Splash Biography

Since at least 1789, the concept equality has been at the heart of the world's political struggles. Almost every war or revolution has had equality as a core justification. In spite of this, human society remains hugely unequal, both across the globe and within nations. We'll explore why this is so from economic, political, and social perspectives. We'll address issues of gender and racial equality from a political and legal lens and the issues of socio-economic equality through the vantage point of economics. After some initial discussion, we'll culminate the class with a debate amongst the students. Students should come to this class ready to express and defend their points of view and to confront the inescapable core problem of equality: to give to one person, you have to take from another.

President Calvin Coolidge is known for saying that the business of America is business. In this course, we'll explore how modern American business has evolved over the past century, moving from heavy industry to a service economy, as well as how businesses function today. We'll cover basic accounting terminology, a history of American business, and the strategies that modern businesses use to boost their sales and profits. The class will culminate with students being divided into groups, with each group tasked to solve a business problem using the tools reviewed in the class.