Freshman and Sophomore Programs

The Meaning of Life: Moral and Spiritual Inquiry through Literature Instructor(s): Scotty McLennan Prerequisites: None.
Short novels and plays will provide the basis for reflection on ethical values and the purpose of life. Some of the works to be studied are F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara, Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, Jane Smiley’s Good Will, Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons, and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. We will read for plot, setting, character, and theme using a two-text method— looking at the narrative of the literary work and students’ own lives—rather than either deconstructing the literature or relating it to the author’s biography and psychology. The questions we will ask have many answers. Why are we here? How do we find meaningful work? What can death teach us about life? What is the meaning of success? What is the nature of true love? How can one find balance between work and personal life? How free are we to seek our own destiny? What obligations do we have to others? We will draw from literature set in the United States and elsewhere. Both secular and religious world views from a varietyof traditions will be considered. The authors chosen are able to hold people up as jewels to the light, turning them around to show all of their facets, both blemished and pure, while at the same time pointing to any internal glow beneath the surface Classes will be taught in a Socratic, discussion-based style. Study questions will accompany each reading and provide a foundation for class discussion. Grading will be based 50 percent on class participation, 25 percent on one-page reflection papers on reading assignments, and 25 percent on a four-page final paper due on September 16. Field trips will include an overnight camping experience. Class participants will include both Stanford students and undergraduates from the University of Oxford, who will join us on the Stanford campus.

Scotty McLennan is the dean for religious life. He received his B.A. from Yale in 1970 and his M.Div. and J.D. degrees from the Harvard Divinity and Law Schools in 1975. He is an ordained minister and an attorney. At Stanford since 2001, he taught previously at Tufts University and the Harvard Business School. For the first decade of his career he practiced church-sponsored poverty law in a low-income neighborhood of Boston. He is the author of Finding Your Religion: When the Faith You Grew Up With Has Lost Its Meaning and co-author of Church on Sunday, Work on Monday: The Challenge of Fusing Christian Values and Business Life. He lives on campus with his wife.