Hot topics: Global controversies course teaches students how to argue for a better world

University of Toronto philosopher Jason Stanley doesn’t shy away from controversy – he taught a course on it.

In “Understanding Global Controversies” at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, Stanley set out to give students the grounding to tackle today’s toughest topics in a way that’s productive rather than polarizing.

The course – which will be taught by Professor Marci Shore, the chair in European Intellectual History at the Munk School, in the upcoming academic year – covered such highly charged topics as fascism, imperialism, colonialism and genocide. It emphasized the perspectives that history’s “winners” tend to leave out and how that fits into the present day. 

“I started the course by asking, what is democracy? What are democratic ideals and values? And what does it mean for democracy to be under attack?” says Stanley, a professor of philosophy in the Faculty of Arts & Science and Bissell-Heyd Chair in American Studies at the Munk School.

The award-winning author of How Propaganda Works tailored the curriculum to students’ interests and shifting world events. Rather than rely on slides, he invited dialogue in the classroom – an approach students said encouraged them to participate.

“The reason universities are attacked is because we’re central democratic institutions; we change with the times,” Stanley says. “But we need to keep having these discussions, to protect the university and to keep it thriving as a democratic community.”

Read more at the Faculty of Arts & Science