This course offers a survey of Western political Philosophy. We will be reading and discussing the spectrum of great canonical theorists that include Plato, Aristotle, Christ, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Wollstonecraft, J.S. Mill, Burke, Marx, Fanon, Malcolm X and M. L. King. Our approach will be both historical and conceptual, as we explore the nature of justice, freedom and equality—their presence and absence--in the Western Tradition.

Full details for GOVT 1616 - Introduction to Political Philosophy

This course is a survey of some of the canonical and some of the most exciting contemporary works in the field of Black political thought. The first half covers foundational texts from Delany, Douglass, Du Bois, and Garvey to Baldwin, King, Malcolm X, and Ellison. It focuses on questions such as: what is the nature of the wrong(s) African Americans have suffered in the United States?; what is a race?; what sustains systems of racist domination and exclusion?; and what is the best way to dismantle them? The second part of the course consists of an examination of contemporary works dealing with questions such as the nature and causes of racism in the 21st century, the future of Black political solidarity, and the claim that Blacks have and will never achieve any sort of emancipation in this world.

Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS, SCD-AS) (D-AG, KCM-AG)

Full details for GOVT 1626 - Black Political Thought

An introduction to the basic concepts and practice of international politics with an emphasis on learning critical thinking.  The course is divided into two parts. In the first half, we will learn about different explanations.  In the second half, we will apply these explanations to a set of international events.  

Catalog Distribution: (GLC-AS, SSC-AS) (CA-AG, SBA-AG)

Full details for GOVT 1817 - Making Sense of World Politics

Is Afghanistan part of Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East? Is it truly the 'graveyard of empires'? Why are great powers so interested in intervening in this country? Why did Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States fail to maintain their presence there? How does Afghan society and politics function? In this course, students will have the opportunity to explore answers to these and other questions.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS)

Full details for GOVT 2847 - Political History of Modern Afghanistan

The US and the global community face a number of complex, interconnected and enduring issues that pose challenges for our political and policy governance institutions and society at large.  Exploring how the US and the world conceive of the challenges and take action on them is fundamental to understanding them.  This course investigates such issues, especially ones in the critical areas of sustainability, social justice, technology, public health and globalization, security and conflict. Students will engage with these areas and issues and the challenges they pose, using multiple frameworks and approaches, through weekly class discussions and lectures.

Catalog Distribution: (GLC-AS) (CA-AG, SBA-AG)

Full details for GOVT 3071 - Enduring Global and American Issues

This class will examine historical and contemporary developments in the politics of resistance, solidarity, and inclusionary policies around migration. We will place a special focus on North and Central America to understand the emergence and development of both the Old and the New Sanctuary Movements, broadly defined, as a transnational and diverse coalition of religious and political groups such as churches, synagogues, NGOs, educational institutions, and pro-migrant states and cities that offer "safe haven" or "sanctuary" to migrants holding various legal statuses. In addition, we will examine the origins, development, and current state of subnational pro-migrant public policies in the region. We will close the class with reflections on what a world without borders could look like. This course draws on a range of interdisciplinary theories and methods from the social sciences and humanities that will allow students to analyze, imagine, and devise creative ways of inclusion toward migrants and marginalized populations.

Catalog Distribution: (SSC-AS) (SBA-AG)

Full details for GOVT 3132 - Sanctuary in the Americas: Envisioning a Borderless World

The United States stands alone among Western, industrialized countries with its persistent, high rates of incarceration, long sentences, and continued use of the death penalty. This "American exceptionalism" -- the turn to mass incarceration -- has been fostered by the use of sharply-delineated categories that define vast numbers of people as outlaws and others as law-abiding. These categories that are based on ideas of personal responsibility and assumptions about race are modified somewhat by a liberal commitment to human rights.   Our purpose in this course is to understand how such ideas have taken root and to locate the consequences of these ideas for policy and practice. 

Catalog Distribution: (SSC-AS) (D-AG, SBA-AG)

Full details for GOVT 3141 - Prisons

What explains authoritarian resilience in the Middle East? What are the causes and consequences of Islamist political attitudes and behavior? What is the historical legacy of colonialism and empire in the Middle East? This course will offer students the opportunity to discuss these and other questions related to the political, social, and economic development of the Middle East and North Africa.

Catalog Distribution: (SCD-AS, SSC-AS) (D-AG, SBA-AG)

Full details for GOVT 3313 - Comparative Politics of the Middle East

Climate change, pandemics, wars and warlike politics, polarization, tribalism, raging anxieties, AI advancement – these are just some of the many existential troubles and challenges we all, and our very "human nature," now face. This is our time to realize our humanity: find out what sets us apart as humans, and live up to it. This course invites you to an existential odyssey into the human condition and politics. Are we truly different from animals and machines? What does it mean to "be yourself"? What's the difference between freedom and liberty? Should we pursue happiness? Why do we yield to fear and anxiety? Is the search for meaning meaningless? Do we live in a post-truth era? What are the roles of morality in our society and politics? Why is God dead, but religion alive? Can we defeat alienation? Is love all we need? How much can, and should, we hope for? In this course, utilizing the award-winning edX HOPE (see https://bit.ly/Human44), we will address these questions, and then some more. We shall examine a dozen themes, entwining each with critical reflections, both personal and political, amidst the current crisis: Human/nature, identity & authenticity, freedom, reflection, happiness, death & dread, meaning, morality, truth & trust, God & religion, alienation & love, and finally – hope.

Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS) (KCM-AG)

Full details for GOVT 3686 - What Makes Us Human? An Existential Journey Amidst Crises

This seminar examines the history of the United States' involvement with Middle East beginning with evangelical efforts in the 19th century and President Wilson's engagement with the colonial powers in the early 20th century during and after WWI. The discovery of vast Middle Eastern oil reserves and the retreat of the colonial powers from the region following WWII drew successive US administrations ever deeper into Middle Eastern politics. In due course the US became entrenched in the post-colonial political imagination as heir to the British and the French especially as it challenged the Soviet Union for influence in the region during the Cold War. And that only takes the story to the mid-1950s and the Eisenhower administration. Our discussions will be based on secondary readings and primary sources as we interrogate the tension between realist and idealist policies toward the Middle East and trace how these tensions play out in subsequent developments including the origins and trajectory of the US strategic alliances with Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey and conflict with Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the two Gulf Wars.

Catalog Distribution: (HST-AS) (HA-AG)

Full details for GOVT 3687 - The US and the Middle East

This course will introduce students to the law, theory, and practice of international human rights. Students will think critically about the effectiveness of the international human rights system by examining its successes, failures, and dilemmas in preventing and responding to human rights abuse. Topics covered will include the origins and foundations of international human rights; the role of international, regional, and domestic institutions and actors in enforcing human rights; critiques of the human rights movement; and the relationship of the United States to the international system for the protection of human rights. The course will also explore issues such as the death penalty, women's human rights, migration, climate change, global poverty, racism and xenophobia, and responses to mass atrocities. During in-class activities, students will have the opportunity to step into the shoes of a human rights advocate and work with their classmates to address simulated human rights problems.

Catalog Distribution: (GLC-AS) (CA-AG)

Full details for GOVT 3887 - International Human Rights in Theory and Practice