Search Results
Your search for courses · during 25FA, 26WI, 26SP · tagged with POSI Elective · returned 38 results
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ECON 286 Economic Beliefs, Political Beliefs, and Identity 6 credits
How people form and express their beliefs about ‘objective’ economic and political facts is a central question for social science. We will explore the literature on how people form beliefs about political and economic data from a multidisciplinary approach and learn how to apply methods from economics and political science to understand the causes and consequences of disagreement about social facts.
Recommended Preparation: POSC 122.
ECON 286 is cross listed with POSC 286.
- Winter 2026
- IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): ECON 110 or ECON 111 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 5 on the Macroeconomics AP exam or received a score of 5 on the Microeconomics AP exam or a score of 6 or better on the Economics IB exam.
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ECON 286.02 Winter 2026
- Faculty:Ethan Struby 🏫 👤 · Christina Farhart 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WWillis 211 11:10am-12:20pm
- FWillis 211 12:00pm-1:00pm
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POSC 100 Podcast Politics 6 credits
This seminar will explore the fast-changing world of podcasting in American politics and public policy discourse. Political podcasts are emerging as a venue for political candidates to discuss their campaigns, policy makers to float new ideas for policy, and academics and analysts to discuss their most recent books. Political podcasts range widely on the ideological spectrum from extreme right to extreme left. Students in this course will examine, discuss, and write about particular political podcasts across this range of views. They will also explore the podcast form, eventually creating their own podcasts for course work.
Held for new first year students
- Fall 2025
- AI/WR1, Argument & Inquiry/WR1
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Student is a member of the First Year First Term class level cohort. Students are only allowed to register for one A&I course at a time. If a student wishes to change the A&I course they are enrolled in they must DROP the enrolled course and then ADD the new course. Please see our Workday guides Drop or 'Late' Drop a Course and Register or Waitlist for a Course Directly from the Course Listing for more information.
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POSC 100.01 Fall 2025
- Faculty:Alfred Montero 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- M, WHasenstab 002 8:30am-9:40am
- FHasenstab 002 8:30am-9:30am
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POSC 100 Society in Silico 6 credits
Can models help us understand the social world? Vexing issues like segregation, economic inequality, corruption, market failure, resource over-exploitation, genocide, insurgency and terrorism have inspired scholars to ask if computational models of social systems can shed light on the hard-to-observe micro processes underlying macro problems. In this course we will explore the conceptual and empirical foundations of modeling especially in complex systems. We will read about, then experiment with, existing models while students learn to program their own using open-source software.
Held for new first year students
- Fall 2025
- AI/WR1, Argument & Inquiry/WR1 IS, International Studies QRE, Quantitative Reasoning
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Student is a member of the First Year First Term class level cohort. Students are only allowed to register for one A&I course at a time. If a student wishes to change the A&I course they are enrolled in they must DROP the enrolled course and then ADD the new course. Please see our Workday guides Drop or 'Late' Drop a Course and Register or Waitlist for a Course Directly from the Course Listing for more information.
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POSC 100.02 Fall 2025
- Faculty:Greg Marfleet 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 002 1:15pm-3:00pm
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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 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026
- IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 122.01 Fall 2025
- Faculty:Christina Farhart 🏫 👤
- Size:30
- T, THHulings 316 1:15pm-3:00pm
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POSC 122.01 Winter 2026
- Faculty:Adam Le 🏫
- Size:30
- M, WLeighton 304 11:10am-12:20pm
- FLeighton 304 12:00pm-1:00pm
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POSC 122.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Ryan Dawkins 🏫 👤
- Size:30
- M, WLanguage & Dining Center 104 11:10am-12:20pm
- FLanguage & Dining Center 104 12:00pm-1:00pm
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POSC 200 Politics of the Future: The Psychological and Political Barriers to Imagining New Orders 6 credits
Climate change, global migrations, AI, income inequality, identity and rights, political and religious extremism, disinformation, cyber insecurity, and pandemics–these and other issues are shaping politics today. What do they mean for a politics of the future? Political systems are technologies. Can our present tools keep pace with millennial change? Do we build upon or leap beyond these foundations to design new political institutions? We are not the first humans to face overwhelming uncertainties, but we are the first to encounter some of these challenges. Film, readings, and online media will guide this lecture and discussion course.
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POSC 200.01 Fall 2025
- Faculty:Barbara Allen 🏫 👤 · Lawrence Wichlinski 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- T, THHasenstab 002 10:10am-11:55am
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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 2026
- SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 206.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Steven Poskanzer 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 11:10am-12:20pm
- FHasenstab 105 12:00pm-1:00pm
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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.
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POSC 210.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Christina Farhart 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- T, THHasenstab 105 10:10am-11:55am
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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.
- Winter 2026
- SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 225.01 Winter 2026
- Faculty:Adam Le 🏫
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 1:50pm-3:00pm
- FHasenstab 105 2:20pm-3:20pm
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POSC 228 Power and the American Presidency 6 credits
The power of the executive branch is loosely defined in the second article of the U.S. Constitution. While the presidency was designed to be clearly subordinated to Congress, presidential has exploded over time and has reshaped American politics around presidential prerogatives. Today, the other branches of the government defer to the president, while voters look to the president to solve a snowballing set of public problems. However, citizen expectations of the president have outpaced even the growth in executive power, which has simultaneously upended the constitutional order while still leaving the average American chronically dissatisfied with government in Washington. This course is designed to explore the dynamics, the drama, and the intrigue associated with the rise of the imperial presidency in America.
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POSC 228.01 Fall 2025
- Faculty:Ryan Dawkins 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 9:50am-11:00am
- FHasenstab 105 9:40am-10:40am
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POSC 229 The U.S. Congress: Coordination and Conflict 6 credits
How does Congress make public policy? What factors inhibit or enhance legislative productivity? Is the policymaking process too partisan? This course provides a comprehensive introduction to congressional organization and procedures, the policy process, and the core debates and theories surrounding legislative politics in the United States Congress. The path of policy within Congress is an incredibly complex and conflict-ridden coordination problem. As a class, we will explore how the underlying motivations to win office, produce policy, and gain prestige drive congressional member behaviors. We will also carefully consider the institutional details of the House and Senate that constrain these legislative actors and influence legislative outcomes.
- Spring 2026
- SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 229.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Ryan Dawkins 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WLanguage & Dining Center 104 9:50am-11:00am
- FLanguage & Dining Center 104 9:40am-10:40am
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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 2026
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Sport and Globalization in London and Seville program.
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POSC 243 Socio-Political Systems and Gender Issues Across Europe
This course examines the role of activism centered on gender, race, sexuality, and disability in shaping political life across the Netherlands, Germany, and the Czech Republic. While the main emphasis is on current activism and politics, discussions are anchored in relevant historical contexts. Students investigate the impact of Europe’s colonial heritage on minorities, the ongoing legacies of World War II, the Cold War, and the EU expansion into Eastern Europe. Topics include reproductive rights, LGBT politics, homonationalism, “anti-genderism,” sex work, immigration, challenges faced by women of color and Jewish people in Europe, the legacy of state socialism in Eastern Europe.
- Fall 2025
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Women's and Gender Studies in Europe program.
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POSC 244 The Politics of Eurovision 3 credits
At first glance, Eurovision, the decades-long, continent-wide singing contest, is nothing more than a mindless pop culture event. Dismissed as a celebration of (at best) mediocre music, Eurovision seems like it would be the last place to learn about serious politics. In this class, however, we will explore Eurovision as a place where art is deeply political and often engages in debates about gender and sexuality, race, the legacies of colonialism, war and revolution, nationalism, and democracy—not just within the context of the competition itself but how these discussions spill over into broader social and political dynamics.
5 weeks
- First Five Weeks, Spring 2026
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 244.01 First Five Weeks, Spring 2026
- Faculty:Dev Gupta 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 12:30pm-1:40pm
- FHasenstab 105 1:10pm-2:10pm
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First 5 weeks
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POSC 246 Contemporary Chinese Politics 6 credits
This course examines the history and politics of China in the context of a prolonged revolution. The course begins by examining the end of imperial rule, the development of Modern China, socialist transformations and the establishment of the PRC. After a survey of the political system as established in the 1950s and patterns of politics emerging from it, the analytic focus turns to political change in the reform era (since 1979) and the forces driving it. The adaptation by the Communist Party to these changes and the prospects of democratization are also examined. Topics include protests, economic development, religious freedom, the environment and internet censorship.
- Fall 2025
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 246.01 Fall 2025
- Faculty:Chris Heurlin 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- T, THHasenstab 109 10:10am-11:55am
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POSC 248 Asian Communism: Politics of China, Viet & N Korea 6 credits
Examines the Asian communism in China, Vietnam, and North Korea. Asian communism presents a series of fascinating questions. Why did communist revolutions occur in some Asian states but not others? Why were relations between some Asian communist states peaceful while others were hostile? Why did some adopt significant economic reforms while others maintained command economies? Why did communist regimes persist in most Asian states, while Communism fell in Mongolia and all of Europe? The approach of the course is comparative and structured around thematic comparisons between the three states.
- Fall 2025
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 248.01 Fall 2025
- Faculty:Chris Heurlin 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- T, THHasenstab 109 1:15pm-3:00pm
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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
- Fall 2025
- HI, Humanistic Inquiry
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POSC 256 Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil 6 credits
Nietzsche understood himself to be living at a moment of great endings: the exhaustion of modernity, the self-undermining of rationalism, the self-overcoming of morality–in short, stunningly, the “death of God.” He regarded these endings as an unprecedented disaster for humanity but also as an unprecedented opportunity, and he pointed the way to a new ideal and a new culture that would be life-affirming and life-enhancing. This course will center on close study of Beyond Good and Evil, perhaps Nietzsche’s most beautiful book and probably his most political one. Selections from some of his other books will also be assigned.
- Winter 2026
- HI, Humanistic Inquiry
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POSC 256.01 Winter 2026
- Faculty:Laurence Cooper 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- T, THHasenstab 105 1:15pm-3:00pm
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POSC 257 Marx for the Twenty-First 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 twenty-first 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 twenty-first century attempts to make Marx’s nineteenth century critique of industrial capitalism fruitful for an understanding of today’s world.
- Spring 2026
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 257.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Paul Petzschmann 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WLeighton 304 12:30pm-1:40pm
- FLeighton 304 1:10pm-2:10pm
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POSC 261 The Global Crisis of Democracy 6 credits
Democracy is in trouble worldwide. The most visible indicators are the rise of explicitly anti-democratic leaders and anti-liberal parties that employ populism and exploit ethnic and ideological polarization to acquire power. Democratic norms and institutions have eroded across the globe. Structures that undergirded the positive-sum linkage between industrialization, the rise of labor unions, and democratic parties in much of the West have been transformed in ways that undermine democracy. This course will analyze these and related trends that demonstrate that liberal democracy is suffering a global crisis. Instruction will cover cases across time and from all regions of the world.
Extra Time Required: Film screenings, guest lectures, talks and events.
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POSC 261.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Alfred Montero 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 1:50pm-3:00pm
- FHasenstab 105 2:20pm-3:20pm
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POSC 262 Displaced Lives: Freedom and Meaning 6 credits
To feel secure and accepted by society are essential human needs. However, even a cursory look at the 20th century shows how often and unexpectedly the lives of individuals were profoundly disrupted and crushed by the forces of nature and history. Security and social acceptance are fragile gifts of history. If so, what freedom and meaning, if at all, are to be found in living a displaced life, against and through the destructive tidal waves of history? The course tries to answer this question through an engagement with the memoirs and writings of Stefan Zweig, Edward Said, Norman Manea, Mikhail Bulgakov, Karl Ove Knausgaard, and James Baldwin.
- Winter 2026
- HI, Humanistic Inquiry
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POSC 262.01 Winter 2026
- Faculty:Mihaela Czobor-Lupp 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- T, THWeitz Center 233 1:15pm-3:00pm
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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. Recommended Preparation: STAT 120 is strongly recommended.
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POSC 265.01 Winter 2026
- Faculty:Alfred Montero 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 8:30am-9:40am
- FHasenstab 105 8:30am-9:30am
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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 2025
- SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 271.01 Fall 2025
- 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 2026
- SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 272.01 Winter 2026
- 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.
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POSC 277 Central and Eastern European Politics Program: Perceptions of Otherness in Modern Eastern and Central Europe 6 credits
Is nationalism fundamentally flawed in its inclusionary capacity? Can the same power of imagination to bring strangers together, which made nation-building possible, be deployed for inventing post-national forms of solidarity? The course will explore representations of strangers and foreigners in Central and Eastern Europe, throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century, with a special focus on Roma and Jews. The aim will be to understand how these representations will work to legitimize different forms of exclusionary politics. An important part of the course will explore the role that exiled and displaced people can play in reimagining identities on a cosmopolitan level.
Participation in Carleton OCS Central & Eastern Europe.
- Spring 2026
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Central and Eastern Europe program.
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POSC 284 War and Peace in Northern Ireland 6 credits
This class examines the decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants known as “The Troubles.” We will investigate the causes of violence in this region and explore the different phases of the conflict, including initial mobilization of peaceful protestors, radicalization into violent resistance, and de-escalation. We will also consider the international dimensions of the conflict and how groups forged transnational ties with diaspora groups and separatist movements around the world. Finally, we will explore the consequences of this conflict on present-day Northern Ireland’s politics and identify lessons from the peace process for other societies in conflict.
- Spring 2026
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 284.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Dev Gupta 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 9:50am-11:00am
- FHasenstab 105 9:40am-10:40am
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POSC 286 Economic Beliefs, Political Beliefs, and Identity 6 credits
How people form and express their beliefs about ‘objective’ economic and political facts is a central question for social science. We will explore the literature on how people form beliefs about political and economic data from a multidisciplinary approach and learn how to apply methods from economics and political science to understand the causes and consequences of disagreement about social facts.
Recommended Preparation: POSC 122.
ECON 286 is cross listed with POSC 286.
- Winter 2026
- IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): ECON 110 or ECON 111 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 5 on the Macroeconomics AP exam or received a score of 5 on the Microeconomics AP exam or a score of 6 or better on the Economics IB exam.
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POSC 286.02 Winter 2026
- Faculty:Ethan Struby 🏫 👤 · Christina Farhart 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WWillis 211 11:10am-12:20pm
- FWillis 211 12:00pm-1:00pm
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POSC 295 Central and Eastern European Politics Program: Nation-Building in Central and Eastern Europe between Politics and Art 6 credits
The state and its cultural politics played a pivotal role in building the Romanian nation. The first part of the course will analyze the difficulties of nation-building in modern Romania, with a special emphasis on the incapacity of Romanian liberalism to prevent the rise of extreme right wing politics. The second part will explore different images of Romanian national identity that art provided both during the communist regime and in the post-1989 decades, also in a comparative perspective with Hungary, Bulgaria, and Serbia. The course will include visits to galleries, architectural sites and neighborhoods in Bucharest and its surroundings.
Participation in Carleton OCS Central & Eastern Europe
- Spring 2026
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Central and Eastern Europe program.
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POSC 296 Central and Eastern European Politics Program: Challenges to the Nation-State in Eastern and Central Europe: Immigrants and Minorities 6 credits
How do democracies react when confronted with massive bodies of immigrants? Do the problems that Eastern and Central European countries face in dealing with immigrants reflect deeper challenges to their capacity of thinking of the nation along inclusionary lines? We will explore the legal and political issues that EU countries and their societies, particularly, in Eastern and Central Europe, face when confronted with a migration crisis. Then we will look at Roma’s history of exploitation and injustice in Eastern and Central Europe. The course will include visits with community groups and NGOs, as well as encounters with minority rights activists.
Participation in Carleton OCS Central & Eastern Europe
- Spring 2026
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Central and Eastern Europe 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?
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POSC 302.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Christina Farhart 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 002 1:15pm-3:00pm
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POSC 312 The Rural-Urban Divide 6 credits
The rural-urban divide is a prominent fixture of partisan and political conflict in the United States. It is a source of profound social, cultural, and economic differences in how people think about the world and a major driver of political polarization. Yet, few people understand how fundamental geographic space is to understanding American politics today. This course is a research seminar designed to explore the yawning perceptual gap between how rural and urban Americans think about their communities and their politics. The course addresses critical questions related to partisan polarization, race and ethnicity, political and economic inequality, and the quality of representation.
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POSC 312.01 Winter 2026
- Faculty:Ryan Dawkins 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- M, WHasenstab 109 9:50am-11:00am
- FHasenstab 109 9:40am-10:40am
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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.
- Fall 2025
- SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 313.01 Fall 2025
- Faculty:Steven Poskanzer 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 109 8:15am-10:00am
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POSC 324 Rebels and Risk Takers: Women and War In the Middle East 6 credits
How are women (and gender more broadly) shaping and shaped by war and conflict in the Middle East? Far from the trope of the subjugated, veiled, and abused Middle Eastern woman, women in the Middle East are active social and political agents. In wars and conflicts in the Middle East region, women have, for example, been combatants, soldiers, activists, spies, homemakers, writers, and political leaders. This course surveys conflicts involving Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Iraq–along with Western powers like the U.S., UK, and Australia–through the wartime experiences of women.
- Winter 2026
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 324.01 Winter 2026
- Faculty:Summer Forester 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- M, WHasenstab 002 1:50pm-3:35pm
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POSC 331 Cooperation and Conflict 6 credits
Why do countries go to war? What conditions promote a lasting peace? These may well be the two most important and enduring questions in international politics. The course combines an exploration of various theoretical approaches to war and peace—including rational, psychological and structural models—with an empirical analysis of the onset, escalation, and resolution of conflict. We investigate changing patterns in the frequency of global violence and identify where it occurs more (and less) often and assess whether there is an overall trend toward a more peaceful world.
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POSC 331.01 Winter 2026
- Faculty:Greg Marfleet 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 002 1:15pm-3:00pm
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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 352.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Laurence Cooper 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 109 1:15pm-3:00pm
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POSC 358 Comparative Social Movements 6 credits
This course will examine the role that social movements play in political life. The first part of the course will critically review the major theories that have been developed to explain how social movements form, operate and seek to influence politics at both the domestic and international levels. In the second part of the course, these theoretical approaches will be used to explore a number of case studies involving social movements that span several different issue areas and political regions. Potential case studies include the transnational environmental movement, religious movements in Latin America and the recent growth of far right activism in northern Europe.
Extra Time
- Fall 2025
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 358.01 Fall 2025
- Faculty:Dev Gupta 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- M, WHasenstab 002 1:50pm-3:35pm
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Extra Time Required:
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POSC 364 Capitalism and Its Critics 6 credits
This research seminar examines the contemporary institutions, processes, and challenges of modern capitalism in advanced and developing countries. The course begins with a review of key thinkers on modern capitalism: Marx, Weber, Schumpeter, Hayek, Polanyi, Offe, Tilly, and Piketty. It then proceeds to an analysis of the sweeping debate concerning inequality and democracy. Student work in this course focuses on the research and composition of a 20-25-page original work on a topic relevant to the questions covered in the seminar. Intense course participation, including classroom discussion and periodic debates, is required. Majors may develop their comps based on this seminar.
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POSC 364.01 Fall 2025
- Faculty:Alfred Montero 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 105 1:15pm-3:00pm
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POSC 394 Directed Research in Political Science 1 – 6 credits
Students work on a research project related to a faculty member's research interests, and directed by that faculty member. Student activities vary according to the field and stage of the project. The long-run goal of these projects normally includes dissemination to a scholarly community beyond Carleton. The faculty member will meet regularly with the student and actively direct the work of the student, who will submit an end-of-term product, typically a paper or presentation.
Register for this course by submitting the Directed Research form which requires approval from the project faculty supervisor and your adviser.
- Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026
- No Exploration