CORE 446 - Visions of Utopia: Dreams and Delusiosn

Institution:

Roger Williams University

Subject:

CORE CURRICULUM

Description:

Prerequisite: Core seminar, required for graduationCore 101 through 105 and at least sixth semester standingLiterally, the word "utopia" means "no place." Yet, throughout history,people have imagined they could establish an ideal community in this temporal world of time and space. Often, the societies they envisionedwere more just, prosperous, spiritual, beautiful, or compassionate thanthose that existed; at other times, what they proposed could only becharacterized by the greed, cruelty, and ignorance it would engender.Participants in this course will study "utopia" as a concept anda theme, a theory and a practice. This survey will take us from thepages of Thomas More's Utopia to the ungoverned virtual space ofthe Internet. In the process, we will consider the way knowledge ofutopias and dystopias shapes our world view and forms our ethos.Readings include: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood,Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy, Herland by Charlotte PerkinsGilman, Utopia by Thomas More, The Republic by Plato, Walden Twoby B.F. Skinner, and Night by Elie Wiesel.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.rwu.edu

Phone Number:

(401) 253-1040

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Semester

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