Search Results
Your search for courses · during 26SP · tagged with POSI Elective · returned 13 results
-
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.
-
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
-
-
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
-
POSC 206.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Steven Poskanzer 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 11:10am-12:20pm
- FHasenstab 105 12:00pm-1:00pm
-
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.
-
POSC 210.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Christina Farhart 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- T, THHasenstab 105 10:10am-11:55am
-
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
First 5 weeks
-
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
-
POSC 257.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Paul Petzschmann 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WLeighton 304 12:30pm-1:40pm
- FLeighton 304 1:10pm-2:10pm
-
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.
-
POSC 261.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Alfred Montero 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 1:50pm-3:00pm
- FHasenstab 105 2:20pm-3:20pm
-
-
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 Culture and Politic (Central and Eastern) Europe program.
- Spring 2026
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
-
Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Cultural and Political (Central & Eastern) in Europe program.
-
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
-
POSC 284.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Dev Gupta 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 9:50am-11:00am
- FHasenstab 105 9:40am-10:40am
-
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
-
Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Cultural and Political (Central & Eastern) in Europe program.
-
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
-
Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Cultural and Political (Central & Eastern) in Europe program.
-
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?
-
POSC 302.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Christina Farhart 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 002 1:15pm-3:00pm
-
-
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.
-
POSC 352.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Laurence Cooper 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- T, THHasenstab 109 1:15pm-3:00pm
-