21L.430 Popular Culture and Narrative

Same Subject As: CMS.920
Prereq: none
Units: 3-0-9 HASS-H; Can be repeated for credit

Before it comes to an end, how shall I spend the life I have? What makes it worthwhile? What should I strive for? This course looks to art, philosophy, and popular culture to examine the question—what is the good life? Students will grapple with diverse perspectives on the good life. We will consider the philosophers, from Aristotle to bell hooks, who have explicitly addressed these questions, works of art that have sought to reimagine them, and examples of popular culture that presuppose a consensus regarding them. Students will write, reflect, and create, as they learn to consider the role of rationality, morality, absurdity, economics, politics, class, and identity in constructing an idea of the good life. Sample films and television shows include: Bridgerton, The Good Place, The Office, Do The Right Thing, and La Dolce Vita.