Professor Sarah Igo, Andrew Jackson Chair of American History at Vanderbilt University, describes how she puts two texts—Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and bell hooks’ “Democratic Education”—in conversation with each other when teaching first-year students as part of a general education course.
This session took place on February 15, 2024 and is part of a workshop series on what can be done to strengthen general education--as students move into STEM, business, health, and other pre-professional fields--to ensure that college students, whatever their major or background, encounter inspiring works of literature and philosophy and grasp the power of the humanities and its relevance to their professional aspirations.