Prindle reading courses are designed to give students an opportunity to take a focused mini-course on a subject or issue that speaks to issues of ethical concern. The offerings are multi-disciplinary and topics will vary significantly depending on the professor and their disciplinary home.
| Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 course |
Spring Semester information
291A: Prindle Reading Course: Michael Blake, Justice, Mercy, and Migration
What ethical principles should govern immigration policies? How do we justify the state's right to exclude? What is owed to asylum seekers and climate refugees? The course will consider competing accounts of our obligations at the borders from travel bans to carrier sanctions.
291B: Prindle Reading Course:Caroline Levine, The Activist Humanist: Form and Method in the Climate Crisis
Caroline Levine's The Activist Humanist: Form and Method in the Climate Crisis (Princeton UP, 2023) addresses the idea that educated and educating humanists are in some ways impelled (morally? intellectually? socially?) to participate in the public discourse and on-the-ground activist work of environmental justice and climate change policy. Countering scholars in the environmental humanities who embrace only "modest gestures of care"--and who seem to have moved directly to "mourning" our inevitable environmental losses--Levine argues that large-scale, practical environmental activism should be integral to humanists' work. She identifies three major infrastructural forms crucial to sustaining collective life: routines, pathways, and enclosures. Crisscrossing between art works and public works--from urban transportation to television series and from food security programs to rhyming couplets--she considers which forms might support stability and predictability in the face of growing precarity.
291C: Prindle Reading Course:Patrick Devlin, The Enforcement of Morals
Why should society concern itself with actions that do not cause physical harm to others? Should the state impose itself on private matters of the bedroom? Why should a person be forced to live when they are terminally ill? Should the law regulate a woman's reproductive rights or control abortion? Should a person be punished for stealing to feed their starving family? Are you interested in exploring the boundaries of individual freedom within society? This reading course, based on the writings of the jurist, Lord Devlin, offers fascinating discussions on topics ranging from the relationship of religion, morality, and the law to the boundaries of the public and private in the realm of morals. The book offers thought-provoking insights into the contentious issue of employing criminal sanctions to address immoral behavior. The central question at the heart of this debate is often posed as follows: Is it justifiable to criminalize acts that are deemed 'immoral'? This reading class is designed to engage students in a comprehensive exploration of the impact of public morals and ethical principles on an individual's decision-making processes and actions. It offers individuals the chance to delve into their curiosities about a wide range of topics, including the criminalization of LGBTQ rights, laws surrounding euthanasia and mercy killing, adultery, and abortion, legislation related to anti-suicide measures, regulations concerning BDSM practices, the legalization of marijuana for recreational use, and laws governing the possession of recreational drugs. The course invites students to critically analyze how the state/public moral factors influence not only their personal lives and professional endeavors but also their broader engagement with societal and global issues. Through this exploration, students will have the opportunity to cultivate and enhance their critical thinking abilities and decision-making skills, equipping them with the tools to navigate intricate moral quandaries in a variety of contexts.
291D: Prindle Reading Course:Larry Temkin, Being Good in a World of Need
In this course, we will examine the issue of aiding people in need around the world. The issue raises a variety of moral questions: what obligations do affluent individuals or nations have? If there are any obligations, how can these obligations be discharged? We will evaluate arguments in favor of giving aid esp. effective altruism. Also, we will evaluate objections to aid: unintended negative consequences of such aid, brain drain, incentivizing corruption, encouragement of poor policies, etc.
291E: Prindle Reading Course:Will Steacy, Photos Not Taken: A Collection of Photographer's Essays
Why would a photographer choose not to take a picture? This evocative question will guide our reading and discussions during the semester. We will examine how photographers make decisions in the field, usually in the spur of the moment, and how those choices are informed. Privacy, consent, representation, and exploitation are some of the larger issues that relate to these instantaneous moments, which often plague photographers. In an extreme example, photographers (Like Ed Kashi in the book) may have to decide whether or not to save a life or to take a picture. And sometimes, a photographer is attacked, or their subject is violated simply because they are being photographed. The act of photographing can alter a situation. Furthermore, the choice to share a photograph on social media can change a person's life forever. Photographers have to face many questions as they photograph. We will examine the ethical role of photographing in our current times and how the subject, photographer and public can be affected by these choices.
Fall Semester information
291A: Prindle Reading Course:Paul Nnodim and Austin Okigbo, Ubuntu: A Comparative Study of an African Concept of Justice
Students will read, discuss, and reflect on a range of perspectives on Ubuntu: a relational or community-based ethical perspective from the Bantu cultures of South and East Africa. Ubuntu is the moral perspective of great South African leaders, such as: Nelson Mandela, who lead the successful struggle to overcome the racial segregation and injustice of apartheid; and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who lead the nation's path-setting Truth and Reconciliation Commission (an innovative model for national, restorative justice after atrocity). Ubuntu ethics contrasts deeply with the individualism of modern, Western, Liberal moral and political philosophy, the perspective shared by Kant, Bentham and Mill, Sidgewick, Rawls, Ross, Nussbaum and other leading figures in philosophical ethics. The course will challenge students from Western cultures to step back critically from their own cultural perspective, engage with a new way of thinking about justice, and thereby to enlarge their moral imagination. For students from Bantu, and other non-Western, cultures, the course offers an opportunity to engage with a serious philosophical exploration of a moral perspective which has shown itself to have particular value in post-conflict and post-atrocity contexts, contexts which the world, unfortunately, continues to create.
291B: Prindle Reading Course:Percival Everett, James
"If a lie is what it takes to ensure our survival, then let it be told." So declares escaped slave Jim in Percival Everett's novel "James," a reimagining of Mark Twain's classic "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. By turning Twain's novel on its head, Everett challenges traditional notions of truth and who gets to tell it. As the titular James struggles for control of his narrative and his destiny, he faces moral dilemmas familiar in western ethics: rights, consequences, duty, and virtue, to name just a few. But how can we, as readers, understand the complexities of choices made within the dehumanizing framework of slavery? This question will guide our inquiry over eight weeks. Some issues we will consider include: identity and performance, truth-telling and historical narratives; marginalization and human dignity, duty and freedom.
291C: Prindle Reading Course:W. Kamau Bell & Kate Schatz, Do the Work! An Antiracist Activity Book
What responsibilities do institutions of higher education and their students, faculty, and staff have to actively confront and seek to dismantle systemic racism, promoting justice, equity, and human dignity? Engaging in antiracist praxis acknowledges the historical and ongoing marginalization of certain groups, aiming to rectify power imbalances, and societal inequities. This commitment requires continuous self-awareness, critical examination of personal biases, and a dedication to transformative societal change. This course utilizes "Do the Work!: An Antiracist Activity Book" by W. Kamau Bell and Kate Schatz to engage in interactive discussions and exercises aimed at understanding and dismantling systems of oppression. Students will critically examine concepts of white privilege, meritocracy, and historical disenfranchisement. The course emphasizes practical application by encouraging students to initiate conversations, reflect on personal biases, and commit to actionable steps toward creating a more equitable campus and society.
291D: Prindle Reading Course:Andrew Chignell, Evil: A History
Discussing evil in The Gulag Archipelago, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn writes, "If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" Solzhenitsyn makes several contested claims about evil in this quotation including: that there are no evil persons, that all humans have in them the capacity for good and evil, that evil is a fundamental part of human nature. In this course, we will look at the concept of evil. Our book Evil: A History contains several essays with varying views on evil. These essays consider its very existence, its nature, whether it is a force or a person, the source of evil, its scope, and other questions. In addition, the book will provide us with a sense of how evil is understood in various eras, religions, philosophies, and from the perspective of the natural sciences.
291E: Prindle Reading Course:John Lewis, Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America
What is the highest calling of your heart, and how do you stand up for what you believe? This course engages students with the enduring legacy of civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis, inspired by his final book. Through an exploration of the core principles that shaped his vision for change--faith, patience, study, truth, action, peace, love, and reconciliation--students will critically reflect on their own values and commitments to social justice.
This course includes a three-day, two-night Civil Rights Fall Break trip to Alabama, where students will explore key sites central to course readings and discussions. Priority enrollment is given to those participating in the trip.
291F: Prindle Reading Course:Kara Tan Bhala, Ethics in Finance: Case Studies from a Woman's Life on Wall Street
How do financial professionals navigate high-pressure ethical decisions? This interactive, discussion-driven course explores real-world finance ethics through live role-play simulations, debates, and case studies. Students will grapple with whistleblowing, corporate bias, insider trading, and financial integrity by stepping into the roles of analysts, executives, regulators, and journalists.
Through simulations, ethical challenges, and a final personal ethics manifesto, students will build a practical framework for ethical decision-making applicable to finance, business, law, and beyond. No prior finance experience needed--just a willingness to challenge assumptions and think critically! The book is a must-read not just for anyone contemplating a career on Wall Street, but also for every retail investor navigating the new era of social media-driven investing. It is an honest and compelling read directly from the author's experiences as a sell side analyst and a successful portfolio manager.