Escritos Críticos

Courses JU

The content published on this webpage is protected by copyright. It may be used for academic, educational, and research purposes, provided that the original source is properly acknowledged and cited. Any reproduction, distribution, modification, or commercial use of the material without prior authorization is prohibited. Users are responsible for ensuring that any use of this content complies with applicable copyright laws and academic integrity standards. ISBN: 978-1-956760-65-1. Professor Jorge Majfud. jmajfud [at] ju.edu

“Fundamental to Jacksonville University’s mission is support for an environment where divergent ideas, theories, and philosophies can be openly exchanged and critically evaluated. Consistent with these principles and the concept of Academic Freedom, this course may involve the discussion of ideas that you find uncomfortable, disagreeable, or even offensive. These ideas are intended to be presented in an objective manner; they are not intended to persuade and are not an endorsement of what you should personally believe.”

Personal statement:
Debates are a pointless sport, a primal impulse amplified to toxic levels by the attention business. Rather than shedding light, such exchanges breed only rage and self-regard. It would be better to study so that we might engage in an honest, civilized, and fearless conversation—or simply to better understand the world, free from the intoxicating pull of partisan cults.

“I spake openly to the world… and in secret have I said nothing.”

Latest Courses

Political and Economic Ideologies

Spring 2027

Unit I: The Ancient World

(Classes 1–8)

1. Introduction. What is an ideology?

2. Introduction, Mesopotamia, and Egypt: The Birth of the State

3. Ancient China: Mandate of Heaven and the Hundred Schools

4. The Old Testament: Covenant, Kingship, and Prophetic Justice

5. Persia: The First Multinational Empire

6. Greece: Democracy, Plato, and Aristotle

7. Rome: Republic, Empire, and Law

8. The New Testament and the First Christian Communities

Unit II: Medieval and Early Modern Foundations

(Classes 9–15)

9. Medieval Christendom: Political Thought and Feudalism

10. The Islamic Empire: Political and Economic Order

11. The philosophical framework of Ubuntu in Africa

12. The Birth of Capitalism and the Sovereign State

13. Early Liberalism and early socialism

14. Native American Democracies

15. Adam Smith and Classical Political Economy

Unit III: The Nineteenth Century

(Classes 16–17)

16. Revolutions and Rival Ideologies: Liberalism, Conservatism, Nationalism, and Early Socialism

17. Marx, Engels, and Marxism

Unit IV: The Twentieth Century

(Classes 18–23)

18. Leninism and Trotskyism

19. Fascism and Nazism

20. Stalinism

21. Chinese Communism: From Mao to Xi

22. Social Democracy and the Welfare State

23. Neoliberalism and Libertarianism

Unit V: The Twenty-First Century

(Class 24)

24. Dark Enlightenment, Neofeudalism, and the Future of Ideology

US America and Latin America

  1. Brief Introduction to the Reconquista
  2. The Year 1492
  3. The Fall of the Native World
  4. The Mission (Movie)
  5. The Independence of Texas
  6. The Mexican-American War
  7. The Spanish American War
  8. 8. The Mexican Revolution
  9. US occupation of Caribbean and Central American countries. Banana republics.(1900 – 1930)
  10. 10. Peronism in Argentina: Juan Domingo Perón and Eva Duarte de Perón
  11. 11 – The Bolivian National Revolution of 1952-Today
  12. 12 – Edward Bernays, the creation of Propaganda and social manipulation.
  13. 13 – The Guatemalan Revolution and the Coup of 1954
  14. 14 – The Cuban Revolution of 1959
  15. 15 – Latin American military coups during the 60s and 70s.
  16. 16 – Chilean 9/11 military coup
  17. 17: Movie Missing, 1982. (Protected)
  18. 18 – The Nicaraguan Revolution (1979)
  19. 19 – The Church under attack
  20. 20 – Militant Latin American secret groups in the US
  21. 21 – Anglo immigration to Latin America and Latino immigration to the US

Colonial and Post-colonial Africa

Fall 2026

  1. Africa before European Conquest
  2. Slavery, Abolition, and “Legitimate Commerce”
  3. Industrial Europe and the Imperial Drive
  4. The Berlin Conference (1884–85) and the fall of an entire continent
    1. Africa, from 1880 to the 21st Century (documentary)
  5. Military Conquest and African Resistance (1885-1914)
  6. Colonial Governance Models, Economic Extraction, and Forced Labor
  7. King Leopold II (documentary)
  8. Africa in World War I
  9. Interwar Colonial Crisis and Reform
  10. Africa in World War II
  11. Africa after World War II (1945–1965)
  12. Neocolonialism: Françafrique
  13. Neocolonialism: Congo
  14. Southern Africa and Settler Power
  15. The Horn of Africa in the Cold War
  16. Angola and Mozambique: Proxy Wars in the Cold War
  17. U.S. and European Policy in Africa during the Cold War
  18. Thomas Sankara (Documentary)
  19. The End of Apartheid—and Where It Fell Short
  20. The 90s Broken Nations
  21. How the West Destroyed Libya and Unleashed Chaos Across Africa
  22. Modern Slavery in Africa: Cobalt, Cash Crops, and the Human Cost of Global Tech
  23. From Classic Anti-Colonialism to Africa’s New Sovereignty: From Gaddafi to Ibrahim Traoré
  24. China’s Rise in Africa: Infrastructure, Investment, and Global Power Politics

Architecture and Civilizations

  1. 1-2: From Village to City (Prehistory & The Ancient World)
  2. 3-4: The Americas
  3. The Classical World: Ancient Greece
  4. South & East Asia
  5. 7 – The Islamic World and Ancient Africa
  6. 8 – Middle Ages in Europe
  7. 9 – The Renaissance
  8. 10 – Baroque and Neoclasicism
  9. 11 – The Industrial World
  10. 12 – The Modern World in the 20th Century
  11. 13 – Fascism (anti-Modern, reactionary movement)
  12. 14 – Postmodernism
  13. Urban and Architectural Segregation
  14. Tech and Design