This unit explores the elements of life that contribute to human flourishing in community and the vulnerability that is part of the human condition. It focuses on interdependence and social justice as building blocks of dynamic communities, local, regional and global. The unit engages with a fundamental commitment to social justice and advocacy on behalf of the vulnerable, both with the Catholic intellectual tradition and from other sources.
Students are introduced to the principles of human flourishing and then asked to apply those principles to different perspectives or views on a contemporary social issue in order to critique these different views in terms of whether they promote or hinder the common good of all. Understanding these principles helps us to determine how issues relating to the dignity of the human person and the realization of the common good may be addressed in our personal and professional lives now and in the future. This knowledge and understanding is a foundation for the development of the skills needed to be able to propose ways to address challenges where shared responsibility for the common good is not being realized. Given the pervasiveness of such problems in our community, addressing this need is important to our success as a community in realizing a more just world and your role as an individual who can, and ought to be part of that.
This unit will aim to equip you with knowledge and understanding of the ideas of "self" and "community" as interrelated concepts, and develop basic skills to enable you to contribute to a more just society. Particular attention is paid to the development of graduate attributes of critical thinking, analysis and synthesis of information, working collaboratively and independently and reflective thinking.