Category

Deas - America's Founding Documents: The Foundation for Civic Engagement

Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

7-2024

Keywords

syllabus, interdisciplinary, civic engagement, democracy, freedom, race, African Americans, values/ideals, norms, common good

Publisher

Clemson University Press

Comments

This course will explore the evolving definitions of freedom in the United States through an analysis of the lives and writings of African Americans who have struggled to realize the country’s founding principles and core values. And to this day, Black Americans, more than any other group, embrace the democratic ideals of a common good. We will couple our study of the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and the Emancipation Proclamation with deeper interdisciplinary inquiry into how the principles and provisions of these documents have and continue to affect the everyday lives of Black citizens from the seventeenth century to the present. Further, through a study of these founding documents, this course lays a foundation for students to understand the importance of being civically engaged civic engagement to maintain a healthy democracy. Central to this effort will be questions, readings, and assignments that help students to understand the societal values and norms that frame the call for self-governance, individual rights, and free expression as well as how to become more civically engaged citizens. Students will be asked to identify and contextualize the consequences of these practices in the United States with particular attention to the ways that Black Americans have worked to make critical ethical codes and moral theories more inclusive.

Download

Share

COinS