What is the good life? What is a good life? As a student at a liberal arts college, you’re probably asking yourself both questions, and more. We’ll explore them from a variety of angles, using concepts and tools from economics and philosophy. What counts as success? Is it bad to want to make money? Is love really all you need? What makes life meaningful? This class is a space to read, write, discuss, argue, ponder, and dig around in the sandbox created by these questions and start to develop your own vision of the good life.

This course is about democracy—and you. How has it shaped you, and how will you shape it? Democracies offer citizens degrees and types of freedom. This informs your political identity as an individual and as a member of groups. Here we are not speaking of political party, though that does affect us. We are interested in something more fundamental—your identity as a citizen in a democracy. What has given form to that identity? What are its consequences and responsibilities? What is your future in that role? As a history course, “The Price of Liberty” explores how ancient history influences your political identity today, and in it we engage some of the most powerful political literature ever written. As a political science course, it examines the theoretical and applied reasons for expanding as well as limiting democracy. We study what makes democracies work well and what weakens or destroys them. This course invites you to consider your role as a citizen not only in the classroom, but also in the wider polity. Here you will convert your study to citizenship in action. Ambitious? Maybe. But let’s be honest: so is democracy.