FUTURE FAMILIES

Undergraduate

Family is one of the most powerful and contested institutions in social life, shaping core values such as intimacy, responsibility, and citizenship. Over the last century, the meanings and structures of families have shifted dramatically, even as political rhetoric intensifies around “family values.” As new understandings have expanded people’s freedom to leave, remake, and redefine “family,” new questions about the relational capacities needed to sustain shared care, negotiate conflict, and practice accountability across difference have arisen. This course examines the family as a key site for developing relational intelligence and a foundation for socially and environmentally just democratic life. PREREQUISITE: Second year standing or higher, or permission of the instructor CREDITS: 3