Course Syllabus

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The Good Life

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Semester & Location:

Summer 2022, Session 2 - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:

Elective Course - 3 credits

Major Disciplines:

 Philosophy, Literature

Minor Disciplines:

 Ethics, Religious Studies

Study Tour:

The French Riviera/Provence

Faculty Member:

 Anna Louise Strelis Söderquist

Office hours:

 By appointment: anna.soederquist@dis.dk
Program Coordinator:

Sanne Rasmussen, sra@dis.dk

Time & Place:

Time: 10:00 AM–1:00 PM daily, unless otherwise indicated
Room: N7-B13

Description of Course

In this course, we examine the foundations of the good life as they surface in Danish and French philosophy, with particular focus on human freedom and the search for meaning, fulfilment, and happiness. While external conditions may bring satisfaction, as in a well-functioning state like Denmark, we quickly turn our attention deeper, to internal measures of human flourishing. 
 
Our course takes us into the works of nineteenth- and twentieth-century European writers and artists, like Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Camus, Beauvoir, Rodin, and Marc Chagall, who shared an insight into the existential conditions of despair, anxiety, and meaningless, seeing these trials as occasions to examine how we live. With them, we inquire into our relationships, activities, and commitments; we wonder about the importance of personal responsibility and active engagement; and we ask whether freedom is key to the good life, and, if so, the freedom to do what? We may not discover the secret to happiness in this course, but we do partake in an age-old pilgrimage in search of the good life. We do so concretely by following in the footsteps of the philosophers we study: through the streets of Copenhagen and in the land- and cityscapes of southern France. 

Learning Objectives

Together, we will be aiming to: (1) enter into dialogue with European philosophical, literary, and artistic traditions that have grappled with existential questions; (2) acquire academic skills in navigating and interpreting philosophical works, novels, and artworks; (3) develop abilities in nuancing and articulating our own views and positions in dialogue with those of others; and (4) relate our particular lived experience of the search for the good life to universal philosophical concepts that elucidate the human condition.

Faculty

Anna Louise Strelis Söderquist, Ph.D. in Philosophy, The New School for Social Research, 2015. M.A. in Philosophy, The New School for Social Research, New York, 2012. B.S. in Philosophy and Sociology, Minor in History, Northeastern University, 2004. Alumni of Fulbright US-Denmark, 2013–2014. Researcher at the Søren Kierkegaard Research Center, University of Copenhagen. With DIS since 2015.

Readings

  • Beauvoir, Simone de. The Ethics of Ambiguity. New York: Open Road, 2018. ISBN 978-1-5040-5422-5
  • Beauvoir, Simone de. The Prime of Life. London: Penguin Books, 1965 (selections).
  • Camus, Albert. A Happy Death. London: Penguins Books, 2013. ISBN 978-0-141-18658-0
  • Camus, Albert. The First Man. London: Penguin Books, 2001 (selections).
  • Kaag, John. Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are. New York: Farrar, Straus and Grioux, 2018 (selections, on Canvas).
  • Kierkegaard, Søren. The Concept of Anxiety. London: W.W. Norton, 2015 (selections).
  • Kierkegaard, Søren. The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016 (e-book, in Modules).
  • Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. London: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 978-0-140-44118-5
  • Witt, Emily. "A Six-Day Walk Through the Alps, Inspired by Simone de Beauvoir." The New York Times Style Magazine, October, 13 2013 (on Canvas).

Artists 

  • Niels Hansen Jakobsen
  • Auguste Rodin
  • Jean Gautherin
  • Marc Chagall

Study Tour to the French Riviera/Provence

On this week-long study tour, our classroom now moves to the French Riviera and Provence along the southern coast of France, as we follow this course’s authors, thinkers, and artists in search of the good life. People drawn to the Mediterranean are, like their “Nordic” counterparts, known for cultivating the art of living, though in contrasting ways. Some writers saw northern Europe as the land of the cold "philosopher kings," while Mediterranean civilization embodied for them the pursuit of well-being. While modern humans can seem out of touch with lived life, bound up in representational modes of thinking and instrumental ways of engaging the world, southern France inspires a rare ability to capture a raw and genuine experience of bodily encounter with the world.

Our pilgrimage takes us to the beautiful Alpes-Maritimes city of Nice, originally founded by the Greeks, and refuge to artists and thinkers since the nineteenth century. Excursions to the east and west, including idyllic coastal towns and secluded mountain villages, permit us to visit the sites where nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosophers, writers, and artists sought solitude and rejuvenation, where they lived and wrote, and, not least, where they loved and died.

Approach to Learning

We use the Socratic method in this course, which includes a close study of texts and persistent exploration of concrete life, always with a goal of raising everyday experience to a reflective level. We will employ an array of short lectures, student presentations, dialogue between partners, small group activities, full-class discussions, and assignments out and about in the city and nature. Our approach involves working together to mutually question assumptions, clarify positions, and help each other give birth to new thoughts and ideas. The focus is not so much on final answers as on good questions that open up further possibilities for inquiry.

Expectations of Participants

Active participation in all activities is essential for the success of the course. In each meeting, whether in the classroom or on tour, you are asked to raise questions in relation to the assigned texts or other material and to respond to your peers’ contributions. Therefore, full preparation before meetings includes close textual readings and note-taking, close observation of the world around you, and reflection on possible directions for our dialogue once we are together.

Classroom Etiquette

Dialogue involves candid questioning. Thus, the feedback we give one another may be penetrating and challenging, but it will truly thrive only where it also achieves respect and charity. A helpful measuring bar is to consider our procedure as tending toward questioning rather than asserting.

No computers or phones in the classroom, except for access to readings. Please keep use of phones to a minimum during all course-related activities outside of class. 

Evaluation

No previous experience in the discipline of philosophy is required, and you will be receiving substantial guidance in the learning process. Nevertheless, you will be challenged (whatever your starting point) to apply yourself in developing your fluency in the genre, both as a thinker and a writer. The purpose of the course assignments is to deepen and nuance your understanding of particular topics that deeply interest you, while acquiring tools for philosophical thinking useful across life.

Disclosures

Throughout the summer, you are asked to keep a daily practice of writing "disclosures" to yourself. These short written entries are entirely private and for your own edification (i.e., they are not read or assessed by the professor). They may be influenced by your experiences in our course, by your time studying abroad, or by anything else. Think of this as dialogue with oneself, mental training, and/or spiritual practice. Reread your thoughts, or don't. Share and discuss them with others, or don't. I do encourage you to keep your entries all in one place (one small notebook or computer file). Other traditional terms referring to this practice are "meditations," "confessions," or "personal revelations."

Discussion Board Posts

You are asked throughout the course to contribute to a discussion thread on Canvas in preparation for class. After having engaged with the assigned material, but before we meet in class, you will post your reflections and questions on the reading in paragraph form (ranging from 1–2 pages each time). This is a great opportunity to read the contributions of your peers as well.

Final Paper

The final paper (6-8 pages) will draw from your own discussion board posts. It will be a chance for you to bring together your reflections on the various themes we have touched upon throughout the course – into one paper. While the content of your final paper can overlap with your previous submissions, you must write a unique introduction and conclusion, edit the paper for clarity, and update your reflections wherever relevant.

Grading Breakdown

Assignment

Percent
Attendance & Participation:

15%

Discussion Board Posts:

60%

Final Paper:

25%

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:

Date Details Due