Unit 4: Idealism versus Realism: This unit explores the individual and collective tensions created by varying interpretations of theories regarding human’s capacity for personal and collective “goodness”. Through an analysis of the utopian and dystopian literature and a comparative evaluation of its pragmatic effects on human history, students deconstruct the role idealist and realistic theories have to alter the economic, cultural and political landscape. Beginning with Plato and continuing through the present day, students examine how philosophers, scholars, and authors use these reoccurring tensions to create a narrative, which shapes the modern geopolitical climate (e.g. collectivism versus rugged individuals). The unit strives to foster appreciation for the importance of checks and balances, freedom of the press, democratic principles, and transparency for all power structures to allow the theoretical to positively transform the pragmatic.