Self & Social Transformation
PHIL 274
Fall 2022
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
ANTH 274, FGSS 274 |
Racism, sexism, and classism are deeply ingrained in our habits and feelings. It seems that in order to change objective conditions we need to change ourselves and our communities. But given that our habits and feelings are often unconscious and resistant to change, how do we philosophically go about doing this? This class tries to answer this question. It starts theoretically with ancient Greek and ancient Chinese virtue ethics as well as Foucault's later work on self-transformation. It then takes these concepts/theories and sees them in action in contemporary movements of self/community transformation. We start with a paradigmatic political activist movement of self-transformation: the Black feminist transformative justice movement with the goal of prison abolition. But as we progress, we will explore less obvious and seemingly more mundane movements of self- and community transformation such as Saba Mahmood's dawa movement from Egypt, Weight Watchers, and finally "ballroom" culture from Detroit. Anthropological ethnographies of these movements will help show how we can self-reflexively shape our own habits and transform ourselves. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS PHIL |
| Course Format: Lecture | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (ANTH)(PHIL)(PHIL-Philosophy)(PHIL-Social Jus) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Foucault, Technologies of the self
Foucault, Ethics: Subjectivity and Truth ed. Paul Rabinow
Saba Mahmood, The Politics of Piety
Mariam Kaba - We Do This `til We Free Us
Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement ed Ejeris Dixon and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Deva Woodly - Reckoning Black Lives Matter and the Democratic Necessity of Social Movements
Alexandre Lefebvre, Human Rights and the Care of the Self
Oldberding, Etiquette: A Confucian Contribution to Moral Philosophy
Cressida Heyes - Self-Transformations
Foucault, Ethics, and Normalized Bodies
Marlon Bailey, Butch Queens Up in Pumps: Gender, Performance, and Ballroom Culture in Detroit
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Examinations and Assignments:
In-class Discussion cards: 15%; Reading responses: 30%; Self-transformation journal: 15%; Foucault midterm essay: 15%; Final Paper on Self-Transformation and Social Change: 25% |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
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| Instructor(s): Velji,Muhammad Times: ....R.. 04:30PM-07:20PM; Location: FISK404; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 25 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 1 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 5 | JR non-major: 5 | SO: 5 | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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