Political Belief and Deceit

This transdisciplinary course will help you figure out what, if anything, to believe in. The first half of the course examines how to foster belief drawing upon ideas from Plato, Machiavelli, Nietzsche and Strauss who argued that unless certain truths about reality, politics, faith and liberal democracy are hidden from the public, society will fall into ruin. The second half of the course looks at belief and deceit from the bottom up, enlisting ideas about truth and resistance from Gramsci, James C. Scott and de Certeau. Through an introduction to poetry and the arts, you will consider how to be more creative, ethical, and honest in post-truth contexts, in the university, and in everyday life.