As noted in Jan|Feb’s cover story, “Course Corrections,” at some point the Penn Course Guide sadly abandoned including student comments in its ratings. If that was still the practice, I’m pretty sure Justin McDaniel would rival the faculty favorites of the past. That’s judging by this issue’s cover story by associate editor Dave Zeitlin C’03—in which some students sound positively giddy about being in a course McDaniel teaches titled Existential Despair. Other offerings by the religious studies professor—in particular, Living Deliberately (aka the “monk class”), which involves a vow of silence—sparked similar enthusiasm.
Existential Despair is a “more digestible” version of Living Deliberately, as one student put it, built around engaging intensively with literary texts that take on a variety of profound subjects. McDaniel has a very high opinion of literature’s ability to serve as a guide and support in life’s inevitable challenges and tragedies.
McDaniel handpicks students—41 for this spring’s class, out of a pool of 400 or so—by a process he describes as “Breakfast Clubbing it.” The class meets once a week for seven hours straight, 5 p.m. to midnight. During that time, they all read a book of McDaniel’s choosing, and in the last hour discuss it in a darkened classroom. Oh, and he impounds their phones for the duration. For some tech-distracted, multitasking, achievement-focused Penn students the combination has proved revelatory.
In addition to interviewing McDaniel, Dave spoke with students in the current iteration of the course as well as alumni who describe the lasting influence it has had on their personal relationships, approach to their work, and (admittedly fitful) attempts to disengage from screens in their lives. McDaniel told Dave that he loved one student’s description of the course as an exercise in “the art of single tasking.”
I first remember encountering political science professor and Perry World House director Michael Horowitz on Zoom during the pandemic, hosting some of the most informative and thought-provoking panel discussions on COVID-19 and other subjects. In 2022, Horowitz, whose own work focuses on international security, went to Washington to work as a deputy assistant secretary of defense, returning to campus in 2024.
In “Rules of Engagement,” Alyson Krueger C’07 traces Horowitz’s background as a top high school debater, his interest in military history and the impact of technology adoption, his stint in government service working on artificial intelligence and robotics technologies, and his thoughts on China as the US’s principal global competitor. He remains optimistic that the academy and government can work together on issues like AI. “It isn’t always easy to bridge that gap,” he says, “but I think if you do, there is a real opportunity there.”
Few entertainment products have had the staying power of The Simpsons, which premiered in 1989. Back in 1992, Matt Selman C’93 wrote a student column in the Gazette about the show’s hold on campus. And as Molly Petrilla C’06 writes in “Stewarding The Simpsons,” he has played a key role in maintaining the show’s cultural presence and popularity—and stretching its boundaries—since first latching on as a writer in 1997 and eventually rising to head showrunner in 2021.
—John Prendergast C’80
Editor
