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Instructor: Lisa Guenther

Topic: Power and Knowledge

In 1597, philosopher Francis Bacon wrote, “Knowledge is power.” In this course, we’ll explore the relation between power and knowledge from multiple perspectives, with an emphasis on knowledge gained through life experience. Each week, we’ll discuss one or two readings (around 20-40 pages total). We’ll also apply what we’ve learned from the readings to our own experience of the world through activities that help us think critically and creatively about the relation between power and knowledge. In the last few weeks of the course, students will collaborate on a group project of their own design to express what they learned in the course. This is a Walls to Bridges (W2B) course based on the idea that everyone has something to teach and something to learn. It is not a lecture course. Students should come to class ready to share their perspectives on the readings and to engage in activities that are designed to help us connect these readings to our different experiences of the world. Ultimately, the goal is not merely to learn about philosophical theories, but to experiment with connecting theory to practice.

Collins Bay Institution and Queen’s University are located on Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee land. There were no prisons – and no universities – on this land prior to colonization. Indigenous peoples kept each other safe, held each other accountable, and shared knowledge in ways that did not require these institutions. While our own conversations will take place at the intersection of the prison and the university, my hope is that the readings and activities proposed in this syllabus will help us to critically examine the assumptions upon which these colonial institutions are built. Given that the syllabus is a proposal, we may need to revise it along the way if something is not working.