For Your Class
For Your Class
Course: Honors Futuring: Anticipating Change and Envisioning Strategic Opportunities
Institution: University of Notre Dame
Instructor: John Michel, PhD
Excerpt from Syllabus
I will be integrating virtue within our Business Honors Course. While there are many virtues that could be adopted, we will be prioritizing two: hope and curiosity. Hope as a virtue has a rich lineage in theology (desiring God’s kingdom) and philosophy, but also more recently in psychology.³ A preliminary definition of hope encompasses a desired future state, agency to achieve this outcome, and the identification of pathways or routes to realize the desired state. Curiosity falls under the broader virtue of wisdom, and in contrast to many other virtues, it is not directly focused on the impact or welfare of others (e.g., compassion), but it does capture ‘self-perfection’ and human flourishing.⁴ Curiosity is often considered a dispositional trait associated with a strong desire to know or learn, to explore, and openness to new experiences and possibilities. The Futuring course with its attention to things that have not happened yet, multiplied by possibilities that could happen, makes the virtues of hope and curiosity exceptionally relevant. This will transpire within our course through the following activities.
² Brooks, David (2025, January 9) The Character-Building Tool Kit. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/opinion/character-building-education.html
³ Snyder, C.R. (2003) The psychology of hope: You can get there from here. (2nd ed.) Free Press.
⁴ Baumgarten, E. (2001) Curiosity as a Moral Virtue. International Journal of Applied Philosophy. 15(2): 169-84.
About
Course format: a combination of classroom lectures, in-class workshops, classroom discussions, Socratic questioning, video illustrations, and guest lectures.
Virtues integrated: Curiosity, Hope
Course: Honors Futuring: Anticipating Change and Envisioning Strategic Opportunities
Institution: University of Notre Dame
Instructor: John Michel, PhD
Excerpt from Syllabus
I will be integrating virtue within our Business Honors Course. While there are many virtues that could be adopted, we will be prioritizing two: hope and curiosity. Hope as a virtue has a rich lineage in theology (desiring God’s kingdom) and philosophy, but also more recently in psychology.³ A preliminary definition of hope encompasses a desired future state, agency to achieve this outcome, and the identification of pathways or routes to realize the desired state. Curiosity falls under the broader virtue of wisdom, and in contrast to many other virtues, it is not directly focused on the impact or welfare of others (e.g., compassion), but it does capture ‘self-perfection’ and human flourishing.⁴ Curiosity is often considered a dispositional trait associated with a strong desire to know or learn, to explore, and openness to new experiences and possibilities. The Futuring course with its attention to things that have not happened yet, multiplied by possibilities that could happen, makes the virtues of hope and curiosity exceptionally relevant. This will transpire within our course through the following activities.
² Brooks, David (2025, January 9) The Character-Building Tool Kit. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/opinion/character-building-education.html
³ Snyder, C.R. (2003) The psychology of hope: You can get there from here. (2nd ed.) Free Press.
⁴ Baumgarten, E. (2001) Curiosity as a Moral Virtue. International Journal of Applied Philosophy. 15(2): 169-84.
About
Course format: a combination of classroom lectures, in-class workshops, classroom discussions, Socratic questioning, video illustrations, and guest lectures.
Virtues integrated: Curiosity, Hope