Possible Future Huzanity Courses

There is no limit to the subjects that could be appropriate for a Huzanity School course. The tools that we use to UNDERSTAND can be applied to anything. We want to create an active, broad, responsive educational community center. If this is going to happen, here in Anchorage, or anywhere, we have to work together!

History

Paradigms of nature, human nature, and history
Why did the West become dominant?
The view that culture is key. See Durkheim. See references in new book on ‘liberalism.’
Physical situation. Kinds of animals and plants.
Why did the Roman Empire fall?
“Edward Gibbon, in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, identified two reasons for the fall of the ancient civilization”: barbarism and religion. Augustine defended Christianity with The City of God. A History of Knowledge, Van Doren, 92
Could compare two views: Gibbon and Augustine
What was the Enlightenment?
What was the Industrial Revolution.
Slave writings

Religion
Courses looking at each of the major religions; a course on Christian sects; and a 'church walk' visiting local religious groups. See 'The Core of Religions,' on this website, for more information.
Living religious movements
“Francis demanded that his followers subsist entirely on what they could beg as they walked through the world, preaching their message to all who would listen....Throughout the thirteenth century, however, monasticism rose to heights of piety and service to mankind that it had never reached before, and has never reached since.” A History of Knowledge, Van Doren, 108
Moral situation of contemporary Churches
“In his book Goodbye, Good Men, investigative reported Michael Rose does an extraordinary job of documenting the homosexual infiltration of the American Catholic hierarchy and the subsequent destruction of foundational values and core teachings.” The Death of Right and Wrong, Tammy Bruce, 224

Science and technology
The supernatural
Materialism and the scientific worldview
Alternative medicine
Genetic engineering
‘Promises and perils of genetic engineering: an introduction to the science behind and the ethical implications of this field.’

Contemporary Movements
Peace strategies
Non-Violent Communication
Consensus decision-making
Quaker listening
Compassionate Listening
Popular spiritual movements
The Kabbalah Centre
Tikkun Community
Popular social movements
Swadhyaya
“A movement for interrelation and selflessness. A community movement based around religion, is sweeping across India and revitalizing society wherever it goes. Swadhyaya’s central tenet is that a person’s responsibility is to do one’s duty to the best of one’s capability for God and without attachment to the fruits of labor. Projects are undertaken to help people achieve this and change the way they view the world. All humans are related by virtue of their creation by God, and it is this interconnectedness which is at the heart of their work. See www.yesmagazine.org

Government
Intellectual property
Original American liberalism
“The ideals of the American Dream – including decency, freedom, and individual liberty – are not contradictory and are absolutely worth fighting for.”
Democracy vs. conservatism
Read and contrast the argument between conservatism and democracy in Burke's essay and Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man (which was intended to refute Burke).
Libertarianism vs. Communitarianism
‘Communitarians blame modern liberalism for overemphasizing individual liberties at the expense of communitarian values....The bible of the communitarian movement has become The Spirit of Community, written by Amitai Etzioni, who argues that American communities have been decimated by the steady expansion of personal rights without concomitant social responsibilities.” Going Local, Michael Shuman, 34
Specifics amendments or ideas
What is the meaning of specific amendments or ideas, such as "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"? Is the purpose to protect religion from the state or the state from religion? (One view: Stephen Carter, The Culture of Disbelief).
US foreign policy -- exploitation and assistance
What is the U.S. responsibility for extreme violence?
The US government
United States Information Agency (USIA)
US effect on our native populations
Liberals, conservatives, socialists
"All during the nineteenth century victory in this three horse race (conservative, liberals and socialists) went to the bourgeois liberals" European Intellectual History, 56