Georgetown University

This course examines our increasingly interconnected – yet stubbornly fragmented and unequal –world, and asks how we might conscientiously choose to live and act in it. Drawing on the fields of comparative political and economic development, we will explore the cross-national patterns of behavior by states and private actors that are shaping outcomes in education, growth, social inclusion, and political participation. We will complement this empirical study with normative perspectives drawn from the fields of philosophy, social and cultural analysis, and theology, ultimately pushing each of ourselves to decide on concrete ways our convictions can shape our choices about how to live as aware and responsible citizens in the world as it exists today.

Readings will be composed of two texts each week, one drawn from the empirical study of comparative political and economic development, and another drawn from the normative theory or analysis. Emphasis will be placed on linking the material to Georgetown’s history, values, and student experience (both academic and extra-curricular).