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| About this course | |||
| 15.269 Literature, Ethics and Authority |
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Overview We tell stories to make sense of the world. Our personal and professional lives depend on our ability to weave many elements into a coherent whole, both for us and for our fellows. Stories work with the complexity of daily life, and give us perspective on decisions we might incline to take too casually, or crises that at first resist our mastery. In the seminar, we ask: what happens when people, events, and issues take center stage and make us question our ideas of leadership, career, and proper behavior? How do we respond to social concerns over diversity, gender, and family in the workplace, or cope with the reality of war, death, and ordinary human frailty? Through films, novels, plays, and short fiction — good stories — this seminar examines issues of freedom and control, consensus and individual expression, as they bear on our ambition to manage both work and personal life. We will also use some non-fiction — essays, speeches, letters, memoirs — to round out the discussion. The course meets in E51-335 on Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:30 - 4:00, from Feb 5 to May 14. Books are available for purchase at The MIT Coop; many assignments are included in the course packet. Films will be screened at Sloan in advance of class sessions, at times indicated in the course schedule; they are also available for rent at most video stores. Instructor Professor
Leigh G. Hafrey Course Assistant Michelle
Fiorenza Teaching Assistant Sabina Mcmahon |
All materials are the property of MIT and
copyright protected unless otherwise noted.
They can be used for all MIT classroom purposes but cannot be
used outside of MIT without permission.
