James Fleming, S.J.
Assistant to the Vice President for University Mission and Ministry
Seniors leave the Heights of Chestnut Hill wiser than when they arrived and it is this newly-discovered wisdom that is the focus of this Capstone course, especially its active and moral character that removes it from the realm of theory and places it soundly in the world of everyday life. The overarching goal of this course is to engage students in intellectually-informed, serious discussions about important topics in a moral context.
The curriculum, made-up of both theoretical works and narratives, will consider wisdom as it relates to the themes of:
- Work—Goffman, Nash and Stevenson;
- Relationships—Lewis and L’Angel;
- Citizenship—Tocqueville and Putnam;
- Spirituality—The Bible, Noddings and Hahn.
The reflective-practice, that is the method for this course, will be based on the underlying philosophical approach of Hadot’s, Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault.