Schedule of Classes

This course attempts to develop an understanding of both Africa's position in world politics and the effect of international factors on African nations, focusing on the period since 1945. Africa's relations with the major powers, as well as interaction with other states of the developing world, are explored. The vehicle of international organization through which much of Africa's diplomacy is conducted is emphasized.

An introduction to the politics of the modern Middle East and North Africa that explores topics such as diversity of political regimes; state-society relations; religious, ethnic, and territorial conflict; political economy; the transition to nation-states; and regional social movements. The course utilizes a theoretical and comparative approach but also considers in detail the specific cases of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, Israel-Palestine, and Iran.

Why punish? How might one justify it? Is punishment, ultimately, good? This course will begin with the thesis that punishment, as a whole, is good: the rehabilitative and restorative traditions, along with relevant readings from thinkers like Kant and Hegel, articulate the moral and social benefits of punishment. A look to more instrumental utilizations of punishment will follow, including utilitarian and deterrent traditions and readings from Bentham and Machiavelli. Finally, critical historical genealogies of punishment in Nietzsche and Foucault will serve as a bridge to the covering violence inherent in mass incarceration and the alternative of prison abolition.

This course analyzes the emergence of China's environmental crisis and its national and global implications. Students explore the historical development of China's current environmental crisis, with special focus on institutions, laws, and regulations that have contributed to environmental degradation during the post-1949 era. The course addresses the efforts, and limited ability, of civil society and China's state to rein in pollution and remediate environmental damage, as well as China's engagement with global environmental norms and policymaking.

Though content varies from semester to semester, this intermediate class focuses on a special topic in Politics not fully covered in existing courses. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic differs.

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of the scientific process of social inquiry. Students develop skills enabling them to better digest the social science literature and produce causal theories related to important outcomes, behaviors, or institutions. Additionally, students learn how to assess the validity of social theories by collecting data, testing observable implications and exploring an interesting question about domestic or international political behavior or institutions.

Gender and politics are intricately related and this course examines them through study of the Middle East and North Africa region. It begins with a general overview of gender and politics broadly defined, and then applies these themes in a comparative way to particular issues that are relevant for the discussion of politics and gender in the region. Themes such as state feminism, gender and revolution, war, conflict and terrorism, religion, the history of imperialism and its contemporary consequences, law and social norms, and the regulation of the female body and dress as methods of political control will be examined.

This course examines the many ways in which race and ethnicity play a role in American politics, including how race and ethnicity affect personal identity, political preferences, political participation, candidates and campaigns, public officeholders, and policymaking. Topics considered include racial identity, descriptive and substantive representation, intersectionality (the interaction of race, gender, class and other social categories), and the effect of race and ethnicity on current public policy debates.

A survey of the politics, institutions, and contemporary topics of concern in the European region. After a brief historical overview of the interwar period and of the aftermath of World War II, students examine a range of topics central to European politics. Such topics include the formation of party systems and party cleavages, welfare states, and political culture. The development of the European Union, its institutions, and debates concerning its enlargement are addressed in the latter part of the course. It concludes with an overview of the literature concerning the incorporation of immigrants in Europe.

In this course, we will examine the politics of loneliness through political theory, philosophy, and literature. We will ask: From what does loneliness stem? Is it native to the human condition; or is it a function of capitalist life? What does it mean to be lonely? Are there different forms of loneliness? Is there a difference between solitude and loneliness? What impact does loneliness have on our collective political life? Is there a connection between the rise of loneliness and the resurgence of nationalism, illiberalism, and the far right? Does social media exacerbate loneliness? What does a politics of loneliness, whether against or for, look like?

A seminar on a topic related to politics. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic differs.

This course examines the role of ethnicity in political conflict. Students explore theories and definitions of ethnic and collective identities and consider the role that these identities play in the emergence and resolution of political conflict. Case studies include India, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, South Africa, and the former Yugoslavia. Not open for credit to students who have completed POLS 240 or POLS 340.

The course introduces human rights conditions in today's world. While it covers varying philosophical traditions of human rights, major emphasis is placed on how different actors and institutions are able to influence human rights conditions, both from an international and domestic perspective.

Students learn not only about theories and institutions, but also about how actors behave within them. In the simulation modules, students assume the roles of political participants appropriate to the particular exercise learn to respond pragmatically to changing conditions of political situations. The simulations for a particular module derive from the institutions and events related to American or international politics, and might include the United Nations, U.S. National Security Council, or the U.S. Supreme Court.

Schedule of Classes

Politics

Psychology