Learn about and discuss today’s most urgent issues with one of the greatest public intellectuals of our time. Professor Noam Chomsky and UArizona emeritus professor Marv Waterstone will co-teach this seven-week class that is both a general education course for UArizona undergraduates and open to life-long learners from the general public. Connecting students from multiple generations and political outlooks, this course is sure to stimulate ideas, debate, and dialogue.
The course will examine how a “capitalist realism” worldview has come to dominate the way we organize the political economy to satisfy human needs and wants. The course will explore the more salient consequences of this orientation and connect these phenomena with the essential features of this form of late-stage capitalism.
This year, among other topics, we will be examining the most recent developments in global conflict (including the ongoing war in Ukraine), the still evolving climate emergency, and the widening gulf in extreme wealth inequality on a global scale.
The course content will consist of two weekly, pre-recorded lectures (available for viewing at participants’ convenience), as well as presentations with social change practitioners (on Tuesdays) and weekly live online Q & A sessions with the instructors (on Thursdays).
Readings and Syllabus
Syllabus distributed in class
Textbook:
Chomsky, Noam and Marv Waterstone: Consequences of Capitalism: Manufacturing Discontent and Resistance. Haymarket Books, 2021. ISBN-13: 978-1642592634. https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1619-consequences-of-capitalism
Attendance & Participation
Each week, participants will watch on their own two pre-recorded lectures (one by each co-instructor). In addition, there will be two weekly LIVE ONLINE sessions offered via the University of Arizona Zoom platform. The two weekly live online sessions will feature activists/practitioners on Tuesdays and live Q & A sessions with both instructors on Thursdays.
Those sessions will be recorded and shared with registered students after each session to facilitate access for those who cannot make the live sessions.
Registration
Online registration for this course will open December 7, 2022 at 10 AM MST. After registration, participants will receive a receipt of registration. Subsequently, participants will receive class instructions 1-2 weeks before the start of the course.
Refunds
Refunds are available and need to be requested before or by January 13th. To drop a class, please contact Stephanie Noriega at communitymatters@arizona.edu.
A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.