POLI 100-01 30588 |
Foundations of US Politics |
Days: T R
|
Time: 09:40 am-11:10 am
|
Room: CARN 206
|
Instructor: Patrick Schmidt
|
|
*First day attendance required*
Details
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
|
POLI 120-01 30589 |
Foundations of International Politics |
Days: T R
|
Time: 01:20 pm-02:50 pm
|
Room: HUM 402
|
Instructor: Andrew Latham
|
|
*First day attendance required*
Details
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
|
POLI 140-01 30590 |
Foundations of Comparative Politics |
Days: M W F
|
Time: 01:10 pm-02:10 pm
|
Room: CARN 204
|
Instructor: Lisa Mueller
|
|
*First day attendance required*
Details
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
|
POLI 160-01 30591 |
Foundations of Political Theory |
Days: M W F
|
Time: 10:50 am-11:50 am
|
Room: CARN 304
|
Instructor: Rothin Datta
|
|
*First day attendance required*
Details
What does it mean to theorize "the political"? How does one undertake such an inquiry? What is the relationship between the political, the economic, the social, and the cultural? This course is designed to help students answer these questions and introduce them to the field of Political Theory. We will explore the work of some the most influential thinkers in the history of political thought – namely, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, and Arendt. We will also engage contemporary scholarship in the discipline and try to understand where Political Theory is headed today. Significantly, this course will move beyond the scope of a traditional introductory survey and consider the ways in which Political Theory has historically ignored questions of racism, sexism, and colonialism. In an attempt to decolonize the canon, we will consider the ways in which these issues have been ignored despite the fact that they have lurked in the background of some of the most important texts in the history of political thought.
General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Distribution Requirements:
Humanities
Course Materials
|
POLI 201-01 30926 |
Power and Development in Africa |
Days: T R
|
Time: 03:00 pm-04:30 pm
|
Room: CARN 204
|
Instructor: Ahmed Samatar
|
|
*Cross-listed with INTL 301-01*
Details
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
|
POLI 204-01 30592 |
US City and Metro Politics |
Days: M W F
|
Time: 10:50 am-11:50 am
|
Room: ARTCOM 202
|
Instructor: Lesley Lavery
|
|
Details
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
|
POLI 212-01 30593 |
Litigation and Public Policy in the U.S. |
Days: M W F
|
Time: 10:50 am-11:50 am
|
Room: HUM 212
|
Instructor: Patrick Schmidt
|
|
Details
This course explores the significance, possibilities and limits of litigation as a way of shaping public policy and society. Focusing mainly in the American context, the course connects two areas of interest: the use of litigation as a strategy for rights movements (from the NAACP to contemporary movements such as gay rights) and the use of class action lawsuits and tort law to compensate people for injuries, especially in matters affecting public health (e.g. asbestos, tobacco). The course gives special emphasis to the work of lawyers and the role of the legal profession.
General Education Requirements:
Distribution Requirements:
Social science
Course Materials
|
POLI 215-01 30301 |
Environmental Politics/Policy |
Days: T R
|
Time: 03:00 pm-04:30 pm
|
Room: THEATR 206
|
Instructor: Roopali Phadke
|
|
*Permission of instructor required; first day attendance required; cross-listed with ENVI 215-01*
Details
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
|
POLI 216-01 30594 |
Legislative Politics |
Days: T R
|
Time: 03:00 pm-04:30 pm
|
Room: CARN 305
|
Instructor: Julie Dolan
|
|
*Permission of instructor required*
Details
This course explores legislative politics through a combination of academic theory and focused field experiences. Preference will be given to students simultaneously interning at the Minnesota State House of Representatives or Senate, MN Governor's Office, or with the Capitol Pathways Program. The class examines 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
|
POLI 245-01 30596 |
Latin American Politics |
Days: T R
|
Time: 09:40 am-11:10 am
|
Room: HUM 214
|
Instructor: Paul Dosh
|
|
*First day attendance required; cross-listed with LATI 245-01*
Details
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
|
POLI 253-01 30927 |
Transitional Justice |
Days: T R
|
Time: 09:40 am-11:10 am
|
Room: CARN 204
|
Instructor: Nadya Nedelsky
|
|
*Cross-listed with INTL 352-01*
Details
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
|
POLI 265-01 30598 |
Work, Wealth, Well-Being |
Days: T R
|
Time: 09:40 am-11:10 am
|
Room: LIBR 250
|
Instructor: Della Zurick
|
|
Details
Wealth has held an allure for many modern thinkers; the creation of a wealthy society often associated with "civilization" itself. The relationships among work, wealth and well-being are a perennial concern and have been central to the study of political economy, since its inception in the mid- to late-18th century. How does work produce wealth for the individual and for society? How, or when, does individual and social wealth translate into individual and/or social well-being? And, how does the character of work affect individual well-being or happiness? This course will examine the answers given to these questions (and myriad corollary questions) by writers within the political economy tradition.
General Education Requirements:
Distribution Requirements:
Social science
Course Materials
|
POLI 267-01 30599 |
Liberal and Conservative Political Thought |
Days: M W
|
Time: 08:00 am-09:30 am
|
Room: CARN 404
|
Instructor: Andrew Latham
|
|
Details
This course deals with the liberal and conservative currents(s) running through the Western tradition of political thought from the time of the French Revolution to today. Its main goal of to provide a solid introduction to these two bodies of philosophical speculation. Through a close reading of texts and commentaries, we will critically (though empathetically) examine the relevant works of thinkers such as John Locke, Thomas Paine, Edmund Burke, John Stuart Mill, John Henry Newman, Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley Jr., Leo Strauss, John Dewey, Friedrich von Hayek, Irving Kristol, Michael Oakshott, and Alasdair MacIntyre. The focus of our inquiries will be upon topics such as "how should I lead my life?" (ethics), and "how should we lead our lives together?" (politics). Important secondary goals of the course include: familiarizing students with the various "languages" or "idioms" of conservative and liberal political thought; helping students understand the great political debates between conservative and liberals; applying both conservative and liberal political frames/concepts to a range of contemporary "hot-button" social and political issues. As an intermediate-level offering, this course is designed primarily for Political Science majors and non-majors in cognate fields (such as Philosophy) who have some experience in the discipline. The course has no pre-requisites, however, and is therefore suitable for all students seeking to satisfy an interest in liberal and conservative political thought.
General Education Requirements:
Distribution Requirements:
Humanities
Course Materials
|
POLI 269-01 30600 |
Empirical Research Methods |
Days: T R
|
Time: 09:40 am-11:10 am
|
Room: CARN 107
|
Instructor: Julie Dolan
|
|
*First day attendance required*
Details
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. Empirical Methods: The department requires its majors to take one course in empirical research methodology before their senior year. In addition to this course, there are a number of other 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
|
POLI 274-01 30402 |
Spinoza's Eco-Society: Contractless Society and Its Ecology |
Days: T R
|
Time: 03:00 pm-04:30 pm
|
Room: HUM 111
|
Instructor: Kiarina Kordela
|
|
*Cross-listed with ENVI 274-01 and GERM 274-01*
Details
All readings and class taught in English; no pre-knowledge required. Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) has been called the "savage anomaly" of the Enlightenment because his philosophy enables an alternative or 'hidden' modernity based on the interdependence of beings rather than their hierarchy. Ever more political theorists, environmentalists, and ecologists are turning to Spinoza's vision of a nonhierarchical union of nature and society that rejects anthropocentrism as the promise for a more equitable and sustainable life. In this course we shall focus on the foundation of Spinoza's unconventional thesis: his intertwined conceptions of the human being as part of nature-as opposed to the prevailing notion of the human as an autonomous "imperium" in, yet above, nature-and of society as a continuation of nature-as opposed to the dominant theories of the "social contract" that ground society on its break with, or repression of, nature (Grotius, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant). We shall examine Spinoza's entailed radical revision in understanding both the "political" and the "environment." Beyond Spinoza's Ethics and his Theologico-Political and Political treatises, we shall read major commentators on Spinoza's ethical and political theory and on his role in environmental ethics and Deep Ecology.
General Education Requirements:
Internationalism
Distribution Requirements:
Humanities
Course Materials
|
POLI 285-01 30452 |
Ethnicity and Nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe |
Days: T R
|
Time: 01:20 pm-02:50 pm
|
Room: CARN 204
|
Instructor: Nadya Nedelsky
|
|
*Cross-listed with INTL 285-01*
Details
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
|
POLI 290-01 30601 |
Chuck Green Civic Engagement Fellowship |
Days: M W F
|
Time: 02:20 pm-03:20 pm
|
Room: CARN 204
|
Instructor: Lisa Mueller
|
|
*First day attendance required*
Details
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
|
POLI 294-03 30604 |
Reproductive Justice: Theory and Praxis |
Days: T R
|
Time: 01:20 pm-02:50 pm
|
Room: HUM 409
|
Instructor: Della Zurick
|
|
*Cross-listed with WGSS 294-05*
Details
In this class, reproductive justice will become a critical framework for both political theory and political action. As a theoretical framework, reproductive justice is a way of thinking about freedom and the rights to maintain bodily autonomy, to have children, to not have children and to parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. Insofar as reproductive justice centers the politics of sex, we’ll begin this class thinking about sexual autonomy (including access to contraception, sex education, prevention and treatment for STIs, etc.). From there, we’ll move into U.S. histories of forced sterilization, the fight for access to safe and legal abortion and the risks of childbirth and infant mortality, especially for BIPOC people. These histories will bring us into an exploration of reproductive justice as a framework for political practice and as a social justice movement. It’s about the legal and political action that may limit or expand the scope of justice to include things that would make reproduction meaningfully free (e.g., access to health care and safe housing, a living wage, and decarceration). We’ll study these issues through legal cases, historical readings, political theory, ethics and personal narratives that put focus on reproductive justice in the U.S. This class requires your thoughtful participation both in writing and discussion.
General Education Requirements:
Distribution Requirements:
Social science
Course Materials
|
POLI 294-05 30952 |
The Politics of Colonialism: The Birth of the Modern International Order |
Days: W
|
Time: 07:00 pm-10:00 pm
|
Room: CARN 105
|
Instructor: Ibrahim Oker
|
|
Details
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
General Education Requirements:
Distribution Requirements:
Course Materials
|
POLI 294-06 30954 |
The Politics of the Middle East |
Days: T R
|
Time: 03:00 pm-04:30 pm
|
Room: CARN 304
|
Instructor: Ibrahim Oker
|
|
Details
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
General Education Requirements:
Distribution Requirements:
Course Materials
|
POLI 301-01 30605 |
Law, Economy, and Identity |
Days: M W F
|
Time: 01:10 pm-02:10 pm
|
Room: CARN 06A
|
Instructor: Patrick Schmidt
|
|
*Sophomore standing or permission of instructor is required*
Details
This seminar-style course explores vital questions in America's political development, focusing particularly on the moments with questions of law and the identity of people have been contested around economic issues. Topics vary but may include the evolution in property rights for women, the law of slavery, the legal status of Native Americans, and the evolution of welfare rights. The course employs tutorials, in which students tackle key questions through essays, which are then discussed in small groups in the instructor's office. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore-standing or permission of instructor.
General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
U.S. Identities and Differences
Distribution Requirements:
Social science
Course Materials
|
POLI 320-01 30953 |
Global Political Economy |
Days: M W F
|
Time: 02:20 pm-03:20 pm
|
Room: CARN 404
|
Instructor: Ibrahim Oker
|
|
Details
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
|
POLI 341-01 30607 |
Comparative Social Movements |
Days: T R
|
Time: 01:20 pm-02:50 pm
|
Room: ARTCOM 202
|
Instructor: Paul Dosh
|
|
*First day attendance required; cross-listed with LATI 341-01*
Details
How did the Arab Spring and Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement deploy a similar tactical repertoire, yet provoke different outcomes? Comparing movements for Black lives in Colombia and South Africa, does participant diversity boost or undercut mobilization? And does mobilization of identity explain how indigenous Bolivians ejected U.S. corporations and scored lasting victories against the white power structure? This advanced research seminar engages theories that seek to explain the origins and development of movements, including LGBTQ+ movements struggling to avoid deradicalization in Germany, feminist organizations in Nicaragua navigating tensions between autonomy and agenda-setting, mobilization of Brazilian prisoners resisting pandemic lockdowns within lockdowns, and artists making visible the erased contributions of Kenyan women to the global climate justice movement. Students planning to conduct social movements research while studying away may write a research prospectus to launch that field research project. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
Internationalism
Distribution Requirements:
Social science
Course Materials
|
POLI 394-01 30903 |
Racial Capitalism |
Days: M W F
|
Time: 09:40 am-10:40 am
|
Room: CARN 05
|
Instructor: Rothin Datta
|
|
Details
According to Cedric Robinson, capitalism, from its advent, "pursued essentially racial directions." This insight led Robinson to a theory of “racial capitalism” that has been taken up by several scholars across disciplines. Through this course, we will attempt to answer the following questions: What is racial capitalism? How do we understand its key components (racism and capitalism) and how do they relate to one other? Is the question of the relationship between racism and capitalism a historical one or a purely theoretical one? How have these concepts influenced contemporary political struggles? What role do slavery, property relations, prisons, and the police play in the reproduction of racial capitalism?
General Education Requirements:
Distribution Requirements:
Course Materials
|
POLI 404-01 30609 |
Honors Colloquium |
Days: M W
|
Time: 12:00 pm-01:00 pm
|
Room: ARTCOM 202
|
Instructor: Lesley Lavery
|
|
*Permission of instructor required; 2 credits*
Details
A workshop for students pursing honors projects in the political science department. S/N grading.
General Education Requirements:
Distribution Requirements:
Social science
Course Materials
|