Equality of Opportunity Debate

An interesting debate arose in this class from two participants sitting on opposite sides of the room.  The primary clash of their debate involved the power of self-initiative vs. the reality of systemic injustice.  The debate became heated and personal, but remained respectful and was supported throughout by reasons.  At the end of the debate, one of the participants turned to me and asked with genuine curiosity: "What the fuck is this class anyway, a 'what if' class?"  Running with this suggestion, a graduate student wrote into the next week's lesson plan: "Many of the practical changes that we call progress began with a group of people sitting around and wondering "what if…" (e.g., end of slavery, women's voting rights, etc.) There are a lot more "what ifs…" to consider that can lead to progress and change."  We hope it's a "what if" class in this sense.

An interesting debate arose in this class from two participants sitting on opposite sides of the room. The primary clash of their debate involved the power of self-initiative vs. the reality of systemic injustice. The debate became heated and personal, but remained respectful and was supported throughout by reasons. At the end of the debate, one of the participants turned to me and asked with genuine curiosity: “What the fuck is this class anyway, a ‘what if’ class?” Running with this suggestion, a graduate student wrote into the next week’s lesson plan: “Many of the practical changes that we call progress began with a group of people sitting around and wondering “what if…” (e.g., end of slavery, women’s voting rights, etc.) There are a lot more “what ifs…” to consider that can lead to progress and change.” We hope it’s a “what if” class in this sense! 

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