Justice and the University

How do the fundamental purpose of the university, the pursuit of knowledge, and the pursuit of justice coincide? Or do they conflict and pull us in different directions? Our goal in this class will be to focus on the intersection of justice and knowledge by examining how issues of liberty, equality, and security arise on college campuses. University campuses have a long history as sites of activism across a wide variety of domains and this course will cover a number of them including trigger warnings and safe spaces; free speech; ethics in research; Dreamer Act and college access for undocumented persons. Our goal in this course is to get students to think critically about tradeoffs among society's most treasured goals. When these goals come into tension, how should decisions be made about which goal must give way? We aim to teach students how to identify and think about these conflicts and how to craft arguments, both written and oral, in support of their positions, using a variety of source materials.