SCCC 462I: Gandhi, King, And The Legacy Of Non-Violence
Professor: Hal W. French
tel: 777-2178(o)/ 256-2866(h)
email: frenchh@sc.edu
Office: Preston 107.
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Fall 2005
Wednesday 2:30-5:00
Preston Seminar
Room.
Course Website: http://blackboard.sc.edu
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(In most afternoons, 1-4,
or MWF mornings, 8:30-11; drop by or by appt.)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In the wake of aggressive responses to recent national and international provocations, questions may be raised as to whether non-violent strategies for conflict resolution may still be tenable. This course will explore the legacy of Gandhi, King, and others, to see how these strategies were tested in their time, and what lessons we may learn from them now,
Beyond historical studies of these two primary figures, students will engage questions of how non-violent positions may be applicable in political community and personal arenas. Is it possible to approximate the ethics of non-violence in our time?
REQUIREMENTS:
Students will be responsible to share leadership in class discussions at scheduled times, and each student will also submit two reports in class, with a one or two page handout. A journal will also be kept (no more than two pages per week), and submitted twice during the term. No exams will be given. Each report and each journal submission will be weighed as 25% of the course grade, with class participation as an additional variable.
We will try to arrange an overnight class trip to the King Center in Atlanta.
TEXTS:
Louis Fischer, The Essential Gandhi
Louis Fischer, Gandhi: His Life and Message for the World
Stephen Oates, Let the Trumpet Sound
Packet from Academic Advantage- materials from Joan Bondurant, Conquest of Violence
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE:
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Aug. 24
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Introduction: Naked apes, or kind, gentle by nature? Our propensities for violence and non-violence. The philosophy of non-violence, especially in traditional India
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Aug. 31
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Gandhi: Childhood and Youth, South Africa: Life, chaps. 1-9; Essential, 1-6
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Sept. 7
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Back in India: Life, chaps. 10-15; Essential, chaps. 7-9; Bondurant, pp. 36-45 (Satyagraha), 45-62 (Vykom Temple), 53-64 (Bardoli)
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Sept. 14
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Bondurant, 65-73 (Ahmedabad), 73-88 (Nationwide Against Rowlatt Bills), 88-99 (Salt Satyagraha). Life, chap. 16. Essential, 10, 11.
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Sept. 21
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Various themes: Life, 17-26; Essential, 12-24
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Sept. 28
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Concluding events: Life, 27-34; Essential, 25-29
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Oct. 5
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Class reports on Gandhi and associates, other figures such as John Ruskin, William Wilberforce, Mother Teresa, etc.
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Oct. 12
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Oates, "Preface and Odyssey": pp. 3-51 FIRST JOURNAL DUE
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Oct 19
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Oates, "On the Stage of History": 55-112
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Oct. 26
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Oates, "Freedom is Never Free" and "Seasons of Sorrow": 115-171
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Nov. 2
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Class trip to Orangeburg Massacre Site with Cleveland Sellers: Rest of "Seasons of Sorrow": 171-201
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Nov. 9
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Oates, "The Dreamer Cometh": 205-276 Class reports
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Nov. 16
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Oates, "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around:" 325-383 Reports
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Nov. 23
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CLASS WILL NOT MEET- THANKSGIVING!!
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Nov. 30
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Oates, "The Road to Jericho" and "The Hour of Reckoning": 387-462 Reports
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Dec. 2
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SECOND JOURNAL DUE
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NO FINAL EXAM, BUT CLASS WILL MEET AT STATED EXAM TIME- Oates, "Free at Last" (and so are you): 465-498
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