Earlier today, I completed the first course in what will be a 4-year program at the University of Chicago’s Graham School. It’s all about the end of the world.

Well, not really, but sorta.

The formal name for the session was: “The End(s) of Humanity: Classic Texts and Existential Threats I: The Human Career: Myth, Mourning, and Radical Faith.” That mouthful of a headline is evidence that the program is a work in progress, and I must say I’m thrilled and honored to have been a part of it so far. 

The foundational idea for the course, in my own words: While we’re facing an all but certain existential threat in the form of global climate change, the institutions on which we should rely for help and action (governments, markets, even public opinion) are either on the sidelines or actively making the crisis worse.

We’re not going to try to change that fact — or change peoples’ understanding of it, necessarily — as much as equip ourselves with a better and deeper appreciation for who we are and what we risk losing; so, not so much about saving humanity as saving our humanity.

But what does that mean?

It’s a great question, and the classes this quarter were all about interrogating classic texts for possible answers, focusing on the structures and function of myths.

What did Nietzsche say about what we are and might become? How could the somewhat competing perspectives of Kafka and Kierkegaard inform our understanding of where our morals come from, or Campbell and Clarke challenge our perspectives of where we’re going. Was Weil’s concept of obligation the product of our own imagination or derived from a “higher” source?

Again, I think the goal of the program overall is to give shape and even value to our appreciation of our humanity, perhaps as a counterpoint (or contributor?) to conversations about our physical survival.

So, maybe we will help change minds after all…

The course is the brainchild of Amy and Charles Elder, two brilliant educators on their own, and an even more potent teaching team. The classes have been illuminating and great fun.

I’m sad this session is over, but heartened that the next course will start in early January; its title is “The End(s) of Humanity 2 – Radical Evil – Nuclear War.”

They’re already making progress on the headlines.