This course will examine social and ethical responses to pandemic disease.  This Core Curriculum Capstone encourages the student to reflect on the “three questions” by focusing on how societies and individuals should respond to potentially catastrophic events.    To accomplish this, we will examine a number of case studies, beginning with the bubonic plague of the 14th century, the ongoing AIDS epidemic, and the current controversy over the publication of pandemic flu research.  The class will apply relevant observations from these cases studies as they analyze and debate a contemporary problem of social significance related to pandemic disease.  This capstone will place a very high emphasis on skills of reflective reading, critical writing, and oral communication. 

This course will examine current debates surrounding criminal and capital punishment.  A large portion of the course will be especially concerned with addressing the historical background, constitutional and legal issues, and primary contending ethical considerations, secular and theological, that inform contemporary understandings and evaluations of the state practice of killing (at least some) convicted criminals.  These historical, legal, and ethical treatments will help to inform our investigation, in the second half of the course, of what the future holds for the practice of capital punishment in the United States.

This course is multi-disciplinary in character, drawing upon insights from a variety of perspectives: history, political science, philosophy, theology, law, and psychology.  This disciplinary diversity is crucial to enabling rich, well-informed responses to the vexing issues we will discuss.