Reading excerpts from "The Prince", this course will deepen students' understanding of the Machiavellian idea that 'the ends justify the means'. We will examine this idea in its historical context and analyze its impact on the politics of the Cvil Rights Movement. By primarily focusing on the political ideologies of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., students will discuss what I call the Reformer's Dilemma: is it okay to use immoral means to achieve a moral end?

This class will serve as a fun (yes, Shakespeare can be fun!) workshop for students with little and/or no background in Shakespeare. You will learn about meter, the value of a word and differences in reading Shakespeare as a play vs. reading Shakespeare as a literary text. Focusing on the famous 'To be or not to be' soliloquy, we will discuss Hamlet's philosophical dilemma and its implications in the text and beyond.

Directed Studies is a first-year program specific to Yale University where students cover the classics of the Western tradition. One of three required classes, Historical and Political Thought covers the works of Herodotus, Aristotle, and other political philosophers, theorists, and historians. In this seminar, we will focus on Plato’s Republic, one of the most important books in western history that deals with notions of justice and virtue. We will look at the Allegory of the Cave, the most famous scene in the work, and further examine how the theoretical world of philosophy connects to the practical world of politics. This class will teach you how to expand your thinking of the world around you–or will it?

Why is the subject of immigration so politically polarized? Why do Americans support policies that restrict the mobility of people who have experienced persecution, war, and other disasters that require safe refuge? In this class, we will read an article written by former Iranian refugee Dina Nayeri to better understand the plight of refugees in American society. This class will also provide techniques in close reading, a skill vital to writing good essays. Using this newfound skill, we will analyze Nayeri’s article and connect it to broader notions of statelessness, displacement, and citizenship.