Foundations of Human Experience (HS 312)
Learning Goals
Students will:
- become familiar with Rudolf Steiner's understanding of human nature by reading and studying Foundations of Human Experience
- be able to relate this understanding to life experience
- be able to investigate and apply the implications of this understanding to the education of high school students
- demonstrate this understanding in active class participation and an original artistic presentation or project
Course Content
This course focuses on the study of the human being as described in Rudolf Steiner’s Foundations of Human Experience, a series of 14 lectures that Steiner held directly prior to the opening of the first Waldorf school in 1919. In these lectures, Steiner discusses the physical, psychological, and spiritual nature of the human being. Understanding the complex and subtle interweaving of the different aspects of human nature and experience is an essential prerequisite for teaching in a Waldorf school. This is a discussion course in seminar format. Students will prepare the content of the individual lectures and present brief synopses to the class using any artistic support they can provide. Group conversation will relate the text to practical experiences and to applications in teaching.
