グローバル教養科目（What's the Point? Love, Death, and the Quest for Meaning）

Week 1. Introductions -- What is love? Week 2. "In Praise of Love", essay-conversations by Alain Badiou Week 3. Sappho, poems and fragments Week 4. "Her", a film by Spike Jonze -- Who am I? Week 5. "Borges and I", a short piece by Jorge Luis Borges; “The Insight of Interbeing”, an essay by Thich Nhat Hanh Week 6. "Tomb Sweeping", selection of short stories by Alexandra Chang -- What is death? Week 7. "Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End", a non-fiction book by Atul Gawande. Week 8. "Coffinman: Journal of a Buddhist Mortician", a memoir by Shinmon Aoki Week 9. "The Epic of Gilgamesh" -- What is the meaning of life? Week 10. “The Meaning of Life,” an essay by Robert C. Solomon and Kathleen M. Higgins Week 11. "Ecclesiastes", selections from the Bible Week 12. "Daodejing" by Laozi Week 13. Synthesis of course themes

This course gives you an opportunity to engage directly with texts that ask timeless questions and explore ideas on how individuals conceive of themselves and how they relate to others, balancing their needs and desires and coping with the inevitability of death. The required tasks are designed to maximize your active engagement with those challenging texts through analysis and discussion, and to allow you to synthesize and evaluate their ideas both orally and in writing. Your success in this course depends on your regular participation, knowledge of the themes and big questions, as well as active discussion and challenging of the ideas of the authors, other students, and your own. We learn best from each other and with each other, by engaging thoughtfully. The grading scheme reflects this philosophy and provides opportunities to recall and synthesize ideas, exchange views with others, and present what you’ve learned to the class.

Please check the grading scale that applies to this course. If the Course Code ends without "P/F", this is a course with a letter grade (A+, A, B, C, F). If the Course Code ends with "P/F", this is a Pass/Fail Course.

Course readings will be provided in digital form.

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If the number of students enrolling in this course exceeds the number determined by the instructor, there may be a selection process. Instructions for the selection process will be given in the first class, so if you are interested in taking this course, please be sure to attend the first class.