above all, I want to teach you how to persuade. All Notre Dame students should become leaders, and leadership is all about persuasion. Just as important, Good Leadership, to which we should all aspire, is about showing decency, kindness, and compassion.
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Seminar Structure
I have designed this seminar 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, drawing upon your readings, communicating with your classmates over Google Docs, and most importantly—daring to think for yourself.
You are now looking at the authoritative syllabus for the seminar. I do not use paper syllabi. That would be soooo Twentieth Century….
The Syllabus you now see will likely be different tomorrow. Throughout our seminar, I will modify our schedule and assignments on a regular basis. I will add some items and delete others. You never know what surprises you will find on this syllabus. Thus, I will expect you to consult these pages routinely throughout the semester.
NOTE: Please leave your technology at home. This includes electronic devices of any kind, such as laptops, Kindles, i-Pads, I-phones, video cameras, video games, dog fences, or other personal digital devices.
My class is a no-tweet zone. Some things are just not dignified!