Individuality & Individualism

a Discovery Core Experience

This course may be taken as either BCORE 115 (Social Sciences) or BCORE 117 (Arts & Humanities)

About This Course

An essential aspect of living a good life is discovering a sense of individuality. The struggle to understand our unique identities and the striving to leave a legacy in the world through self-realization and self-creation is difficult, but extremely rewarding. The process of individualization is especially intense and exhilarating during one’s college years, when many of us experience true independence for the first time and begin thinking seriously about our life plans and goals. “Individualism” refers to the moral, political, and ideological positioning of the individual in society, both as a locus of inherent rights and as an object of emancipation. While individualism is an undoubtedly important feature of the modern world, excessive individualism in contemporary society is deeply problematic and closely related to social inequality, weak communities, thin moral obligations to others. What happens to shared rules, values, norms, customs and traditions if we only think about ourselves and our own orbit? This class will explore tensions inherent in becoming an individual and provide an extended meditation on the beneficial and harmful aspects of individualism as a cultural, political, philosophical, and social phenomenon.

Professor Jason Frederick Lambacher (He/Him/His)

School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences

About Professor Lambacher

  • Ph.D. Political Science, University of Washington 2013

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