COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES:
As a DLM III Interdisciplinary Collaboration course, we intend to combine interdisciplinary expertise in addressing highly complex intersecting problems related to hunger and the environment.
So, 1) The first goal is to benefit from the teamwork that comes from studying these difficult issues with colleagues who have developed expertise in the life sciences, economics and politics, philosophy and religion, anthropology and sociology, history, environmental studies, international studies, and the humanities such as arts, music and literature from various cultures. The organization of academic studies artificially separates reality into distinct “disciplines” but separation into spheres does not reflect the real world. So, integration of theories, methods and insights will be our goal. It will also be our goal to challenge the assumptions of disciplines we bring to the table.
2) A related goal is for you to hone your own teamwork skills in relation to leadership, planning, presenting, working through group dynamics, and strengthening confidence in the knowledge base you bring to a team.
3) In the process of our work together, another related goal is realistic self-appraisal in relation to teamwork, but also on the personal level of our own lifestyle and commitments. The issues we are studying will shape the twenty-first century like perhaps no others.
4) Hence, we will strive to understand and analyze interrelated causes of hunger and environmental degradation, both globally and locally.
5) Another goal is to make academic issues real by moving beyond the classroom. As community-based learners, we will develop the habit of paying attention to harsh realities where we live our daily lives and subaltern voices many of us have not heard, have not known. We will talk to local activists in Berea, Danville, Frankfort/Kentucky River area, Lexington and Louisville to learn about local expressions of the problems we’re studying, and local attempts to create alternatives. They’re everywhere.
6) We will develop skills detecting, comparing and evaluating key ideological presuppositions that shape both perception of causes and judgments about effective solutions. This entails evaluating arguments according to various norms of justice and alternative theoretical approaches.
7) We will develop ethical resources for envisioning a different future, and for practical, responsible, and compassionate action in the midst of widespread hunger and ecological destruction.
- Teacher: Rick Axtell