Schedules

This course introduces the constitutional framework, political culture, branches of government, political behavior, and nongovernmental institutions (e.g. political parties, media, or interest groups) that dynamically shape American politics.  Approaches vary by instructor, potentially including some mix of simulations, class debates, offsite observations, and comparative and critical examinations, but share a common set of objectives: 1) cultivating a broad and conversational understanding of key ideas, issues, and problems particular to American politics through classic and contemporary readings; 2) stimulating further inquiry into how American politics works and why it matters and 3) developing students' own reasoning, critical thinking, writing, and public speaking skills. This course is principally designed for beginning political science majors and non-majors who have not taken an AP course in US Government and Politics.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q1

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The course introduces students to the study of argumentation or systematic reasoning about questions of public policy. How should we govern ourselves? Who gets to be a citizen? What limits should a society place on its citizens' behaviors? What freedoms should a society allow? Because these are questions over which reasonable people may disagree, coming up with mutually agreeable answers requires extensive public discussion and debate. The citizen who can discover reliable evidence, make sound arguments, and reason well in the face of strong counter-arguments also embodies the very notion of a liberally educated person. Students will develop their argumentation skills by focusing on congressional debates that have powerfully shaped the United States, including slavery, Indian removal, woman's rights, war powers, and impeachment.  The course is well suited for students who wish to develop their analytic, oral, and written communication skills.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course has three broad goals. The first is to develop the foundational knowledge and conceptual literacy necessary to engage with International Relations' multidimensional concerns. These include issues such as world order, power, hierarchy, political violence, international law, development, religion, human rights, gender, humanitarianism and international organizations (such as the United Nations). The second is to introduce students to the different perspectives or intellectual frameworks for making sense of international relations (also known as global or world politics), including realist, liberal, constructivist, historical materialist, postcolonial and feminist approaches. The third is to encourage students to reflect on some of the ethical issues inherent in both the study and practice of international politics. Emphasis will also be placed on developing a range of critical, analytical, research and writing skills required for the further study of international politics. The course is thus intended to prepare students for advanced work in the field, although it is also appropriate for those merely seeking to satisfy an interest in the study of global politics.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

In Comparative Politics we use comparison to analyze political outcomes within and across countries, Why do Mexican presidents exercise strong centralized authority while Brazilian presidents must contend with powerful governors? Why do Muslims and Hindus fight in some Indian states but not in others? Why does Rwanda have such a high proportion of female legislators whereas the U.S. has such a low proportion? When confronted with large-scale protests in their cities, do state security forces in China, Russia, and the United States respond with similar methods or do they differ? Through comparative analysis, students will learn to describe diverse political institutions, to propose explanations for divergent outcomes, and to evaluate scholarly and popular arguments about politics.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Latin American women have overcome patriarchal "machismo" to serve as presidents, mayors, guerilla leaders, union organizers, artists, intellectuals, and human rights activists. Through a mix of theoretical, empirical, and testimonial work, we will explore issues such as feminist challenges to military rule in Chile, anti-feminist politics in Nicaragua, the intersection of gender and democratization in Cuba, and women's organizing and civil war in Colombia. Teaching methods include discussion, debates, simulations, analytic papers, partisan narratives, lecture, film, poetry, and a biographical essay. This class employs an innovative system of qualitative assessment. Students take the course "S/SD/N with Written Evaluation." This provides a powerful opportunity for students to stretch their limits in a learning community with high expectations, but without a high-pressure atmosphere. This ungraded course has been approved for inclusion on major/minor plans in Political Science, Latin American Studies, and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course deals with the major currents of political theory as they evolved in the Western, Chinese, and Islamic traditions from the time of classical Antiquity (ancient Greece and Rome) until the high modern era (roughly the early 20th century). Its main goal is to provide a solid introduction to the historical origins and evolution of key concepts such as the ‘good life,’ authority, democracy, republicanism, rights, order, revolution, and resistance, as understood from a variety of Western and non-Western perspectives. Through a close reading of texts and commentaries, we will critically (though empathetically) examine significant works in the traditions of Classical Greek and Roman Political Theory, Classical Chinese Political Theory, Medieval and Renaissance Political Theory, Classical Islamic Political Theory, Liberal and Republican Political Theory, Conservative Political Theory, Marxist Political Theory, and Fascist Political Theory.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

The readings and assignments in this course are designed to help students understand how social policies and programs contribute to Americans' lived experiences.  We will examine various theoretical justifications for the policies that constitute the American welfare state, then confront and dissect major strands of the American social safety net to better understand how political institutions and policy mechanisms contribute to both diversity and inequality in individuals' social, economic and political outcomes (based in race, class, gender, dis/ability, region, political jurisdiction, etc.).

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

An exploration of the structure of the American Political System as seen through the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. The central topics include the development of the federal-state relationship, the separation of powers in the national government, the limits of government power over the economy, and the role of the judiciary. This course takes in the sweep of American history from 1789 to the present. Prerequisite(s): POLI 100 recommended.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to the field of Environmental Politics and Policy. Using a comparative approach, the course engages the meaning and development of environmental governance. We will explore the tandem rise of the modern environmental movement and profound new environmental legislation in the U.S. and internationally. Topics investigated will include: deforestation, hazardous wastes, climate change, population growth, and loss of biodiversity.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course is designed to introduce students to global governance. It begins with a discussion of the concept of global governance. It then turns to some of the central features of contemporary global governance, including the changing status of the state and of international/world organizations and the role of global civil society. The emphasis here is on how patterns of global governance have changed and are changing and on the implications of these changes for democracy, social justice, etc. The remainder of the course focuses on the areas of international peace and security, human rights and international humanitarian law, and economic governance. By addressing such topics as the International Criminal Court and the role of the IMF and the World Bank in economic development, these parts of the course highlight the contested nature of global governance in each of the three issue areas. Prerequisite(s): POLI 120 recommended.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course is designed to introduce students to global governance. It begins with a discussion of the concept of global governance. It then turns to some of the central features of contemporary global governance, including the changing status of the state and of international/world organizations and the role of global civil society. The emphasis here is on how patterns of global governance have changed and are changing and on the implications of these changes for democracy, social justice, etc. The remainder of the course focuses on the areas of international peace and security, human rights and international humanitarian law, and economic governance. By addressing such topics as the International Criminal Court and the role of the IMF and the World Bank in economic development, these parts of the course highlight the contested nature of global governance in each of the three issue areas. Prerequisite(s): POLI 120 recommended.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Taking a chronological tour of American political ideas, this course explores the continuities and conflicts in political discourse in the United States from a wide range of authors and perspectives. Canonical figures such as the Puritans, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln construct political authority in their respective periods, against a diverse backdrop of thinkers presenting competing visions and claims. Some of the authors include: Henry David Thoreau, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, Edward Bellamy, W.E.B. DuBois, John Dewey, Martin Luther King Jr., and a range of contemporary authors representing evolving feminist, environmentalist, and conservative political thought. Assignments vary, but include efforts both to put thought in a historic context and develop the connections between traditions of thought and present-day concerns. Prerequisite(s): POLI 100 recommended

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course will equip you with the skills and intuition to think about politics in a more critical and organized way.  You will practice the scientific method - identifying a problem worthy of study, developing testable hypotheses, designing a research strategy, gathering data, analyzing data, and interpreting your results - and contemplate the philosophical conundrums that underlie our efforts to describe, explain, and interpret complex phenomena.  Every Semester. (4 credits) Empirical Methods: The department requires its majors to take one course in empirical research methodology, preferably before their junior year. There are a number of courses that fulfill this requirement, including: POLI 272, SOCI 269, SOCI 270, SOCI 275. In some cases, research methods courses taken in other social science disciplines may be used to fulfill this requirement following approval by the political science department chair.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

A widespread tendency in contemporary Western societies is to associate metaphysics with religion, if not with what is often dismissively called the "irrational." This course will dismantle this myth by reading closely European philosophy and political theory, mostly since the seventeenth century, in their relation to theology and their reception by twentieth-century critical theory. This will allow us to examine the ways in which secular thought emerges not as an alternative to metaphysics-something which thought cannot supersede anyway-but rather as a different way of dealing with the very same metaphysical questions and issues that concern religion, from the meaning of life to the imminence of death, and from (actual or imagined) guilt to the hope for redemption. We shall endeavor to identify the similarities and differences between the 'secular' and the 'religious' ways, including their respective relations to rationality. Readings may include: Aristotle, Talal Asad, George Bataille, Walter Benjamin, Kenneth Burke, Richard Dienst, Emile Durkheim, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, Peter Harrison, Jacques Lacan, Karl Marx, Marcel Mauss, Carl Schmitt, Baruch Spinoza, Alberto Toscano, Max Weber, Slavoj Zizek. Prerequisite(s): All readings in English. No pre-knowledge required.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

The course will critically analyze the history and politics of the seven original member states of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC): India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, and Bhutan. The course has several broad goals. First, to introduce the history of colonialism and nationalism in South Asia through the eyes of marginalized women, peasants, and workers. Subaltern readings of history will reveal how the colonial experience has shaped political institutions. Second, to analyze social cleavages—ethnicity, religion, caste, language— in relation to ethnic nationalist movements like the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka, religious extremist groups like Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami in Pakistan and Bangladesh, Maoist movements in Nepal, and separatist movements in India. Third, to understand the rise of populist leaders and parties in the region and its impact on liberal democracy and bilateral relations between countries. We will also examine regional innovations focused on sharing natural resources and common river water, addressing climate change, and regulating migration, and critique SAARC’s potential to help implement these innovations. The course concludes with a discussion of South Asia’s relationships with extra-regional powers like China and the United States.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course explores the question, "What do podcasts do TO us and FOR us as citizens in a liberal democracy?" We draw upon literature in political science, media studies, neuroscience, and psychology to help answer this question, as well as podcasts by scholars, politicians, and social movement advocates. Students will systematically design their own political podcast series and produce three short podcast episodes. The course is appropriate for first-year students. One does not need a prior background in political science or experience in audio recording to succeed in this course. The popularity of podcasts as journalistic and political phenomena skyrocketed in 2014 thanks to a long-form, non-fiction podcast called “Serial,” produced by the radio show, This American Life. Today, thousands of politically oriented podcasts are available to listeners around the world. The relative ease of recording and publishing one’s ideas makes podcasts a truly democratic form of political debate and discourse, as well as a significant driver of polarization and political animosity. This course focuses on three topics of significant interest to contemporary political scientists: political polarization, increasing authoritarianism, and widespread threats to liberal democracy. Political podcasts differ in format and should be understood as different rhetorical genres such as soliloquies, formal debates, and Platonic-style dialogues. The course will situate political podcasting as one of several phenomena that suggest we have entered what Walter Ong calls a new “age of orality.”

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The United States routinely bills itself as one of the world's great, if not greatest, democracies. But much evidence suggests that our democracy is broken. This course privileges student voices, creating a space in which they set the agenda, identify issues for collective action, and work together to create change in our communities. No prerequisites.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course examines significant women who have used various forms of persuasion to shape society and women's role in Western history, politics, and culture. We concentrate on women's efforts to participate in public affairs and the social, political, religious, scientific, and rhetorical obstacles that have restricted women's access to public life. Students will analyze how women have used speaking, writing, and protesting in their attempts to overcome such obstacles, influence public policy and/or win elective office. The course pays particular attention to the experiences of female heads of state in countries throughout the world and how they have used their powers once in office. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore-standing or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This advanced research seminar explores K-12 education politics and policy in the United States. We will consider institutions and structures, explore education policy issues and debates, survey and weigh competing theoretical ideas, and engage in discussions and activities designed to challenge our thinking and understanding of the educational landscape. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore-standing; previous coursework in American politics or public policy as well as research methods is recommended but not required. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore-standing; previous coursework in American politics or public policy as well as research methods is recommended.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course is designed to introduce students to the study of international relations theory as an academic discipline. It is intended to prepare students for graduate work in the field, but should be appropriate for those merely seeking to satisfy an interest in international relations theory. The course is intended primarily for advanced political science majors and non-majors in cognate fields who have significant experience in the discipline. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore-standing or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Energy justice builds on the concepts of environmental and climate justice, with a focus on the visible and invisible infrastructures that produce, deliver, maintain and transform our economies and societies.  Topics will include pipelines (Standing Rock), waste disposal (Yucca Mountain nuclear storage), and issues around the fracking (Bakken). The course will also focus on citizen science as a tool for revealing injustice and promoting justice, such as the work of the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science, a non-profit that develops open source, Do It Yourself tools for community based environmental analysis. Students will develop an independent major research project over the semester. This course can substitute for POLI 335. Prerequisite(s): POLI 215

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course explores the rapidly evolving field of transitional justice, examining how and why regimes respond to wide-scale past human rights abuses. Drawing on examples worldwide, it asks why states choose particular strategies and examines a variety of goals (truth, justice, reconciliation, democracy-building), approaches (trials, truth commissions, file access, memorialization, reparation, rewriting histories), actors (state, civil society, religious institutions), experiences, results, and controversies. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The goal of the Senior Research Seminar (Capstone) is to launch students on a culminating academic experience organized around the supervised independent study of a political science topic of particular interest and relevance. The Seminar is premised on the assumption that students will have a working familiarity with the foundational knowledge in the sub-field(s) relevant to their reserach project, a mastery of the practical skills introduced in foundation courses and further developed in intermediate courses, and a willingness to engage actively in a rigorous, sustained inquiry into an important topic. In each section of the seminar, a faculty member will coach students through the process of defining a significant and important political science research question, developing a thesis, designing an appropriate research program and writing a 25-35 page original capstone.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The goal of the Senior Research Seminar (Capstone) is to launch students on a culminating academic experience organized around the supervised independent study of a political science topic of particular interest and relevance. The Seminar is premised on the assumption that students will have a working familiarity with the foundational knowledge in the sub-field(s) relevant to their reserach project, a mastery of the practical skills introduced in foundation courses and further developed in intermediate courses, and a willingness to engage actively in a rigorous, sustained inquiry into an important topic. In each section of the seminar, a faculty member will coach students through the process of defining a significant and important political science research question, developing a thesis, designing an appropriate research program and writing a 25-35 page original capstone.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

A workshop for students pursing honors projects in the political science department. S/N grading.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The course introduces students to the study of argumentation or systematic reasoning about questions of public policy. How should we govern ourselves? Who gets to be a citizen? What limits should a society place on its citizens' behaviors? What freedoms should a society allow? Because these are questions over which reasonable people may disagree, coming up with mutually agreeable answers requires extensive public discussion and debate. The citizen who can discover reliable evidence, make sound arguments, and reason well in the face of strong counter-arguments also embodies the very notion of a liberally educated person. Students will develop their argumentation skills by focusing on congressional debates that have powerfully shaped the United States, including slavery, Indian removal, woman's rights, war powers, and impeachment.  The course is well suited for students who wish to develop their analytic, oral, and written communication skills.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course has three broad goals. The first is to develop the foundational knowledge and conceptual literacy necessary to engage with International Relations' multidimensional concerns. These include issues such as world order, power, hierarchy, political violence, international law, development, religion, human rights, gender, humanitarianism and international organizations (such as the United Nations). The second is to introduce students to the different perspectives or intellectual frameworks for making sense of international relations (also known as global or world politics), including realist, liberal, constructivist, historical materialist, postcolonial and feminist approaches. The third is to encourage students to reflect on some of the ethical issues inherent in both the study and practice of international politics. Emphasis will also be placed on developing a range of critical, analytical, research and writing skills required for the further study of international politics. The course is thus intended to prepare students for advanced work in the field, although it is also appropriate for those merely seeking to satisfy an interest in the study of global politics.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

In Comparative Politics we use comparison to analyze political outcomes within and across countries, Why do Mexican presidents exercise strong centralized authority while Brazilian presidents must contend with powerful governors? Why do Muslims and Hindus fight in some Indian states but not in others? Why does Rwanda have such a high proportion of female legislators whereas the U.S. has such a low proportion? When confronted with large-scale protests in their cities, do state security forces in China, Russia, and the United States respond with similar methods or do they differ? Through comparative analysis, students will learn to describe diverse political institutions, to propose explanations for divergent outcomes, and to evaluate scholarly and popular arguments about politics.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

In Comparative Politics we use comparison to analyze political outcomes within and across countries, Why do Mexican presidents exercise strong centralized authority while Brazilian presidents must contend with powerful governors? Why do Muslims and Hindus fight in some Indian states but not in others? Why does Rwanda have such a high proportion of female legislators whereas the U.S. has such a low proportion? When confronted with large-scale protests in their cities, do state security forces in China, Russia, and the United States respond with similar methods or do they differ? Through comparative analysis, students will learn to describe diverse political institutions, to propose explanations for divergent outcomes, and to evaluate scholarly and popular arguments about politics.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

An examination of the evolution of influential political concepts and theories from ancient cultures to the present day, by those writing in/from/to the West. Introduction through textual analysis to historical and contemporary understandings of key terms such as authority, legitimacy, liberty, republicanism, democracy, revolution and "the good." Additionally, the course provides an introduction to political theory methods of analysis and critique, through the development of skills in reading, critical thinking, and writing.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

A study of classical and modern rhetorical theories throughout Western history. The course analyzes how each theory defines rhetoric and characterizes the relationship between rhetoric and power, art, truth, emotion, and ethics. Discusses the symbiotic relationship between rhetoric and democracy. Every year. Foundations Courses: Courses numbered in the 100s are Foundations courses. These courses are designed principally for beginning political science majors, as well as non-majors seeking an introduction to the discipline's various sub-fields. The purpose of these courses is threefold: To provide foundational knowledge of the key actors, structures, institutions and/or historical dynamics relevant to the respective sub-fields; to introduce the major theoretical trends, perspectives and debates that have shaped the evolution of the respective sub-fields; and to begin to develop a range of practical competencies (esp. research/writing skills) essential to further scholarly inquiry within the discipline of political science.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Students are introduced to the issues and challenges confronting American cities today, and the public policy options and remedies city governments employ to address urban problems.  Using a historical approach, we trace the origins of machine politics and campaigns against their rule, the evolution of the "urban crisis" of the twentieth century, and the rise of the fragmented urban metropolis.  Next, we explore how persistent economic and racial segregation, interurban rivalries, fiscal constraints, and identity politics shape power relationships and local governmental capacities to deliver services and revitalize neighborhoods.  Along the way, in simulated challenges, we ask students to present and defend their own policy proposals to urban problems (e.g. fair elections, downtown development, affordable housing, urban sprawl) and, in a longer research paper, investigate how one or two cities have struggled with or successfully addressed an urban challenge. Prerequisite(s): POLI 100 recommended.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The United Sates government is a large, complex system of multiple institutions that share power and authority and govern across multiple issue dimensions. Attention will be paid to issues of policy formation and implementation with a focus on the role and interaction of national and state institutions. This course presents a foundation for understanding the what, who, where, and how of public policy making. The course will explore these components from different perspectives while delving into questions like: What is public policy good for? Who decides policy priorities? What effect does public policy actually have in solving public problems?Even more, though, it tackles a more fundamental question: can public policy make the world better? If someone wants to make a genuine difference in the world, is public policy the domain that can enact those changes? And what are the roadblocks and hurdles to that change? We will 1) Discuss foundational theories of the policy process; 2) Examine several case studies designed to engage these theories and debate their practical application, and 3) Become "experts" in a particular policy area as each student prepares a policy portfolio and presentation on that topic and presents politically viable solutions. This course will focus on writing for a variety of audiences and leave students well-prepared to apply for policy-oriented scholarships, fellowships and jobs.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

An examination of civil liberties and rights in the U.S., focusing on the cases decided by the Supreme Court. Central topics include the First Amendment freedoms of speech, press, and religion; privacy and reproductive freedom; and the Fourteenth Amendment protection of equality as it affects discrimination, affirmative action, and voting rights.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to the field of Environmental Politics and Policy. Using a comparative approach, the course engages the meaning and development of environmental governance. We will explore the tandem rise of the modern environmental movement and profound new environmental legislation in the U.S. and internationally. Topics investigated will include: deforestation, hazardous wastes, climate change, population growth, and loss of biodiversity.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course explores legislative politics through a combination of academic theory and focused field experiences. We examine the basic structures, players and forces that shape legislative decision-making, the motivation of individual legislators, and their interactions with other political actors and institutions. Prerequisite(s): POLI 100 recommended.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

China has adopted a number of distinct grand strategies since the CCP came to power in 1950. These include “Survival,” “Exporting the Revolution,” “Hide and Bide,” “Peaceful Rise” and “Moving to Center Stage.” In this course we explore the way in which each of these grand strategies was conditioned by profound shifts in both the external geopolitical realm and the trajectory of China’s internal political-economic development. The course also addresses the implications of each of these grand strategies for international peace and security.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course introduces students to the political and strategic challenges posed for the United States by the transition from the post-Cold War “unipolar moment” to a new era of “great power competition.” The course will begin with a brief overview of historical patterns of great power competition. It will then proceed to address the current era, focusing in particular on Chinese and Russian efforts to extend their influence into critical geopolitical regions (including space and the polar regions) and functional domains (such as multilateral institutions and cyberspace), and U.S. efforts both to respond to these efforts and to adapt to the demise of the liberal international order more broadly. The course culminates in a simulation in which students explore the intersecting dynamics of multipolar great power competition and regional conflict.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Comparative study of political institutions and conflicts in several Latin American countries. Through a mix of empirical and theoretical work, we analyze concepts and issues such as authoritarianism and democratization, neoliberalism, state terror and peace processes, guerrilla movements, party systems, populism, the Cuban Revolution, and U.S. military intervention. Themes are explored through diverse teaching methods including discussion, debates, simulations, partisan narratives, lecture, film, and poetry. This class employs an innovative system of qualitative assessment. Students take the course "S/SD/N with Written Evaluation." This provides a powerful opportunity for students to stretch their limits in a learning community with high expectations, but without a high-presure atmosphere. This ungraded course has been approved for inclusion on major/minor/concentration plans in Political Science, Latin American Studies, and Human Rights and Humanitarianism.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course will equip you with the skills and intuition to think about politics in a more critical and organized way.  You will practice the scientific method - identifying a problem worthy of study, developing testable hypotheses, designing a research strategy, gathering data, analyzing data, and interpreting your results - and contemplate the philosophical conundrums that underlie our efforts to describe, explain, and interpret complex phenomena.  Every Semester. (4 credits) Empirical Methods: The department requires its majors to take one course in empirical research methodology, preferably before their junior year. There are a number of courses that fulfill this requirement, including: POLI 272, SOCI 269, SOCI 270, SOCI 275. In some cases, research methods courses taken in other social science disciplines may be used to fulfill this requirement following approval by the political science department chair.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

A study of how presidents, politicians, and social movement activists worldwide use language and persuasive symbols to increase their influence and bring about social and political change. Students complete a semester-long project in which they analyze a significant political text utilizing descriptive-analytic, historical-contextual, critical, and interpretive research methods. This course is well-suited for students wanting to undertake a significant research project and develop their skills in academic writing. It fulfills the department's research methods requirement.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course explores ethnic nationalism's causes and consequences in Eastern Europe. Drawing on several disciplines, we begin by examining the core concepts and theories in the contemporary study of nationalism. We then explore both the historical roots of Eastern European nationalisms, and their implications for democracy, minority inclusion, regional stability, and European integration.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

In his 40-year career at Macalester, Professor Chuck Green functioned as a one-man `leadership academy,- inspiring and guiding students to make the transition from detached observers to engaged citizens. Through his teaching, mentoring, and example, Professor Green instilled in students a sense of confidence and optimism about their ability to engage proactively in the world. The Chuck Green Civic Engagement Fellowship honors this legacy. Students with sophomore or junior standing may apply for this seven-month fellowship that includes a spring seminar and a full-time, fully-funded summer field experience. Chuck Green Fellows will study democratic engagement in social and organizational change, identify a client organization working for the public good with whom the student can analyze and address a problem, and then work with that client on a mutually agreed-upon solution. The Fellowship culminates in the early fall with an event in which Fellows, faculty, and clients have an opportunity to reflect on the fellowship experience. The Fellowship counts as an intermediate course and fulfills the practicum requirement of the political science major. Contact the political science department for a full description and application. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The advancement of LGBTQ rights in the United States has experienced unprecedented success over the last twenty years, shifting both public attitude towards and legal protection for LGBTQ Americans. This course will provide an in-depth analysis of current LGBTQ policy achievements in the United States, including the recognition of marriage equality in all 50- states, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and increased anti-discrimination protections. Emphasis will be placed on how these victories were achieved, including background on the strategies and tactics used to generate results. We will also take a critical look at such milestones and examine what they mean for the entire LGBTQ population, including queer people of color, transgender and gender nonconforming individuals, the disabled, and economically disadvantaged. Incorporated into this analysis will be readings from queer liberation scholars to help us evaluate the pros and cons of existing LGBTQ policy gains. The course will explore what full equality might look like for LGBTQ people in the United States with an examination of what can and cannot be achieved through policy. Practical application on how policy is made will be intertwined throughout the course. Topics to be covered include the meaning and measurement of LGBTQ identity; estimates of those who identify as LGBTQ; the measurement of Americans’ attitudes on LGBTQ issues and how these attitudes have changed over the past few decades; assessment of changes in law and policies at the national, state and local levels; and the implications of these changes for the lived experience of LGBTQ people and their families, including health, well-being, stigma and discrimination.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Traces the evolution of (global) political economy as a peculiarly modern way of understanding and organizing (global) social life. Particular attention will be paid to how the distinction between the political and the economic is drawn and implemented in interconnected ways within nation-states and in international society. Course includes a detailed study of one of the key components of the international political economy: international trade, international finance, technological processes, etc. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore-standing or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The past two decades appear to have been very successful ones for humanitarianism. Funding for humanitarianism has skyrocketed; humanitarian organizations have expanded their public support, as well as their activities; and, increasingly, humanitarian issues have found a place at the center of policy decisions. It is also generally agreed that humanitarianism is in crisis owing to the growing awareness of the sometimes harmful effects of aid; the expansion of the concept of humanitarianism to include human rights, development, and peace-building; and the increasing involvement of states in humanitarian operations. This advanced-level course explores the nature and dilemmas of contemporary humanitarianism. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore-standing or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

In a notable turn around, a significant number of African societies, in recent years, have experienced both economic growth and renewal of the spirit of women and men acting as citizens. These are commendable achievements. Yet, old quotidian urgencies such as precarious personal safety, hunger, poor health, and political disorder are still prevalent. This is the dialectic of development. This course explores these contradictions. Most of the attention will be given to the concepts of power, politics, and development in contemporary Africa. The course concludes with each student submitting a research paper on a specific problem (e.g. environment, economic, social, cultural, political) confronting one country of the student's choice. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course explores the rapidly evolving field of transitional justice, examining how and why regimes respond to wide-scale past human rights abuses. Drawing on examples worldwide, it asks why states choose particular strategies and examines a variety of goals (truth, justice, reconciliation, democracy-building), approaches (trials, truth commissions, file access, memorialization, reparation, rewriting histories), actors (state, civil society, religious institutions), experiences, results, and controversies. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

The goal of the Senior Research Seminar (Capstone) is to launch students on a culminating academic experience organized around the supervised independent study of a political science topic of particular interest and relevance. The Seminar is premised on the assumption that students will have a working familiarity with the foundational knowledge in the sub-field(s) relevant to their reserach project, a mastery of the practical skills introduced in foundation courses and further developed in intermediate courses, and a willingness to engage actively in a rigorous, sustained inquiry into an important topic. In each section of the seminar, a faculty member will coach students through the process of defining a significant and important political science research question, developing a thesis, designing an appropriate research program and writing a 25-35 page original capstone.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The goal of the Senior Research Seminar (Capstone) is to launch students on a culminating academic experience organized around the supervised independent study of a political science topic of particular interest and relevance. The Seminar is premised on the assumption that students will have a working familiarity with the foundational knowledge in the sub-field(s) relevant to their reserach project, a mastery of the practical skills introduced in foundation courses and further developed in intermediate courses, and a willingness to engage actively in a rigorous, sustained inquiry into an important topic. In each section of the seminar, a faculty member will coach students through the process of defining a significant and important political science research question, developing a thesis, designing an appropriate research program and writing a 25-35 page original capstone.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

A workshop for students pursing honors projects in the political science department. S/N grading.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials