What’s in a name? Meursault epitomizes Absurdism—the human will to meaning locking horns with an inherently meaningless world. But his identity is fundamentally entwined with meaning—that of mortality. How do you live if you are dying (je meurs)? What are the consequences levied on life when seen in such a way? We will discuss what (or who) lends life meaning and the role meaning-making plays in our lives and in turn our society, as we examine the current state of our criminal justice system and the humans who are entangled in it.

This class is meant to be a thoughtful dialogue on the not-so-contemporary social issues we face in our day-to-day, whether we aware of them or not. Traversing boundaries set by age, race, gender, culture, socioeconomic status—and perhaps most importantly—time, we’ll come to find that no matter how many generations have come and gone to dust, there’s something about being human that we just can’t seem to get away from. What’s up with that? Let’s talk about it.