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A paradoxical hybrid of April and Tom.
Unequivocally, that the class guest of honor finally spoke up.
Then youre not like Chidi, quipped Mike Schur, eliciting laughter from the students.
Chidi,The Good Placecharacter portrayed byWilliam Jackson Harper, has never made a decision unequivocally in his life.
Schur would know, since he created the character, along with all the other ones being discussed.
But what exactly was Schur doing on a college campus in northern Indiana?
Why fly to the middle of the country so he could have lunch with a bunch of college kids?
It all started with a letter.
Sullivan wrote in her letter to Schur.
Each of our class meetings also poses an answer You should be maximizing utility in the world!
You should pursue the life of contemplation!
We discuss the relevant philosophy and then debate a current event that turns on that theory.
We are about to start putting our Ph.D. students through their oral exams.
I am strongly tempted to include a question explaining Jeremy Bearimy time.)
The letter finally reached Schur last Thanksgiving.
And I read it and thought,This sounds awesome.
Schur got back to Sullivan less than two weeks after she first handed off her letter.
Once he agreed to come to her class, she started to think even bigger.
To that end, the utility only had two questions:
1.
Why do you deserve to be admitted into the Good Class?
Provide specific reasons accompanied by the approximate points you believe you have earned for each of these achievements.
Answers should be no longer than 400 words each, and creativity will be rewarded.
We wanted it to be a filter for the people who were hardcore, Sullivan explains.
Were all doing this for free.
This doesnt count for any of our teaching credits.
The students nerd credentials didnt disappoint.
Some answered the question Why do you deserve to be in the Good Class?
by ascribing point totals to their good and bad deeds.
One student submitted an imagined transcript of her conversation with Michael upon entrance to the Good Place.
they didnt send me my goddamn fake ID), my parents were quite upset.
BUT I did not lie to them.
The semester kicked off exploring Whats so special aboutThe Good Place?
through mini sessions on the television industry, humor theory, and virtue ethics.
But of course, there is still homework to be done in the Good Class.
As a total nerd, thats the most thrilling thing to me.
in the evening came to a close, the students were eager to get their final questions in.
The idea that we all have something to talk about is disappearing, and I think thats bad.
To use television as a vehicle.
Its hard to talk about ethical issues these days.
Its hard to have a common language thats not hyper politicized or hyper reductive, Sullivan says.
We need cultural questions like this to do some of the 2,400-year-old work on our souls.
