Search Results
Your search for courses · during 2023-24 · tagged with POSI Elective · returned 32 results
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POSC 122 Politics in America: Liberty and Equality 6 credits
An introduction to American government and politics. Focus on the Congress, Presidency, political parties and interest groups, the courts and the Constitution. Particular attention will be given to the public policy debates that divide liberals and conservatives and how these divisions are rooted in American political culture.
- Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Spring 2024
- Intercultural Domestic Studies Quantitative Reasoning Encounter Social Inquiry Writing Requirement
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POSC 122.00 Fall 2023
- Faculty:Ryan Dawkins 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 11:10am-12:20pm
- FHasenstab 105 12:00pm-1:00pm
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POSC 122.01 Winter 2024
- Faculty: Staff
- Size:30
- M, WWeitz Center 230 1:50pm-3:00pm
- FWeitz Center 230 2:20pm-3:20pm
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POSC 122.00 Spring 2024
- Faculty: Staff
- Size:30
- M, WWeitz Center 230 9:50am-11:00am
- FWeitz Center 230 9:40am-10:40am
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POSC 206 Judges and Courts 6 credits
This course focuses on the judicial branch of government. By exploring the judiciary and the courts, we will see how law, politics, economics, and social trends combine to shape the legal system. We will examine how judges are selected; how judges’ backgrounds and views influence their decisions; the moral, emotional, and intellectual aspects of deciding cases; variations between judges in different courts and administrative settings; and how judging fits into the broader structure and operation of the courts. A special feature of this course will be a guest lectures and dialogue with judges and judicial clerks.
- Spring 2024
- Social Inquiry
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POSC 206.00 Spring 2024
- Faculty:Steven Poskanzer 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 002 9:50am-11:00am
- FHasenstab 002 9:40am-10:40am
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POSC 210 Misinformation, Political Rumors, and Conspiracy Theories 6 credits
Why do people believe in conspiracy theories, hold on to misinformed beliefs even in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary, and/or spread political and social rumors that may have little basis in fact? Who is most vulnerable to these various forms of misinformation? What are the normative and political consequences of misperceptions (if any)? This course explores the psychological, political, and philosophical approaches to the study of the causes, consequences, and tenacity of conspiracy beliefs, misinformation, and political rumors, as well as possible approaches that journalists could employ to combat misperceptions.
- Spring 2024
- Intercultural Domestic Studies Social Inquiry
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POSC 211 Media, Politics, and Difference: How Film Teaches Us Who We Are(n’t) 6 credits
As cultural and historical texts, narrative films offer important insight into the cultures that produce and view them. Entertainment media teach us about how to see the world, including what counts as difference—abilities, genders, sexualities, races, ethnicities, classes, identities—and these categories’ meanings and commitments. The messages are “political” in many ways, signaling who has what kinds of: authority, power, resources, and capacities. In this class, we use communications theory, historical and contemporary discourses on race, feminist theory, and political psychology to examine depictions of identity in U.S. cinema, comparing and contrasting Hollywood and independent filmmakers’ works.
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POSC 211.00 Fall 2023
- Faculty:Barbara Allen 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- T, THHasenstab 002 1:15pm-3:00pm
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POSC 225 Prisons and Punishment 6 credits
The United States prides itself on freedom, yet millions of “legal” and “undocumented” citizens live without it. Across federal and state prisons, county jails, private prisons, and undocumented detention centers, the mark of incarceration has a significant impact on American politics. We center this paradox throughout the course as we look at different aspects of incarceration and punishment. We analyze the United States criminal justice system through policy, public opinion, sociology, and political theory. By using an interdisciplinary approach centered in political science, together we will discover whether the relationship between freedom and domination is truly a paradox.
- Fall 2023, Spring 2024
- Social Inquiry
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POSC 225.00 Fall 2023
- Faculty: Staff
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 109 9:50am-11:00am
- FHasenstab 109 9:40am-10:40am
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POSC 225.00 Spring 2024
- Faculty: Staff
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 11:10am-12:20pm
- FHasenstab 105 12:00pm-1:00pm
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POSC 238 Sport and Globalization in London and Seville Program: Globalization and Development: Lessons from Int’l Football 6 credits
This course uses international football (soccer) as a lens to analyze topics in globalization, such as immigration and labor, inequality, foreign investment, trade in services, and intellectual property. Students will be presented with key debates in these areas and then use cases from international football as illustrations. Focusing on the two wealthiest leagues in Europe, the English Premier League and the Spanish Liga, students will address key issues in the study of globalization and development, and in doing so enhance their understanding of the world, sports, and sport’s place in the world.
Requires participation in OCS Program: Sport and Globalization in London and Seville
- Winter 2024
- International Studies Social Inquiry
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POSC 241 Ethnic Conflict 6 credits
Ethnic conflict is a persistent and troubling challenge for those interested in preserving international peace and stability. By one account, ethnic violence has claimed more than ten million lives since 1945, and in the 1990s, ethnic conflicts comprised nearly half of all ongoing conflicts around the world. In this course, we will attempt to understand the conditions that contribute to ethnic tensions, identify the triggers that lead to escalation, and evaluate alternative ideas for managing and solving such disputes. The course will draw on a number of cases, including Rwanda, Bosnia, and Northern Ireland.
- Winter 2024
- International Studies Social Inquiry
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POSC 242 Middle East Politics 6 credits
This course introduces the politics and political structures of states in the Middle East. We explore the political origins of Middle Eastern states, and investigate how regional politics are shaped by colonialism, religion, tribes, the family, and more. We examine the persistence of authoritarianism and its links to other issues like nationalism and militarism. The course covers how recent and current events like the revolutionary movements of the ‘Arab Spring’ civil society affect the states and their societies. We conclude with a consideration of the future of Middle Eastern politics, evaluating lingering concerns and emerging prospects for liberalization and reform.
- Spring 2024
- International Studies Social Inquiry Writing Requirement
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POSC 250 Kings, Tyrants, Philosophers: Plato’s Republic 6 credits
In this course we will read Plato’s Republic, perhaps the greatest and surely the most important work of political philosophy ever written. What are the deepest needs and the most powerful longings of human nature? Can they be fulfilled, and, if so, how? What are the deepest needs of society, and can they be fulfilled? What is the relation between individual happiness and societal well-being? Are they compatible or in conflict with one another? And where they are in conflict, what does justice require that we do? The Republic explores these questions in an imaginative and unforgettable way.
Crosslisted with POSC 350
- Winter 2024
- Humanistic Inquiry
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POSC 250.00 Winter 2024
- Faculty:Laurence Cooper 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- T, THHasenstab 109 1:15pm-3:00pm
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POSC 254 Freedom, Excellence, Happiness: Aristotle’s Ethics 6 credits
What does it mean to be morally excellent? To be politically excellent? To be intellectually and spiritually excellent? Are these things mutually compatible? Do they lie within the reach of everyone? And what is the relation between excellence and pleasure? Between excellence and happiness? Aristotle addresses these questions in intricate and illuminating detail in the Nicomachean Ethics, which we will study in this course. The Ethics is more accessible than some of Aristotle’s other works. But it is also a multifaceted and multi-layered book, and one that reveals more to those who study it with care.
Cross-listed with POSC 354
- Spring 2024
- Humanistic Inquiry
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POSC 257 Marx for the 21st Century: Ecology, Technology, Dispossession 6 credits
This course introduces students to the work of Karl Marx by exploring parts of Capital volumes one, two and three as well as of the Grundrisse in tandem with 21st century discussions of carboniferous capitalism, digital labor and colonial dispossession. Using concepts of the “metabolic” relationship to nature, “original accumulation” and of Marx’s analysis of machines and technological obsolescence we will together chart a course through 21st century attempts to make Marx’s 19th century critique of industrial capitalism fruitful for an understanding of today’s world.
- Spring 2024
- International Studies Social Inquiry
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POSC 257.00 Spring 2024
- Faculty:Paul Petzschmann 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WLeighton 426 12:30pm-1:40pm
- FLeighton 426 1:10pm-2:10pm
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POSC 264 Politics of Contemporary China 6 credits
This course examines the political, social, and economic transformation of China over the past century. Though contemporary issues are at the heart of the course, students will delve into an entire century of changes and upheaval to understand the roots of current affairs in China. Particular emphasis will be placed on state-building and how this has changed state-society relations at the grassroots. Students will also explore how the Chinese Communist Party has survived and even thrived while many other Communist regimes have fallen and assess the relationship between economic development and democratization.
- Fall 2023
- International Studies Social Inquiry
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POSC 264.00 Fall 2023
- Faculty:Huan Gao 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WLibrary 344 9:50am-11:00am
- FLibrary 344 9:40am-10:40am
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POSC 265 Public Policy and Global Capitalism 6 credits
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to comparative and international public policy. It examines major theories and approaches to public policy design and implementation in several major areas: international policy economy (including the study of international trade and monetary policy, financial regulation, and comparative welfare policy), global public health and comparative healthcare policy, institutional development (including democratic governance, accountability systems, and judicial reform), and environmental public policy.
- Fall 2023
- International Studies Quantitative Reasoning Encounter Social Inquiry
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Statistics 120 strongly recommended, or instructor permission
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POSC 265.00 Fall 2023
- Faculty:Alfred Montero 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 8:30am-9:40am
- FHasenstab 105 8:30am-9:30am
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POSC 268 Global Environmental Politics and Policy 6 credits
Global environmental politics and policy is the most prominent field that challenges traditional state-centric ways of thinking about international problems and solutions. This course examines local-global dynamics of environmental problems. The course will cover five arenas crucial to understanding the nature and origin of global environmental politics and policymaking mechanisms: (1) international environmental law; (2) world political orders; (3) human-environment interactions through politics and markets; (4) paradigms of sustainable development; and (5) dynamics of human values and rules.
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POSC 268.00 Spring 2024
- Faculty:Tun Myint 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- T, THHasenstab 002 10:10am-11:55am
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POSC 271 Constitutional Law I 6 credits
This course will explore the United States Constitution and the legal doctrines that have emerged from it, using them as lenses through which to understand the history—and shape the future—of this country. Using prominent Supreme Court opinions as teaching tools and loci of debate (including cases on the Court’s recent and current docket), this course will explore the different kind of theoretical approaches with which to make Constitutional arguments and interpret the Constitution. It is one of two paired courses (the other being POSC 272) that complement each other. Both courses will address the structure and functioning of the United States government, and will explore in greater depth the historic Constitutional “trends” towards greater equality and more liberty (albeit slowly, haltingly, and with steps both forward and backward). This course will focus in particular on how matters of racial justice have been a Constitutional issue from the very beginning of the nation—and very much remain unfinished legal work. In exploring matters of personal liberty, this course will focus in particular on First Amendment freedom of religion. Finally, in examining governmental structures, this course will emphasize federalism and the distribution of power between the national and state governments, including the rise of a nationwide economic system and the modern administrative state. The course will require close reading of judicial opinions and other texts, and learning how to construct arguments using logic and precedent. A special feature of this course will be detailed examination and intra-class mock debate of the cases the Supreme Court will hear this fall challenging raced-based affirmative action programs at private and public universities.
- Fall 2023
- Social Inquiry
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POSC 271.00 Fall 2023
- Faculty:Steven Poskanzer 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 002 11:10am-12:20pm
- FHasenstab 002 12:00pm-1:00pm
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POSC 272 Constitutional Law II 6 credits
This course will explore the United States Constitution and the legal doctrines that have emerged from it, using them as lenses through which to understand the history—and shape the future—of this country. Using prominent Supreme Court opinions as teaching tools and loci of debate (including cases on the Court’s recent and current docket), this course will explore the different kind of theoretical approaches with which to make Constitutional arguments and interpret the Constitution. It is one of two paired courses (the other being POSC 271) that complement each other. Both courses will address the structure and functioning of the United States government, and will explore in greater depth the historic Constitutional “trends” towards greater equality and more liberty (albeit slowly, haltingly, and with steps both forward and backward). This course will focus in particular on how gender equality is very much unfinished Constitutional work on our way towards a “more perfect union.” This topic will include an examination of the Court’s recent controversial decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In exploring matters of personal liberty, this course will focus in particular on First Amendment freedom of speech and other fundamental rights protected under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. Finally, in examining governmental structures, this course will emphasize the separation of powers across the branches of the federal government. The course will require close reading of judicial opinions and other texts, and learning how to construct arguments using logic and precedent. POSC 271 is not a prerequisite for POSC 272. The two courses can be taken independently, although having taking POSC 271 will provide students with a broader and more nuanced foundation for exploring the themes covered of this course
- Winter 2024
- Social Inquiry
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POSC 272.00 Winter 2024
- Faculty:Steven Poskanzer 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 9:50am-11:00am
- FHasenstab 105 9:40am-10:40am
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POSC 273 Race and Politics in the U.S. 6 credits
This course addresses race and ethnicity in U.S. politics. Following an introduction to historical, sociological, and psychological approaches to the study of race and ethnicity, we apply these approaches to understanding the ways in which racial attitudes have been structured along a number of political and policy dimensions, e.g., welfare, education, criminal justice. Students will gain an increased understanding of the multiple contexts that shape contemporary racial and ethnic politics and policies in the U.S., and will consider the role of institutional design, policy development, representation, and racial attitudes among the general U.S. public and political environment.
- Winter 2024
- Intercultural Domestic Studies Social Inquiry
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POSC 273.00 Winter 2024
- Faculty:Christina Farhart 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 11:10am-12:20pm
- FHasenstab 105 12:00pm-1:00pm
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POSC 274 Covid-19 and Globalization 6 credits
What are the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics and public policy? How do state responses to COVID-19 as well as historical cases such as the Black Death in Europe, the SARS outbreak in East Asia and Middle East, and the Ebola outbreak in Africa help us understand the scientific, political, and economic challenges of pandemics on countries and communities around the world? We will apply theories and concepts from IR, political economy, and natural sciences to explore these questions and consider what we can learn from those responses to address other global challenges like climate change.
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POSC 274.00 Fall 2023
- Faculty:Tun Myint 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- T, THHasenstab 002 3:10pm-4:55pm
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POSC 275 Black Political Thought 6 credits
Western political thought has developed numerous ways to think about freedom, citizenship, the relationship between state and citizens, and more. This course turns to the tradition of Black political thought to consider how thinkers within this tradition developed new and alternative ways to conceptualize freedom and citizenship from racial domination through slavery, apartheid, and colonialism. We center thinkers of Black political thought in the modern Atlantic world from the Antebellum era through the era of mass incarceration and neoliberalism to provide a historical and theoretical analysis of freedom.
- Winter 2024
- Social Inquiry
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POSC 275.00 Winter 2024
- Faculty: Staff
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 109 11:10am-12:20pm
- FHasenstab 109 12:00pm-1:00pm
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POSC 280 Feminist Security Studies 6 credits
Feminist security studies question and challenge traditional approaches to international relations and security, highlighting the myriad ways that state security practices can actually increase insecurity for many people. How and why does this security paradox exist and how do we escape it? In this class, we will explore the theoretical and analytical contributions of feminist security scholars and use these lessons to analyze a variety of policies, issues, and conflicts. The cases that we will cover include the UN resolution on women, peace, and security, Sweden’s feminist foreign policy, violence against women, and conflicts in Syria, Uganda, and Yemen.
- Winter 2024
- International Studies Social Inquiry Writing Requirement
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POSC 280.00 Winter 2024
- Faculty:Summer Forester 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- T, THHasenstab 105 10:10am-11:55am
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POSC 281 U.S-China Rivalry: The New Cold War? 6 credits
This course surveys key security dynamics, actors and issues in the Asia-Pacific. We will begin with a brief overview of historical conflicts and cooperations in the region, focusing on the impact of decolonization, communism, and the Cold War. We will then proceed to discuss contemporary security issues; topics include territorial disputes, Taiwan, nuclear proliferation, the U.S. alliance system, regional organizations like ASEAN, and U.S.-China rivalry. We will also study major international relation paradigms and theories, including heterodox approaches relevant to major actors in the Asia-Pacific, to guide our investigation of these security issues. No prior knowledge required.
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POSC 281.00 Fall 2023
- Faculty:Huan Gao 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 109 12:30pm-1:40pm
- FHasenstab 109 1:10pm-2:10pm
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POSC 288 Politics and Public Policy in Washington, D.C., Program: Global Politics & Pub Policy in Washington DC 6 credits
Students will participate in a seminar centered around meetings with experts in areas of global politics and policy. Over the course of the term they will collaborate in groups to produce a presentation exploring the political dimensions of public policy with a focus on how problem identification, institutional capacity, and stakeholder interests combine to shape policy options.
Requires participation in OCS Program: Politics and Public Policy in Washington, D.C.
- Winter 2024
- International Studies Social Inquiry
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Mathematics 215, Statistics 120 or other statistics courses and participation in Washington DC OCS program
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POSC 302 Subordinated Politics and Intergroup Relations 6 credits
How do social and political groups interact? How do we understand these interactions in relation to power? This course will introduce the basic approaches and debates in the study of prejudice, racial attitudes, and intergroup relations. We will focus on three main questions. First, how do we understand and study prejudice and racism as they relate to U.S. politics? Second, how do group identities, stereotyping, and other factors help us understand the legitimation of discrimination, group hierarchy, and social domination? Third, what are the political and social challenges associated with reducing prejudice?
- Spring 2024
- Intercultural Domestic Studies Social Inquiry
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POSC 302.00 Spring 2024
- Faculty:Christina Farhart 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 109 1:15pm-3:00pm
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POSC 308 Global Gender Politics 6 credits
How have gendered divisions of power, labor, and resources contributed to the global crises of violence, sustainability, and inequity? Where and why has the pursuit of gender justice elicited intense backlash, especially within the last two decades? In this course, we will explore the global consequences of gender inequality and the ongoing pursuit of gender justice both transnationally and in different regions of the world. We will investigate a variety of cases ranging from land rights movements in East Africa, to the international movement to ban nuclear weapons. Finally, we will pay special attention to how hard-won gains in women’s rights and other related inequalities in world affairs are being jeopardized by new and old authoritarianisms.
- Fall 2023
- International Studies Social Inquiry
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POSC 308.00 Fall 2023
- Faculty:Summer Forester 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- M, WHasenstab 002 1:50pm-3:45pm
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POSC 313 Legal Issues in Higher Education 6 credits
This seminar will explore pressing legal and policy issues facing American colleges and universities. The course will address the ways core academic values (e.g., academic freedom; the creation and maintenance of a community based on shared values) fit or conflict with legal rules and political dynamics that operate beyond the academy. Likely topics include how college admissions are shaped by legal principles, with particular emphasis on debates over affirmative action; on-campus speech; faculty tenure; intellectual property; student rights and student discipline (including discipline for sexual assault); and college and university relations with the outside world.
- Spring 2024
- Social Inquiry
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POSC 313.00 Spring 2024
- Faculty:Steven Poskanzer 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 109 3:10pm-4:55pm
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POSC 315 Polarization and Democratic Decline in the United States 6 credits
The United States is more politically polarized today than at any time since the late nineteenth century, leaving lawmakers, journalists, and experts increasingly concerned that the toxicity in our politics is making the country vulnerable to political instability, violence, and democratic decline. Moreover, citizens are increasingly willing to call into question the legitimacy of this country’s core electoral and governing institutions. How did the U.S. get to this point? What can be done about it? This course will examine political polarization as a central feature of American politics and the consequences for American democracy.
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POSC 336 Global Populist Politics 6 credits
Are populist politicians scoundrels or saviors? Regardless of the answer, populism is undeniably a growing force in politics around the world: in democracies as well as autocracies, rich and poor countries, and involving different ideologies. How can we understand this diversity? In this class, we will explore populism using a variety of comparative frameworks: temporal (situating the current crop of populism in historical context), ideological (comparing populisms of the left versus the right), as well as geographic. We will try to understand the hallmarks of populism, when and why it emerges, and its impact on political institutions and society.
- Fall 2023
- International Studies Social Inquiry
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POSC 336.00 Fall 2023
- Faculty:Dev Gupta 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 105 1:15pm-3:00pm
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POSC 345 Politics of Dictatorship 6 credits
Seventy percent of the world’s population live in closed autocracies or electoral autocracies today. As the Taliban retook Afghanistan and Myanmar’s budding democracy fell to a military coup, there is an urgent need to better understand non-democratic regimes. This course takes a deep dive into dictatorships past and present, exploring key questions of who holds power, how power is monopolized, how controls and resistance interact, and how regimes transition to and from democracy. This course will also investigate the social and economic consequences of dictatorship, focusing primarily on how regime type interacts with economic development, the protection of rights, and inequality.
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POSC 345.00 Winter 2024
- Faculty:Huan Gao 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- M, WWeitz Center 132 9:50am-11:00am
- FWeitz Center 132 9:40am-10:40am
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POSC 352 Political Theory of Alexis de Tocqueville 6 credits
This course will be devoted to close study of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, which has plausibly been described as the best book ever written about democracy and the best book every written about America. Tocqueville uncovers the myriad ways in which equality, including especially the passion for equality, determines the character and the possibilities of modern humanity. Tocqueville thereby provides a political education that is also an education toward self-knowledge.
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POSC 352.00 Fall 2023
- Faculty:Barbara Allen 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 109 10:10am-11:55am
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POSC 361 Approaches to Development 6 credits
The meaning of “development” has been contested across multiple disciplines. The development and continual existence of past civilizations has been at the core of the discourse among those who study factors leading to the rise and fall of civilizations. Can we reconcile the meaning of development in economic terms with cultural, ecological, political, religious, social and spiritual terms? How can we measure it quantitatively? What and how do the UNDP Human Development Indexes and the World Development Reports measure? What are the exemplary cases that illustrate development? How do individual choices and patterns of livelihood activities link to development trends?
Extra time
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POSC 361.00 Winter 2024
- Faculty:Tun Myint 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 002 1:15pm-3:00pm
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RELG 212 Black Religious Thought 6 credits
Although Black thinkers are well-known for discussing religion, the relationship between Blackness and religious thought is ambiguous. Much like religion can be understood in numerous ways, so does “Black” carry several meanings. In this course, we will investigate this ambiguity by unpacking how Black thinkers have expanded upon, reimagined, and rejected various forms of religious practices, beliefs, and institutions. Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which these engagements are shaped by thinkers’ identification with, definition of, and politics surrounding Blackness and the African diaspora. The syllabus may include Baldwin, Hurston, Malcolm X, and Cone.
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RELG 212.00 Fall 2023
- Faculty: Staff
- Size:25
- M, WLeighton 304 12:30pm-1:40pm
- FLeighton 304 1:10pm-2:10pm
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RELG 236 Black Love: Religious, Political, and Cultural Discussions 6 credits
In 2021, the passing of Black feminist bell hooks led the scholarly journal Women’s Studies Quarterly (WSQ) to publish a special issue on Black love: hooks’ expertise. As is often the case in discussions of Blackness and love, the issue included many allusions to the divine and suggested some ties between race, love, and religion. Drawing inspiration from WSQ, this class will investigate the role religion, spirituality, and belief play in conversations about Blackness, love, and their intersection. The syllabus will include an array of academic essays, personal reflections, and creative works, including those by Lorde, Hartman, and Wonder.
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RELG 236.00 Winter 2024
- Faculty: Staff
- Size:25
- M, WLeighton 303 1:50pm-3:00pm
- FLeighton 303 2:20pm-3:20pm
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