News to provoke discussion in Classics classes (could be considered TAN)

[Jean Alvares]

I just saw this interesting headline..

Fox News Hosts Tell Young Women Not To Vote, Go Back To Tinder And Match.com

see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/22/fox-news-young-women-voters-kimberly-guilfoyle-midterm-election_n_6028054.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013&ir=Politics

Now in my humanities courses a central topic concerns the evolution of concepts and practices concerning democracy, and thinkers such a Plato (and some of the Founding Fathers) thought very negatively about democracy. I think in these days of voter suppression attempts and headlines such as this we have a lot of material to make our students understand these conflicts and it pertains to them and their own standing in the polis and what kind of polis we in fact have. I know some think we should 'save the world on our own time', but I do think students learn better when they can see how a concept applies in a crucial fashion to their lives.

[Claude Pavur]

It is good to make such themes timely. I hope you will highlight exactly
why democracy has been an ambiguous value through the ages. (Doesn't Plato
do this in the Republic?) Education (leading to both knowledge and wisdom)
and virtue have been proposed as necessary to make democracy work. What are
the implications of that for our societies? What constructs of virtue are
allowable, preferable, essential? And how do we construct a system in
which what is most virtuous and wise is not stamped out or consistently
overruled by what is the opposite? These are rich fields for classical and
contemporary thought. Cultural historical knowledge seems a prerequisite
for reflection in these areas. This is another reason to value the
humanities in the formation of young citizens. No reason why they can't be
informed, reflective, virtuous, and incipiently wise at an early age. But
are they? And if they are not, who can do something about it?

Claude Pavur
The Institute of Jesuit Sources
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

--

Post by Jean Alvares
I just saw this interesting headline..
Fox News Hosts Tell Young Women Not To Vote, Go Back To Tinder And Match.com
see
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/22/fox-news-young-women-voters-kimberly-guilfoyle-midterm-election_n_6028054.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013&ir=Politics
Now in my humanities courses a central topic concerns the evolution of
concepts and practices concerning democracy, and thinkers such a Plato (and
some of the Founding Fathers) thought very negatively about democracy. I
think in these days of voter suppression attempts and headlines such as
this we have a lot of material to make our students understand these
conflicts and it pertains to them and their own standing in the polis and
what kind of polis we in fact have. I know some think we should 'save the
world on our own time', but I do think students learn better when they can
see how a concept applies in a crucial fashion to their lives.

[Elias j Theodoracopoulos]

Just do an experiment: ask your students who their Congressman is and who are the U. S. Senators from their state. Count hands.
EJTh
________________________________________
From: Classical Greek and Latin Discussion Group [CLASSICS-***@LSV.UKY.EDU] on behalf of Jean Alvares [***@MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 9:13 AM
To: CLASSICS-***@LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: [CLASSICS-L] News to provoke discussion in Classics classes (could be considered TAN)

I just saw this interesting headline..

Fox News Hosts Tell Young Women Not To Vote, Go Back To Tinder And Match.com

see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/22/fox-news-young-women-voters-kimberly-guilfoyle-midterm-election_n_6028054.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013&ir=Politics

Now in my humanities courses a central topic concerns the evolution of concepts and practices concerning democracy, and thinkers such a Plato (and some of the Founding Fathers) thought very negatively about democracy. I think in these days of voter suppression attempts and headlines such as this we have a lot of material to make our students understand these conflicts and it pertains to them and their own standing in the polis and what kind of polis we in fact have. I know some think we should 'save the world on our own time', but I do think students learn better when they can see how a concept applies in a crucial fashion to their lives.

[Colin McLarty]

If Plato was very negative about democracy, then he was generous enough to
give the Laws of Athens a pretty devastating argument against his own view,
at the end of the Crito. The character Socrates accepts their argument.
One is even tempted to say he "gives" their argument.

Colin

Post by Jean Alvares
I just saw this interesting headline..
Fox News Hosts Tell Young Women Not To Vote, Go Back To Tinder And Match.com
see
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/22/fox-news-young-women-voters-kimberly-guilfoyle-midterm-election_n_6028054.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013&ir=Politics
Now in my humanities courses a central topic concerns the evolution of
concepts and practices concerning democracy, and thinkers such a Plato (and
some of the Founding Fathers) thought very negatively about democracy. I
think in these days of voter suppression attempts and headlines such as
this we have a lot of material to make our students understand these
conflicts and it pertains to them and their own standing in the polis and
what kind of polis we in fact have. I know some think we should 'save the
world on our own time', but I do think students learn better when they can
see how a concept applies in a crucial fashion to their lives.