PSCI 250(F) The Philosophy and Politics of Higher Education (Same as EXPR 250 and Philosophy 250)

This course will invite students to think critically about the history and role of higher education in the United States. We will engage contemporary debates about higher education that are occurring at the national level as well as at Williams-debates that focus on canons, curricula, pedagogy, and affirmative action, but that are more broadly concerned with issues of exclusion and inclusion, of equality, fairness and social justice. Our readings will allow us to trace the complex history of these contestations, which in the United States have always attempted to define the role of education in a pluralist democracy. Our texts will include the work of Plato and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, of Horace Mann and John Dewey, of contributors to the critical pedagogy movement of the 1960s, including Paulo Freire and Ira Schor, as well as the work of feminist critics of that movement. We will also read contemporary debates on higher education, including the positions of Allan Bloom, Troy Duster, Francis Oakley, and Patricia Williams. Throughout the course we will take Williams College as a case study for our inquiries, availing ourselves of the Williamsiana collection, histories of the College, and the memories of alumni, faculty and administrators who have participated in shaping the College's recent history. Requirements: several short writing assignments, one longer (7-9 pages) paper, and participation in one group research project. No prerequisites. No enrollment limit. Political Theory and American Politics Subfields

Hour: SAWICKI, SWANN, A. WILLINGHAM