6:00 to 8:00 PM
A seminar series for all undergraduates.
Join Beatrice Institute as we explore marriage and sexuality from Shakespeare to sociology!
In a series of six seminars, students will study questions like, "Is love blind? Mad? What is a vow, and why do we "keep" them? What is coercion and what role does power play in a marriage? Does marriage improve ones quality of life? What is the relationship between children and flourishing? What are the economics of family life? What is the economics of fertility?
Professors Grant Martsolf (Pitt, Headwaters Project), James DeMasi (Beatrice Institute), and Meredith Thornburgh (Princeton) will lead the discussions.
Dinner will be provided and reading will be minimal.
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Dr. James DeMasi, Beatrice Institute Executive Director, will lead students through Acts I and II of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
In his near-perfect comedy, Shakespeare takes up questions of freedom, coercion, love, vow-taking and vow-breaking, and the nature of monogamous and faithful marriage.
In a series of three seminars (3/16, 4/7, & 4/8), students will read the play with an attention to the dynamics of authority and coercion, vows and sex, politics and love, and the nuances of committed relationships and social renewal.
Students will ask questions such as, who keeps our vows? Is fidelity premised on feeling? What qualifies as coercion? Can freedom be found in a sacrifice of liberty? What is the difference between authority and power in a life-long bond? What does society have to do with marriage?
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Dr. Grant Martsolf (University of Pittsburgh) will lead students in a seminar examining marriage as a social institution that shapes family formation and childbearing. Students will learn how marriage patterns in the United States have changed over time, including shifts in age at marriage, declining marriage rates, and the rise of cohabitation and divorce.
We will also examine the relationship between marriage and falling fertility rates. The seminar will also explore differences in marriage by class, race, and education. Attention will be given to how work, economic opportunity, and cultural expectations influence decisions about marriage and having children.
By the end of the seminar, students will have a clearer understanding of how broader social and economic forces shape both marriage and fertility in contemporary society.
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Dr. Grant Martsolf (University of Pittsburgh) will lead students in a seminar exploring how marriage is connected to human flourishing for both adults and children. We will examine research on how marriage relates to happiness, well-being, health, and life satisfaction for adults, and how family structure is associated with outcomes for children, including emotional well-being, educational attainment, and economic stability.
The seminar will also discuss important questions about cause and effect, such as whether marriage itself improves outcomes or whether people who are already more stable are more likely to marry. Throughout, we will consider why marriage might matter for a good life, focusing on themes like commitment, shared responsibility, and the role of stable family life in supporting children’s development.
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Dr. Meredith McDonough Thornburgh (Princeton University) will lead students in a seminar that examines the ways that marriage facilitates labor and leisure as modes of activity in the fully flourishing human life. Students will explore the work of the home and its economic value and (lack of) status, family as a productive association vs. co-consumers, and more.
Contextualizing the work of the home, students will discuss the notion of “leisure” as articulated by Josef Pieper and discover a framework that acknowledges that family life is real work, but that it is not only work, and that, perhaps, work is not even the superior part.
The seminar will conclude with a thesis: that lifelong, faithful partnership is the only vehicle capable of supporting the activity of flourishing in the home.
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Dr. James DeMasi, Beatrice Institute Executive Director, will lead students through Acts III and IV of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
In his near-perfect comedy, Shakespeare takes up questions of freedom, coercion, love, vow-taking and vow-breaking, and the nature of monogamous and faithful marriage.
In a series of three seminars (3/16, 4/7, & 4/8), students will read the play with an attention to the dynamics of authority and coercion, vows and sex, politics and love, and the nuances of committed relationships and social renewal.
Students will ask questions such as, who keeps our vows? Is fidelity premised on feeling? What qualifies as coercion? Can freedom be found in a sacrifice of liberty? What is the difference between authority and power in a life-long bond? What does society have to do with marriage?
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Dr. James DeMasi, Beatrice Institute Executive Director, will lead students through Act V of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
In his near-perfect comedy, Shakespeare takes up questions of freedom, coercion, love, vow-taking and vow-breaking, and the nature of monogamous and faithful marriage.
In a series of three seminars (3/16, 4/7, & 4/8), students will read the play with an attention to the dynamics of authority and coercion, vows and sex, politics and love, and the nuances of committed relationships and social renewal.
Students will ask questions such as, who keeps our vows? Is fidelity premised on feeling? What qualifies as coercion? Can freedom be found in a sacrifice of liberty? What is the difference between authority and power in a life-long bond? What does society have to do with marriage?