Socratic Dialogue I

Grupo	Profesor	Departamento	Idioma
Year 1	Claudia Gimeno Ruiz	Ciencias Sociales	ENG

Contribución de la asignatura al programa

With this course we want to create a space for slow, respectful and insightful reflection, meaningful conversation, and a profound understanding of one another. We want to provide you with the tools and the time to ponder about the complexities of what makes us human- after all, as Socrates reminds us, an unexamined life is not worth living.

When we stick to prejudices and ideas that do not allow us to have a complex understanding of the world around us, the result is that we do not make the best decisions. Using the Socratic Dialogue methodology we will discuss some of the most important issues that appeal to us all. Each one of the 10 sessions will revolve around a specific topic which you will have explored beforehand.

By looking at what the most important thinkers have said about those matters we will work on improving our ways of thinking, in order to better understand ourselves, refine our thoughts, and appreciate the diversity of opinions that surround them. These exercises will help us improve our capacity to make decisions in complex environments, and thus become better managers and citizens.

Contenidos

1. Session 1: Introduction to the course In the first session of the course we will do an introduction to the methodology that Socrates created and that will be used along the course: Socratic Dialogue. This methodology will allow us to be more aware of our own prejudices and contradictions in order to better elaborate our thoughts.
2. Session 2: Our Metaphors French writer and poet Anaïn Nin used to say we construct meaning through metaphors. We will lean on her work to get to know each other better.
3. Session 3: Happiness This session will be based on Aristotle. His work will help us guide the discussion about another fundamental topic: happiness. The main question we will try to answer is the following: - What is happiness for me?
4. Session 4: Fear In the fourth session we will approach two of the main hellenistic schools of thought: epicureanism and stoicism. Its philosophy will help us solve one of the main problems of the human being: fear. The two main questions we will try to answer are the following: - How does fear condition my decisions? - How can I overcome my fears?
5. Session 5: TBD This session will be different, we will disclose the topic and dynamic on the same day.
6. Session 6: Trust After the dialogue around fear, we will talk about a concept that is directly linked to it: trust. The two main questions that philosphy will help us answer are: - What is trust? Where does it come from? - Why is it important? Where do trust issues come from?
7. Session 7: Conflict In this session, trying to trust each other with our responses, we will approach the sensitive topic of conflict. We will approach the following questions: -What is conflict for you? -Is it possible to live without conflict? -Is conflict always bad? -Do you ever struggle with conflict?
8. Session 8: Freedom In this session we will dailogue about another central topic of our existance and one of the main topics philoosphy has wrestled with throughout history: freedom. We are told to be free. But, -Do we feel so? -To what extent are we free? -What is freedom?
9. Session 9: Success In this session we will question what are our prejudices around the concept of success. - What does being successful mean to me? - Is it what society tells me? - What would I be willing to give up for it
10. Symposium In the last session we will recreate a Greek Symposium to ponder the path we have shared together and aim at answering: - What is it that I have learned? - How will it accompany me in the future? - What would I like to share?
11. Circular economy
12. Circular design
13. Sustainable agriculture
14. Book: Walden and other readings
15. Book: current readings
16. Book: Antigone
17. Book: Brave New World
18. Democracy, participation and deliberation
19. Movie: 1984
20. Society understood as a contract
21. Book: Island

1. Session 1: Introduction to the course

In the first session of the course we will do an introduction to the methodology that Socrates created and that will be used along the course: Socratic Dialogue.
This methodology will allow us to be more aware of our own prejudices and contradictions in order to better elaborate our thoughts.

2. Session 2: Our Metaphors

French writer and poet Anaïn Nin used to say we construct meaning through metaphors. We will lean on her work to get to know each other better.

3. Session 3: Happiness

This session will be based on Aristotle. His work will help us guide the discussion about another fundamental topic: happiness.
The main question we will try to answer is the following:
- What is happiness for me?

4. Session 4: Fear

In the fourth session we will approach two of the main hellenistic schools of thought: epicureanism and stoicism. Its philosophy will help us solve one of the main problems of the human being: fear.
The two main questions we will try to answer are the following:
- How does fear condition my decisions?
- How can I overcome my fears?

5. Session 5: TBD

This session will be different, we will disclose the topic and dynamic on the same day.

6. Session 6: Trust

After the dialogue around fear, we will talk about a concept that is directly linked to it: trust.
The two main questions that philosphy will help us answer are:
- What is trust? Where does it come from?
- Why is it important? Where do trust issues come from?

7. Session 7: Conflict

In this session, trying to trust each other with our responses, we will approach the sensitive topic of conflict. We will approach the following questions:
-What is conflict for you?
-Is it possible to live without conflict?
-Is conflict always bad?
-Do you ever struggle with conflict?

8. Session 8: Freedom

In this session we will dailogue about another central topic of our existance and one of the main topics philoosphy has wrestled with throughout history: freedom.
We are told to be free. But,
-Do we feel so?
-To what extent are we free?
-What is freedom?

9. Session 9: Success

In this session we will question what are our prejudices around the concept of success.
- What does being successful mean to me?
- Is it what society tells me?
- What would I be willing to give up for it

10. Symposium

In the last session we will recreate a Greek Symposium to ponder the path we have shared together and aim at answering:
- What is it that I have learned?
- How will it accompany me in the future?
- What would I like to share?

11. Circular economy

12. Circular design

13. Sustainable agriculture

14. Book: Walden and other readings

15. Book: current readings

16. Book: Antigone

17. Book: Brave New World

18. Democracy, participation and deliberation

19. Movie: 1984

20. Society understood as a contract

21. Book: Island

Metodología

To achieve the objectives the format of the course will be the following:

Each week we will have a Socratic Dialogue in class around a different topic. As the course progresses you will learn how to facilitate and eventually partially lead the sessions yourselves. To prepare for class you will be required to do the following every week:

1. Read articles, book fragments and/or watch videos related to the week's topic. The material will be available on the course's Moodle page.
2. Write a post on Moodle based on the readings and videos of the week.
3. Have a Socratic Dialogue with someone from your environment. We will provide all the details once the course starts. After every dialogue, write your thoughts on the method in a journal. We will ask you to hand in the journal at the end of the course.
4. Keep a class diary and write an entry after every session. We ask you to record how you are feeling, what you are finding challenging or surprising, new learnings, questions that make you think, irritate you, make you feel uncomfortable, ideas that surprise you, shock you etc. This diary will help you write the final essay.

The weekly preparations will help you come to class having mulled over and explored some of the nuances of the topic at hand. This will bring richness and depth to our dialogues.

Criterios de evaluación

First semester:

The evaluation will have 3 parts and will be as follows:
1. Final Essay: 40%: The final essay will focus on the content of the course (what we learn).
It will answer the following questions: What have I learned? How can I incorporate the philosophical theories that we have discussed into my life? And into a potential work environment? How do they relate to the other courses of the BA? The diary you will keep throughout the sessions will help you write this final essay. Extension: 4.000 words approx.

2. "Playing Socrates? report: 30%: We will ask you to keep a journal of the dialogues you do outside the class and write a reflection after each one. You should record and reflect about the dialogue in terms of methodology (how we learn). This includes the pace of the dialogue, the tone, the dynamics between the participants etc.

We will evaluate the essay and the report in terms of the depth of reflection and clarity of expression. We will look for meaningful, coherent deliveries.

3. Participation: 30%. Here we will evaluate the weekly entries from the Moodle Forum as well as your participation during the sessions.

In the forum, we will appreciate thoughtful posts which relate to the material and show careful thought. In class we look for active engagement when both listening and speaking.

Second semester:

The evaluation criteria for the second semester will have 3 parts and will be divided as follows:
1. Attendance and Participation.
Percentage of the final grade: It makes up 30% of the final grade.
What is it: We will evaluate your attendance to the Impact Talks and your participation during the sessions (especially Socratic Dialogue sessions).
What we will evaluate: We will value thoughtful interventions that relate to the class material, your classmates' ideas and your own reflections. Valuable interventions during the class help the discussion move forward and open new avenues for exploration.
In terms of attendance, we expect you to be on time to every session. Also, we might propose some online form of dialogue exercise (perhaps through a forum), and might ask you to get involved in incentivizing the dialogue sessions (perhaps in groups).

2. Weekly reflection
Percentage of the final grade: It makes up 35% of the final grade.
What is it: You will be asked to deliver a weekly reflection exercise to be concretized at the beginning of the course. This exercise might be in the form of home dialogue exercises, forum entries, or reflection papers on the three books you will be asked to read during the semester. Further details will be provided as the course starts.
What we will evaluate: We will evaluate your understanding of the Impact Talks as well as book sessions, and very importantly a critical approach to all class contents as well as how you can relate the main ideas to other current topics or issues we have worked through together in class or any other topic you find relevant. We will appreciate timely, thoughtful deliveries that build upon the course material or other relevant sources you may find. Overall, we want to see that you have read and reflected about the topics and have been able to make some connections with what has been discussed on the Impact Talk and the Socratic Dialogue.

3. Final Exam
Percentage of the final grade: It makes up 35% of the final grade.
What is it: It will be a written exam about the content of the Impact Talks after the final session as well as about your personal learnings made during the course.
What we will evaluate: We will evaluate to what extent you can critically engage with the content of the Impact Talks as well as the personal insights you have gained during the course.

Tipo:	OBL	Curso:	1	Periodo:	S semestre
Créditos ECTS:	6 ECTS

Socratic Dialogue I (2235.YR.014958.1)

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