Humanities 105 Essay #1
Enlightenment Figures Discuss Enlightenment Figures Discuss the Future of the Enlightenment and its Struggles
You are a TV talk show host! Imagine that three of the writers/artists/thinkers we’ve discussed in Module 1 have been transported into the 21st century and got booked onto your show as a panel discussion to talk about the legacy of the Enlightenment in the 21st century. Today your program is hosting a panel of at least three of the writers or thinkers or artists we’ve discussed in Unit 1 of Humanities 105 (this is the unit that covers weeks 1-3 of our course).
Your panel must include Touissant L’Overture, either Mary Wollstonecraft or Olympe de Gouges, and a third author/thinker of your choice. You can also include additional participants if you wish.
Your purpose in the show script is to have these three thinkers share their thoughts on 1) how they see the legacy of the Enlightenment and its successes and failures in the 21st century and 2) how they feel their specifc projects and ideas are still at work today.
In doing this you will be able to show your instructor that you’re beginning to see how different figures we’ve discussed from the 18th century still play a role in our current debates–especially when it comes to thinking about struggles for truth, independence, and equality!
