This course offers a survey of some of Western political philosophy's great canonical theorists: Plato, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Marx. 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.

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.

Full details for GOVT 1817 - Making Sense of World Politics

This course explores trends in democracy around the world as both a product of public policy (which policies support and bolster democratic transitions and endurance), and as a factor that shapes representation, public policy and governance outcomes. How citizen interests translate into public policy outcomes is a key question of democratic practice. The course will identify variation across the world and use empirical analysis to identify patterns. It provides an opportunity to investigate the complex ways that regime politics (whether democratic or autocratic), public policies, and social inequalities shape one another.

Full details for GOVT 2323 - Global Democracy and Public Policy

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.

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.

Full details for GOVT 3071 - Enduring Global and American Issues

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.

Full details for GOVT 3141 - Prisons

This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the American legal system, its roots in natural and common law, the purposes/values it serves (e.g., resolution of private grievances; punishment of offenses against the polity and individuals; preservation, development, and limitation of individual and group rights; and facilitation of commerce and private agreements), and the roles of the judiciary, legislature, and private parties. The course is taught using the Socratic method employed at most US law schools and introduces students to fundamental concepts and techniques used by attorneys and courts in analyzing cases, interpreting statutes, and determining disputes. As in law school, students are expected to read assigned materials before each class meeting and to participate actively in class discussions. For additional information, see the Summer Session website.

Full details for GOVT 3150 - The American Legal System

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.

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.

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

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.

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

China is often thought of as being isolated from the outside world. It is imagined as existing in historic seclusion, and, following the establishment of the People's Republic, as pursuing a path of autarky. Such separation has then only been somewhat modified by the set of economic reforms that Deng Xiaoping first instituted in the late 1970s. In this lecture we will seek to turn such conventional wisdom on its head through examining what China is via a consideration of transnational currents within the country's development. However, the course's primary focus will not be upon the past, but rather the present and attempting to determine just where the point of intersection between China and the rest of the world is. Coming to terms with such an issue will provide those who enroll in the class with a deeper, more nuanced, understanding of China's rise and this trend's implications for the rest of the world. We will accomplish this task through a combination of surveying the existing literature on China and transnational politics, and considering new theoretical perspectives on both. (SC)

Full details for GOVT 3967 - What is China?