What I'll Take from the Class

Beginning this course I didn't expect it to open my eyes in as many ways as it did. Though I'm not sure it drastically changed my opinions on any of the discussed topics, it did open my eyes to new ways of thinking that I had not previously considered.
Leaving the class I approach the concept of Liberalism from a much expanded viewpoint. Before this class I wasn't aware of the ways in which the overarching concepts of liberalism are present in our everyday lives. What made me most realize how present liberalism is were the classes in which other professors came to speak. Looking at all different subjects through the lens of liberalism made it apparent how applicable it is to all fields. I've never taken a class before that incorporated religion, politics, community engagement, and even music all into one coherent course. By examining each of the subjects we did through the lens of Liberalism we were able to talk about a broad range of topics, which proved to be one of my favorite aspects of the course.
I also have gained a greater interest in the humanities as a field overall. Because I am a science major, many of the courses I take are very different from this one. But despite it's differences from my other classes, this course has remained one of the most interesting that I'm taking because of it's application to all areas of life and fields. This course has expanded my knowledge in not just one area, but in the many that it covered under the umbrella of Liberalism.

Final Trump Thoughts

Throughout the semester, Trump has been the sole person that our conversation has always returned to, and I don’t think that’s unreasonable. Trump is a perfect example of intolerance and illiberal speech. He’s racist, misogynistic, and has the maturity of a 6^th grader. But, apparently, that is exactly what some Americans believe will make a perfect combination for the presidential office. So how do we react to Trump? How do we react to his supporters?

               I think the way to respond to Trump is with rationality. Trump is an entertainer, and he thrives off of the attention that saying outlandish things gets him. Before this course, I probably would have advocated for Trump’s speech to be prohibited and silenced. However, I now recognize that Trump has a right to speak. I don’t think that it does good to laugh or ridicule him though. It seems that when people make fun of Trump, his supporters feel more attached to him. Making fun of Trump makes him look like he is being attacked for his ideas, and Trump supporters like to think that he is the victim. I have an acquaintance that said verbatim “The media makes him look so much worse than he is in person.” Attacking Trump seems to make him more likeable as a candidate, so I would refrain from that. However, we also cannot attack Trump supporters. My experience with Trump supporters is that the moment you question why they have chosen to support him they immediately think that you are attacking their right to believe whatever they want. They snarl something about being a “rotten liberal” and don’t actually answer the question. So there might not be a “right” way to talk to Trump supporters. I think that the best thing you can do is to just appeal to rationality. Don’t try to insult them; don’t act like you’re better than. Just ask simple questions in a non-threatening manner (which is extremely ironic considering most Trump supporters like to talk about how today’s younger generation is made up of pussies). Trump supporters should be questioned about policy, and the practicality of any of his current policies actually being enacted rather than repeating his sensationalized claims. Trump has the right to continue his hateful speech, but, like Cicero would say, it is the American population’s job to see through his claims and ask about his actual policy suggestions. For example, how exactly do you expect another sovereign nation to pay for a wall? Are you willing to enter a war for your wall? Do you realize some of your claims are in explicit disagreement with The Universal Declaration of Human Rights? I keep hoping that eventually people will realize that Trump’s claims are absolutely ridiculous, but I have been consistently surprised by the widespread acceptance for his claims. The only hope is that rationality will lead them to question their candidate’s legitimacy. 

What are Humanities?

Last class the teachers asked us what does the term Humanities mean. Our class falls under the Humanities GER and I really pondered on what that meant. I think a humanities course studies topics like language, religion, history, and other disciplines and how people in earlier ages or created the world they lived in, and how the world they lived in made them the people they were. And while studying the many different subjects regarding the humanities, we inevitably end up learning about more than simply past or distant cultures. We end up learning how we create the world we live in now, and how the world we live in makes us the kind of people we are. We learned earlier in the semester about the origins of the word humanity. The word humanity comes to English from the Latin humanitas, which first shows up with the writer Cicero. He used it to describe good people, that is to say “civilized” human beings. I think that Cicero used the word humanity in the context that all humans are civilized enough to practice concepts such as justice and hospitality. Isn't this what debated on throughout the whole course? When we read text such as A Letter Concerning Toleration by John Locke, we are learning about how religious toleration was perceived in the late 1600s. What's interesting to note is that Locke influenced the writers of the Declaration of Independence. John Locke wanted everyone to have the "right to life, liberty, and property" which is used in the Declaration of Independence as the "right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." His ideas of the social contract, in which everyone in a society is accountable to one another, and the idea of governments deriving their power from the consent of the governed were both revolutionary concepts in 1776 that made their way into the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. This is the heart of what a humanities course is supposed to teach, about applying past writings and incorporating them into society today.