HOPE: Human Odyssey to Political Existentialism for High School

In this course, we look for answers to seemingly unsolvable queries: Why breathe? Why breed? Why bleed? What justifies continuing, creating, and killing lives?
Human Odyssey to Political Existentialism (HOPE) is a journey into the human condition and its politics, turning to existentialism for guidance.

Most philosophers ask, “what is the good life?” and answer, “to feel good, or to be good, or to do good.” Existentialism asks, “what is life good for?” and traces the answers that people, in their lived experience, give – to foster our own.

HOPE is a richly interdisciplinary course: anchored in political science and philosophy. It also draws on history, sociology, psychology, and economy – synthesizing theoretical insights with empirical findings; both vintage and novel. HOPE shows that science and art can create a wonderful synergy when studying – indeed foregrounding – our humanity.

In HOPE, you will find:

Animated talks, interviews and student discussions
Exploration of key concepts and figures – thinkers, artists, and politicians – both ancient and modern
A host of fascinating questions to probe alone, and together, with friends and in class
Myriad multimedia features, including various forms of art (painting, prose and poetry, cinema, tv, and music)
An invitation to choose between several edifying projects, including a personal journal and a collective newspaper.

Online Videos are in English with Hebrew subtitles (45-50 min).
Online-teaching lessons are in English (45-50 min).
This class is for High School students 10th-12th Grade.