Class 19: A Diverse Grinnell Liberal Education

Contents:

• Preliminaries
• Introduction to Diversity Exercise
• Diversity Exercise
• Wrapup
• Extra Material In Case Diversity Session Ends Early
  • Diversity and the Liberal Arts
  • Cronon's Characteristics of Liberally Educated People
  • Liberal Arts and Vocation
  • They Read and They Understand

Preliminaries

8:30-8:40

• Due Thursday: Miscellaneous Assignment 10: Tentative Schedules. Please bring a three-semester plan, too, even though it's not on the assignment.
• Due next Tuesday: The draft of your research paper. Please make it a nice draft.
• This Thursday: Nonvo. Dijana Milosevic on The Role of the Artist in Dark Times
• This Thursday: Discussion of IP in The Social Network
• National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) starts next Monday. I encourage all of you to participate.
• We have guest speakers today. Treat them as you would treat me. No, treat them better than you would treat me.

Introduction to Diversity Exercise

8:40-8:45

• Over the past few years, we've seen some fairly painful explicit homophobia, pedophilia, misogony, and racism on campus.
• But people on campus also deal with less explicit biases.
• Last year, SGA voted that we needed to deal with biases a bit more systematically on campus. (Yay SelfGov.)
• They've asked for time in Tutorial, and since I consider these incredibly important issues, I am letting them take as much time as they need.

Diversity Exercise

8:45-9:40 (more or less)

Wrapup

9:40-9:50

Extra Material In Case Diversity Session Ends Early

Diversity and the Liberal Arts

• You've read a variety of things about the liberal arts in general and about the liberal arts at Grinnell.
• What things have you read that suggest that understanding of diversity is a core aspect of a liberal arts education?

Cronon's Characteristics of Liberally Educated People

• Which would you prioritize?

Liberal Arts and Vocation

• What are the key morals each of the three speakers hopes that you will take from their essay?
• Is there a relationship between liberal arts and vocation?

They Read and They Understand

• Cronon suggests that liberally educated people read and understand.
• He also suggests that there are a variety of liberatures to read.
• Which literatures do you read?
• Which literatures should you learn to read?