Living in an Urban Planet (Gen Ed 1103)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2024

How did our planet become so urban, and how can our cities be more vital, livable, and sustainable?

 



Bruno Carvalho 

 



Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

It has become a cliché to say that more than half of the world’s population now lives in cities. The speed and scale of urbanization over the past century has been stunning, and we tend to underestimate the extent to which built environments and natural landscapes have become entangled. As both lived and imagined spaces, cities will continue to shape life on our planet. In fact, if we consider the flow of resources (and refuse), energy systems, the circulation of people and cultures, where do our cities actually end? This class starts from the premise that the urban today represents a worldwide condition in which nearly all political, economic, cultural, and socio-environmental relations are enmeshed.... Read more about Living in an Urban Planet (Gen Ed 1103)

Justice: Ethical Reasoning in Polarized Times (Gen Ed 1200)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2024


What is a just society, and how should we think our way through the ethical choices we confront in politics and in our everyday lives?



Michael Sandel

This course explores classical and contemporary theories of justice and applies them to some of the most contested civic questions of our time: debates about equality and inequality; meritocracy; affirmative action; free speech v. hate speech; the moral limits of markets; immigration; climate change; the role of religion in politics; the ethics of algorithms and AI. 

... Read more about Justice: Ethical Reasoning in Polarized Times (Gen Ed 1200)

The Border: Race, Politics and Health in Modern Mexico (Gen Ed 1089)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2024

If we want to understand our own history we need to look at the fringes, in this case the ongoing tensions and violence at the U.S.-Mexico border illustrates what we value and fear as a society.

 



Gabriela Soto Laveaga

Our southern border is continuously covered in newspapers, social media, and political debates. Why does the Mexico-U.S. border continue to be a space of discussion and controversy? In the twenty-first century, as nations across the world militarize or rebuild their borders, the U.S.-Mexico border serves as a vital case study to understand the ongoing trend of tightening national borders—it also allows us to better understand our own history, politics, and how we shape our view of the world.... Read more about The Border: Race, Politics and Health in Modern Mexico (Gen Ed 1089)

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