UVA students in “Les Misérables Today” (a University Seminar) discuss how that epic novel and the renowned musical it spawned lead us to consider a remarkable variety of ethical dilemmas—from the personal to the international. For their final op-ed projects, they aim to convince a wider audience about why and how Les Misérables might or might not be relevant to them (see guidelines). Students whose op-eds are posted here agreed to share their thoughts in this way.
Students in Spring 2017 found Les Misérables to be contemporarily pertinent in a wide variety of ways—from women’s and children’s rights, to our criminal justice system, to education, to economic issues:
3,278 Jean Valjeans, by Parker Bach
“The Child’s Atrophy”: Darkness in the Middle East, by Jess Miller
How to Be Happy: Give Away All Your Money!, by Elizabeth Chung
Hungry Kids and Education: From 19th Century France to Now, by Grace Bowie
Jean Valjean Wouldn’t Stand a Chance in Today’s Justice System, by Cameron Bertron
Look Down: The Syrian Refugee Crisis, by Aiden Carroll
The Pink Barricade: Why Now is the Time to Fight for Women’s Rights, by Madeleine Goggin
The Resurrection of Romance, by Jack Collins
Social Elites Escape Punishments: Hugo Shows Why the Law Needs to Rule Equally, by Tyler Curran
What 24601 Can Teach Us About Prison Reform, by Maggie Barilka
What Victor Hugo Would Think of the AHCA Affair, by Madison Goldrich