Simplicity, Society, and Sustainability

Course Description

In the essay “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For,” Henry David Thoreau wrote, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived….Our life is frittered away by detail….Simplify, simplify.”  In this seminar, students study the history of the simplicity movements that have been part of the Colonial and US past (Puritan, Quaker, Amish, Transcendental, Progressive) and explore current movements (magazines, nonfiction texts, websites and online postings) that are dedicated to promoting simplicity in various facets of life.  Students focus on areas of individual interest, as this topic can be broken down into various (sometimes overlapping) subcategories: economics (consumer culture), spirituality (Eastern, Western, earth religions), sustainability (humans having less of a negative effect on the planet), ethics (Americans using more than our average share, vegetarianism), etc.  After common readings essential for all students (e.g., Thoreau, Veblen, McKibben), students pursue individual research in areas of student interest and report to the class.