Session One (10:00 am - 11:30 am): Martin Luther King, Jr.'s political thought is noteworthy for both the methods of reform that it embodies and the objectives that those methods are meant to achieve. In our first session, focusing on King's methods, we will consider such questions as the following. What is the significance of King's insistence on "direct action" rather than "passive resistance" in characterizing his movement? For what reasons is it imperative for King that the movement embrace the principle of nonviolence? How does he justify the practice of civil disobedience? What are the strengths and limitations of King's nonviolent, direct-action method of seeking moral and political reform?

Session Two (12:15 pm - 2:00 pm): In this session, we will focus on the objectives of King's movement, or on the nature of King's famous "Dream." Following upon that, we will consider the debate over King's legacy in contemporary American politics. Pertinent questions include the following. Most broadly, how does King's conception of human equality stand in relation to that expressed in the Declaration of Independence? More specifically, how does King conceive of a fully integrated society? How does he view the relation of racial and economic forms of integration? With respect to economic integration, where does King stand in relation to competing liberal-democratic and social-democratic conceptions of human rights? With respect to racial integration, how would King's principles position him in relation to present-day proponents of racial diversity or multiculturalism?

• Martin Luther King, Jr., Why We Can't Wait (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1963), Chapters 1, 2, 5, and 8.
• Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1963), Chapters 5 and 7.
• James Melvin Washington, ed., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1986), pp. 217-220, 569-597, 617-633, 647-653.
• Peter C. Myers, "The Two Revolutions of Martin Luther King, Jr." in Bryan-Paul Frost and Jeffrey Sikkenga, eds., History of American Political Thought (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003) pp. 666-686.