This class was first offered in spring 2016. Here’s how it was described in the ORICL catalog then:

Political extremism, religious dogma, corruption in government, technology run amok, prejudice against minorities, fear of the Other, brainwashing for political control--these all still sound familiar today.

Take a few steps backward in time to Jonathan Swift's great satire of 1725, Gulliver's Travels, and you'll find that although the surface details have changed, the fundamental behavior of people differs hardly at all.   Despite Samuel Johnson's dismissive summation ("When once you have thought of big men and little men, it is very easy to do all the rest"), the careful reader can see quite readily that this amazingly contemporary book is about much more than physical size. Ever since its publication, some readers have called Swift himself "depraved" and "mad," mistaking the author for the main character, GT is actually a carefully considered, deeply ethical and refreshingly playful and funny examination of the effects of what Alexander Pope called "reasoning pride" -- on individuals and on a whole society.  It covers the deepest questions that human beings can be concerned with--most basically "What does it mean to be human?"

Nine years later, GT is still amazingly relevant. I hope you'll join me this summer for a discussion of this great classic. I’m reading it again for the umpteenth time and enjoying it even more, as I think you will if you’ve studied it before.

If you’re like me, keeping up with details of current news is too stressful to manage, and so you avoid most coverage and discussion. But never fear – in this class we’ll stay away from current politics as much as possible, concentrating instead on Swift’s satiric techniques, humor, creativity, and deep concerns.  In the first session, we'll consider 18th Century backgrounds and the life of Swift.  We'll then devote one session to each of the four parts of the book.  If you can find a Norton Critical Edition (doesn't matter which version), you'll have access to helpful resources.  Any other edition with occasional footnotes for help with 18th Century references will be fine.  GT itself is available free online, but without annotation. I hope you'll read each part before the discussion date.  

In preparation for the first class, please read (or, more likely, re-read) Swift's famous short piece "A Modest Proposal":   https://ia800300.us.archive.org/31/items/ost-english-a-modest-proposal-by-dr/A%20Modest%20Proposal,%20by%20Dr.pdf