Why should I choose to organize a seminar around a theme like 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 22 years, manifestations of Hell abound: the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, unrelenting dictatorship (see my photos from Pyongyang, North Korea in the headers of my pages), democracy in crisis, endemic poverty in the US, the tragic movement of peoples over artificial state borders, and man-made climate disaster. Now, our lives are being transformed in ways we still do not understand by the most recent manifestation of Hell: The COVID pandemic.
Ironically, our mutual misfortune as inhabitants of the solitary planet, Earth, has presented me with pedagogical good fortune. It has been easy for me to identify ten images of Hell for this course.
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. It’s amazing how much the world has changed in this short time—and your entire lives have been shaped by every moment of this period.
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 help people avoid suffering through Hell
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); state repression in Xinjiang, China; existentialist Angst (in a world without God and in a world with God); technological dystopia; torture at Abu Ghraib; the moral bankruptcy of utilitarianism; eviction from hearth and home; the “devil’s highway” of migration to the US; pandemics of death and denial; 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: The study of Hell need not be a recipe for pessimism or cynicism. As you will see, this course is also about Hope.
Seminar Goals
I have four equally important goals for this seminar. We will pursue them both simultaneously and consecutively.
First, to introduce you to some of the major political and social issues of our times
Second, to familiarize you with four key concepts in the sociasciences—description, explanation, analysis, and prescription.
Today, we encounter a strange complication in using these concepts: We live at a strange time in world history, one in which agreement about the both the definition of “truth” and the validity of the scientific method are in question. How bizarre!
Third, to develop your reading, writing, and speaking skills. As you’ll find, these skills are not at all straightforward. I am still working on each of them.
Finally, and above all, I want to teach you how to persuade. All Notre Dame students should become leaders, and leadership is all about persuasion. Good Leadership, to which we should all aspire, is about showing decency, kindness, and compassion.
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 media like 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 the semester, 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. Since I am a forgetful person, you should consult these pages routinely to see what I have changed and what new assignments you need to complete.
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.
My class is a no-tweet zone. Some behavior is just not dignified!