Course Syllabus
Dare to Know: Critical Thinking in a World on Fire |
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| Semester & Location: |
Fall 2024 - DIS Copenhagen |
| Type & Credits: |
Elective Course - 3 credits |
| Major Disciplines: |
Communication. Philosophy. Rhetoric. |
| Pre-requisite(s): |
None |
| Faculty Members: |
Jesper Lohmann, (current students please use the Canvas Inbox) |
| Time & Place: |
Mondays and Thursdays, 13.15-14.35 Location: |
“Most thought-provoking is that we are still not thinking -not even yet, although the state of the world is becoming constantly more thought-provoking.” Heidegger
Course Description:
How can critical thinking help us navigate in a world on fire, where the climate crisis, wars, identity politics, domestic politics, and social media divide us as never before?
How can we find the courage to think critically and independently when we increasingly obtain information, news, and fake news through echo chambers such as social media – and we live in fear of being excluded from these echo chambers?
And how can we bridge the gap between critical philosophy and praxis when division and fear of exclusion make the call for critically sound actions as important as ever?
These three questions will guide the course, where we will unfold historico-philosophical analyses of the present, that is, of the norms and values that we uncritically live by.
We will analyze the following topics and their interactions:
Knowledge, Power, Critique (Kant, Foucault, Harraway)
Work, Debt, Guilt (Marx, Nietzsche, Weeks, Graeber)
Gender, Language, Identity (Butler, Ahmed, Harraway, Nelson)
Refugees, Colonialism, Racialisation, and the Figure of the Marginalized (Spivak, Ahmed, Fanon, Arendt, Agamben)
Surveillance, Subjectification, Technology (Foucault, Zuboff)
In the course, which combines text-based discussions with case studies chosen and led by students, we will find support in Kant’s dictum Sapere aude: dare to know!
Learning Objectives:
- Students will gain a deep understanding of the importance of critical thinking as a questioning of the norms and values that we live by in the present.
- Students will be taught theoretical and analytical tools to approach and understand “old” issues in new ways by focusing on the unquestioned assumptions fundamental to these issues by focusing on the “who”, the “how” and the “why” instead of the “what”.
- Students will learn to carry out critical thinking in a world divided and dominated by opinions.
- Students will be empowered with the courage to insist on the relevance of critical thinking in a world where utterances and arguments are increasingly shaped by fear of exclusion.
- Students will experiment with and gain a deeper understanding of the link between critical philosophy and action.
Instructor:
Jesper Lohmann. Cand.Mag. (MA) in History of Ideas (University of Aarhus, 2002). With DIS since 2009.
Course Form:
It will be a discussion-based course, which demands a high degree of student participation and engagement. Throughout the course, you will have to develop and practice your own critical thinking by analyzing texts and concepts as well as specific cases to understand how difficult critical thinking actually is. Furthermore, you will have to give a presentation and lead a discussion on a topic of your choice as well as write short papers.
Field Studies
- Wednesday,
- Wednesday,
Course Requirements:
- One term-paper with no more than 2000 words to be submitted on December 5th. (More information on papers will be given to you in class).
- Three shorter pieces of writing of no more than 300 words to be submitted during the semester (more information on papers will be given to you in class).
- Engagement (attending classes, preparing the readings including forming questions, taking part in discussions, keeping deadlines)
- Presentation of a topic
To be eligible for a passing grade in this class, you must complete all of the assigned work. Late papers will not be accepted!
Course Evaluation:
- Papers 40 % (25% and 3x5%)
- Presentation 25 %
- Engagement 35 %
Attendance: You are expected to attend all DIS classes when scheduled. If you miss multiple classes, the Director of Teaching and Learning and the Director of Student Affairs will be notified and they will follow-up with you to make sure that all is well. Absences will jeopardize your grade and your standing at DIS. Allowances will be made in cases of illness, but in the case of multiple absences, you will need to provide a doctor’s note.
Laptops in Class: You may use your laptop for note-taking or fact-checking in my class. Usage not related to the class or our subject is unacceptable to the purpose of this class. Students should also refrain from any activity/behavior that may be disturbing to other students who are making the effort to be attentive. I am relying on your integrity and your respect for our objectives. If you are using your laptop for reasons not related to class, I will reduce your class participation grade significantly.
Readings: Various readings online on Canvas. On days with “no readings,” you might be reading texts handed out in previous classes. The texts will always be given to you with enough time to prepare.
Agamben, Giorgio: State of Exception
Ahmed, Sara: A Phenomenology of Whiteness
Arendt, Hannah: We Refugees
Beauvoir, Simone de: The Second Sex
Bennett, Jane: Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things
Butler, Judith: Gender Politics and the Right to Appear
Foucault, Michel: The History of Sexuality, vol 1
Foucault, Michel: What is Enlightenment
Freud, Sigmund: Civilization and its Discontent, chap. VI + VII
Graeber, David: Debt: The First 5000 Years
Harraway, Donna: A Cyborg Manifesto
Kant, Immanuel: “Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment?”’
Lorde, Audre: "The Master's Tools will never Dismantle the Master's House"
Nelson, Maggie: The Argonauts
Marx, Karl: Theses on Feuerbach
Nietzsche, Friedrich: On the Genealogy of Morals, First Essay
Preciado, Paul B: Testo Junkie
Spivak, Gayatri C: "Can the Subaltern speak?"
Weeks, Kathi: The Problem with Work
Zuboff, Shoshana: Surveillance Capitalism
It is important and mandatory to read all required material prior to class time in order to get full benefit from the classes.
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Course Summary:
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