President's Dream Colloquium on Justice Beyond National Boundaries

Course Description

The notion that relations of justice extend beyond the state is fuelled in part by recognition that processes that are causally responsible for peoples’ well-being are distributed across state boundaries. The effect of human-caused climate change is a central example. There is growing appreciation that these harms present collective action problems whose resolution will require an equitable distribution of the benefits and burdens of cooperation among all human beings. Yet at present a fully worked account of a global theory of justice remains elusive.

The aim of this colloquium is to bring into sharper focus the issues that a credible theory of global justice must address. The project is necessarily multi-disciplinary, requiring investigation of topics that are conventionally studied in different academic units. This is reflected in the distinguished list of invited speakers, whose areas of expertise are diverse, as well as the fact that the course is open to interested graduate and senior undergraduate students from across the University.

Course Format

The group meets each week for a three-hour session, followed by a meal during those weeks in which we host an invited colloquium speaker. The week prior to the colloquium we will discuss a set of readings that introduce the issues raised during the following week’s colloquium. During weeks when there are no colloquia groups of students, selected from different academic disciplines, will be responsible for introducing that week’s readings (The Presentation). All students are expected to write critical responses to that week’s readings every week. Students are also required to participate in all colloquia, as well as joining for a (free) meal. Students will present an original Capstone Project at the conclusion of term.

Evaluation