Catalogue

Politics

politics.bard.edu

Faculty

Michelle Murray (director), Jonathan Becker, Roger Berkowitz, Omar G. Encarnación, Simon Gilhooley, Frederic C. Hof, Mie Inouye, Pınar Kemerli, Christopher McIntosh, Lucas Guimarães Pinheiro

Overview

Politics can be understood in many ways: as a struggle for power over other people, groups, and nations; as a social process that determines who has what kinds of authority and how this affects particular communities; as a series of conversations or disputations about what counts as a “public problem” and how to address public problems; or as an art or science of institutional design, especially the design of governments and international institutions. However it is defined, politics matters. Political outcomes shape the choices we can make as individuals and the fates of communities, nations, and states.

The Politics Program at Bard welcomes students who care about politics and want to reason critically about political outcomes and debates at the local, national, and international levels. The program intends to inform responsible participation in American and global public affairs. It also prepares students for work and/or further study in political science, international affairs, public policy, law, cultural studies, and related fields.

Areas of Study

At Bard, four broad areas of politics are identified: political theory, American politics, comparative politics, and international relations. These areas of study overlap with one another and the Politics curriculum is structured to encourage students to think across them. Students are encouraged to combine courses in politics with relevant courses in related disciplines, such as history, economics, and sociology.

Requirements

Prior to Moderation, a student must have taken five courses in the program, including three from the core curriculum (see “Courses”). After Moderation, students are required to take two politics seminars, the Senior Project Colloquium, and one additional politics course at the 200- or 300-level. Depending on the interests of the student, and with the approval of the academic adviser, one of the seminars may come from another social science discipline, such as economics or sociology; from study abroad; or from Bard’s Global and International Affairs (BGIA) Program in New York City. All students are required to complete a Senior Project that examines a political problem/puzzle or that synthesizes the political science literature on a major subject, such as democracy, development, or war.

Recent Senior Projects in Political Studies

• “The American Intelligence Community and the Invasion of Iraq” 
• “The Efficacy of the Independent Counsel Law: Holding Presidents to Account from Nixon to Trump” 
• “French Bilateral Aid to Mali: Examining the Donor-Recipient Relationship’s Effect on Development” 
• “Prefigurative Politics of the Black Panther Party”

Courses

Politics offers a core curriculum that includes 1) The Politics of Citizenship (required of all majors); 2) Introduction to American Politics: Issues, Institutions, Ideas; 3) Introduction to Political Theory: Authority, Equality, Freedom; 4) Introduction to International Relations: Anarchy, Violence, Power; and 5) Introduction to Comparative Politics: Nations, Regimes, Society. The program also offers a wide range of courses in area studies (Western Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East) and thematic courses on political economy, political development, international security, political violence, democratization, civil society, political organizing, elections and campaigns, and foreign policy, among other topics.

The following descriptions represent a sampling of courses from the past four years.

The Politics of Citizenship
Politics 100
DESIGNATED: MIGRATION INITIATIVE COURSE
Citizenship is one of the most important—and complex—elements of communal life. It can be a marker of belonging or exclusion, set boundaries or open them, and operate at the local, national, or global levels. It has the capacity to bestow power on an individual, and create obligations and duties for an individual. It is both a modern idea and an ancient one. This course addresses how ideas of citizenship have changed over time and across cultures. 

Introduction to American Politics: Issues, Institutions, Ideas
Politics 102
CROSS-LISTED: AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES
This course introduces the basic institutions and processes of American government. It aims to provide students with a grasp of the fundamental dynamics of American politics and the skills to be an effective participant in, and critic of, the political process. During the semester, students examine how the government works, interpret current political developments and debates, and consider how to influence the government at various levels.

Introduction to Political Theory: Authority, Equality, Freedom
Politics 103
This survey of Western political thought examines themes like justice, freedom, and equality by exploring the writings of thinkers from Plato to Malcom X. In each case, the class also considers the particular crises these theorists addressed in their work, including civil war, revolution, democracy, and capitalism. Also addressed: how we may draw on these ideas in our own political struggles.

Introduction to International Relations: Anarchy, Violence, Power
Politics 104
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS
One of the defining features of the international realm is its anarchic political structure. Anarchy, it is often assumed, makes cooperation among states more difficult, suggests violence and war are inextricable features of the system, and leads to a narrow understanding of power as simple coercion. This course examines foundational concepts of anarchy, violence, and power, as well as competing theories about the structure, functioning, and transformative potential of the international system. 

Introduction to Comparative Politics: Nations, Regimes, Society
Politics 105
CROSS-LISTED: GIS
The intellectual premise of comparative politics is that we can better understand the politics of almost any country by placing it in its larger global context. Students examine key institutions of liberal democracies, democracies constructed after dictatorships (Germany, Japan), and federalism as an emerging trend in contemporary regional politics. 

Political Economy
Politics 109
CROSS-LISTED: EUS, GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS
Political economy refers to the interrelationship between politics and economics. However, political scientists and economists do not always use the term in the same sense, and within these two disciplines the term has multiple meanings. This course reviews the ideas of major thinkers such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, and John Kenneth Galbraith, and introduces two subfields: international political economy and the political economy of development.

Introduction to Political Theory
Politics 115
A survey of Western political theory from ancient  Athens to modern Europe and North America. Themes explored include justice, freedom, democracy, equality, and social change with readings from Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Marx, Luxemburg, Douglass, and others. In each case, the class attends to the problems and experiences, including revolution, civil war, capitalism, and slavery, to
which these thinkers responded. Problems and experiences of the 21st century, and how they might shape our own theories of politics, are also discussed.

The Quest for Justice: Foundations of the Law
Politics 167 / Philosophy 167
CROSS-LISTED: HUMAN RIGHTS
As the novelist William Gaddis writes: “Justice? You get justice in the next world. In this world, you have the law.” This course explores the apparent disconnect between law and justice. Through readings of legal cases as well as political, literary, and philosophical texts, students grapple with the problem of administering justice as it emerges in the context of contemporary legal institutions. Texts include Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Melville’s Billy Budd, and selections from Dostoevsky, Twain, and Plato.

Gender and the Politics of National Security
Politics 206
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, GSS
An introduction to major theories and issues concerning gender and international security affairs. These theoretical frameworks are then applied to security issues such as the cultural effects of nuclear weapons, targeting of civilians during armed conflict, sexual violence in war, torture and the war on terrorism, human security and development, and postconflict societies, among others.
Discussions draw from anthropology, sociology, philosophy, politics, and rhetoric in order to highlight the interconnections among states, societies, and individuals.

Global Citizenship
Politics 207 / GIS 207
CROSS-LISTED: HUMAN RIGHTS
DESIGNATED: MIGRATION INITIATIVE COURSE
What does it mean to be a global citizen? This question has gained increasing salience as the world has become more globalized and new problems surface that cut across national borders and fall outside the jurisdiction of individual nation-states. In response, new forms of political organization have emerged that challenge the state as the primary locus of political authority and individual rights. This course critically examines the conceptual and theoretical foundations of the concept of global citizenship and investigates how the idea might work in practice.

Civic Engagement and Social Action
Politics 209
CROSS-LISTED: HUMAN RIGHTS
DESIGNATED: ELAS AND OSUN COURSE
The historical, philosophical, and practical elements of civic engagement are explored, as is the underlying question of what it means to be an engaged citizen in the early 21st century. Students examine notions of personal responsibility, civic duty, political participation, and social justice, along with modes of community engagement on governmental, nonprofit, and association levels. While the focus is local, national and international issues and comparisons are considered. A fieldwork component contextualizes in-class study.

American Political Thought
Politics 210
CROSS-LISTED: AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES
Drawing upon material from across the entire span of American history, the course attempts to develop an understanding of concepts such as democracy, liberty, individuality, and republicanism, and to discuss how understandings of these concepts have influenced political and social choices in the United States. Readings include works by Jefferson, Lincoln, Du Bois, and Goldman.

Distant Neighbors: US-Latin American Relations
Politics 214
CROSS-LISTED: AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, GIS, HISTORICAL STUDIES, HUMAN RIGHTS, LAIS
Latin America and the United States have famously been referred to as “distant neighbors.” Latin Americans blame the troubled relationship on a history of American aggression, dating to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which declared US intentions to control the political destiny of Latin America. Americans argue that Latin America is incapable of governing itself, forcing the United States to deal with problems such as revolution, immigration, and drug trafficking. The course explores a variety of theories to better understand the dynamics of US–Latin American relations.

Identity Politics
Politics 220
CROSS-LISTED: AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, HUMAN RIGHTS, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIOLOGY
How do our identities, including race, gender, class, and nationality, shape our understandings of the social world and our ability to change it? How are these identities formed and under what conditions can they be transformed? Since the Combahee River Collective coined the term in 1977, “identity politics” has become a mainstay of contemporary political discourse and a subject of controversy. This course explores these issues through texts by Patricia Hill Collins, Audre Lorde, Judith Butler, Cristina Beltrán, and Olúfémi Táíwo`, among others.

Latin American Politics and Society
Politics 222
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS, LAIS
The course is organized in three main sections, beginning with a broad overview of patterns of political development in Latin America from the independence period to the present. The second part highlights theoretical approaches to Latin American political development drawn from cultural analysis, Marxism, and state-centric perspectives. The final section examines democratic development in six countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, and Venezuela.

The Politics of Climate Change
Politics 2220
CROSS-LISTED: EUS
This course addresses why, despite the increasing amount of information about climate change, we have failed to respond to this crisis; why it is so difficult to represent; and new ways we might represent it. Students examine scientific, philosophical, political, artistic, spiritual, and economic approaches to climate change to see the different connections each tries to forge. Through writing and discussion, they engage in critical and productive thinking on the climate crisis. 

Contemporary Political Theory
Politics 2231
An introduction to the problems and ideas of political theory in the 20th century. The course first looks at critiques of the modern subject and society that were introduced at the turn of the century, then moves on to responses to new technological and social conditions, bureaucratized government, and more diffuse forms of political power. Finally, the class considers theories from the latter part of the century, including feminism and postcolonialism. Texts may include works by Nietzsche, Freud, Weber, Marcuse, Arendt, Foucault, hooks, Haraway, Césaire, and Lazzarato.

Machiavelli and Friends
Politics 225
DESIGNATED: HSI COURSE
This course reconsiders Niccolò Machiavelli’s political thought from the standpoint of 21st-century politics, asking how his writings might inform political life today, particularly in regard to the problem of tyranny, nature of power, and creative potential of democracy. Readings include The Prince; selections from Discourses on Livy, The Art of War, and The History of Florence; letters; and dramatic works. The class also looks at modern interpretations of Machiavelli and “Machiavellianism” as a frame for understanding contemporary politics.

The National and Global in the Politics of Race
Politics 2250
CROSS-LISTED: AFRICANA STUDIES, AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, HUMAN RIGHTS
DESIGNATED: RJI COURSE
How have the national and global intersected in the politics of race? The course begins with the standard of civilization once used by international lawyers to defend the rights of European nations to colonize non-European societies, and asks if this legacy still haunts the postcolonial global order. Also considered: Du Bois’s formulation of the color line as “the problem of the twentieth century”; the disillusion of African American leaders in the UN as a weapon for change; and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

Dissent! Politics, Justice, Dignity
Politics 2251
CROSS-LISTED: AFRICANA STUDIES, AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS, MES
Why do citizens rebel? When is it legitimate to break the law? What makes resistance just? This course examines the characteristics, justifications, and limitations of major forms of resistance, and considers how contemporary technological transformations have changed the forms and means of resistance and what we perceive as justice and injustice. In addition to textual resources, the course includes analysis of several films, including Malcolm X (1992), The Square (2013), and Chi-raq (2015).

US Politics
Politics 236
CROSS-LISTED: AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES
This course introduces students to the basic institutions and processes of the government of the United States. The class is meant to provide students with a grasp of the fundamental dynamics of US politics and the skills to be an effective participant in and critic of the political process. 

Dictators, Democrats, and Demagogues: Comparative Politics of the Middle East and North Africa 
Politics 237
CROSS-LISTED: AFRICANA STUDIES, GIS, MES
An introduction to the major questions and theoretical approaches involved in the study of comparative politics as applied to the states of the Middle East and North Africa. Topics include state formation and consolidation, the persistence of authoritarianism, nationalism and identity, civil society and democratization, uprisings and revolutions, the role of oil, political economy of the state, gender, and Islamist politics. The course covers core literature in the field, relevant case studies, and pressing issues facing policy makers.

Politics and Violence
Politics 241
CROSS-LISTED: HUMAN RIGHTS
The course examines violence as a political phenomenon that constitutes an important part of modern political structures and experience. It begins with an analysis of what makes violence political and then moves to analyze different forms of political violence, including structural violence, state violence, ethnic and racial violence, terrorism, anticolonial violence, community defense, war, and gender violence. Students read theoretical texts on violence and nonviolence in addition to concrete case studies from across the world.

The Political Life of Mourning: From Antigone to Black Lives Matter
Politics 2420
CROSS-LISTED: HUMAN RIGHTS
Can we transform moments of loss into an opportunity for democratic politics? How are these formative moments of loss—the death of a son, 9/11, the murder of George Floyd—constitutive of a collective politics? The class explores the political life of mourning within the tradition of Western political thought and within the African American community, from W. E. B. Du Bois to the formation of the Black Lives Matter movement. Texts from Sophocles, Freud, Derrida, Douglass, Du Bois, Morrison, Moten, others.

Constitutional Law
Politics 243 / Human Rights 243
An introduction to constitutional theory and the evolution of constitutional law in the United States. The course begins with a look at the history and theory of constitutionalism, with particular focus on the writings of Aristotle, Montesquieu, and Arendt, before exploring the advent of written constitutions and developments in US constitutional law from the founding through the New Deal. Also addressed are emerging issues that wrestle with core concepts of constitutionalism, including voting rights, campaign finance, and the administrative state.

Human Rights in Global Politics
Politics 245
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS
The course is divided into three core sections: the philosophical foundations of the notion of human rights and its contested universality; the evolution of the so-called international human rights regime; and the shifts from “first generation” human rights (political freedoms) to “second generation” human rights (social and economic rights, such as housing, employment, and education), to “third generation” rights and beyond (cultural self-determination, economic sustainability, and sexual freedoms, among others).

War Abolition
Politics 246
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS
Global politics is largely predicated on the idea that war is an inescapable feature of our international political system. This course uses abolitionist politics in other contexts—antinuclear, antiprison, and antipolice movements—as a lens for investigating war abolition. It also explores pacifist theory and practice, nonviolence, and critical theoretical approaches toward war and sovereignty. Readings provide a better understanding of the role of war in society and what opportunities might exist for altering its historical trajectory.

American Foreign Policy Traditions
Politics 247
An introduction to American foreign policy and its roots in the interplay of domestic politics and international events. Readings typify different approaches to the study of American foreign policy: an analytic overview, an in-depth study of an important relationship, a biographical study of leading policy makers, and a history of the Cold War. Discussions address the relevance of past foreign policy debates to current events and controversies. Students develop and present policy recommendations for contemporary problems based on their study of history. 

Political Organizing: Theory and Practice
Politics 251
CROSS-LISTED: AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, HUMAN RIGHTS
DESIGNATED: ELAS COURSE
How can disempowered people develop the capacity to transform society? Labor leaders, community organizers, and social media posters often present “organizing” as the answer. But what is organizing and how does it differ from activism and advocacy? How do organizers develop effective strategies? And how do they build solidarity across groups? This course examines the American organizing tradition, from the industrial labor movement of the early 20th century to contemporary movements for racial and economic justice.

Democratic Theory 
Politics 252
CROSS-LISTED: HUMAN RIGHTS
Democracy” today is virtually synonymous with legitimacy, justice, and freedom. But what does democracy really mean? What kinds of authority do democracies claim, and where does this authority come from? How do ordinary people, or “the people,” create, sustain, and transform democratic authority? How might democracy be reimagined as a form of life for the 21st century? The course considers these and other controversies over the contested meanings of democracy and citizenship. Readings from Sophocles, Rousseau, Locke, Madison, Wollstonecraft, Marx, and Weber, among others.

Nations, States, and Nationalism
Politics 257 
CROSS-LISTED: GIS
Nationalism is often thought of as the force that led to the dissolution of empire, and nation-states as the antithesis of empires and imperialism. Historically, the relations between nations and empires have been more complicated. The course interrogates the transition from empire to nation and asks critical questions about the global political order that emerged following the crisis of colonial empires in the last century, failed states, and the new iteration of nation-building that has a disturbing affinity with imperial practices.

Feminist Foreign Policy
Politics 258
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, GSS
DESIGNATED: HSI COURSE
Sweden introduced “feminist foreign policy” in 2014. The policy puts women and girls at the center of every policy decision, with the ultimate aim of advancing gender equality around the world. Several other countries have since adopted a similar policy, including Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. This course explores the role of women in foreign policy making and the role of gender in foreign policy, and asks: Can the United States adopt a feminist foreign policy? If so, what would it look like?

Revolutionary Theory and Practice
Politics 263
CROSS-LISTED: HUMAN RIGHTS, PHILOSOPHY
How is it possible to imagine and create a new society from within the old? And how can revolutionary subjects emerge from oppressive conditions? The class considers the answers revolutionary theorists and organizers developed across three cases: the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917, the Algerian Revolution of 1954–62, and contemporary movements to abolish the prison industrial complex in the United States. Authors include Eva von Redecker, V. I. Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg, Frantz Fanon, Mariame Kaba, and Ruth Wilson Gilmore.

The United States and the Modern Middle East
Politics 264
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, MES
DESIGNATED: HSI COURSE
This course focuses on the relationship of U.S. foreign policy to the Arab states of the modern Middle East (the Arab countries of the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Arabian peninsula, plus Egypt). After putting this relationship in historical perspective, the class considers the status of the Ottoman Empire before, during, and immediately after World War I; the creation of independent Arab states; the rise of Arab nationalism; the 1967 and first Gulf wars; and the official American relationship with the Arab world from post–World War II until the present day.

Campaign 2022
Politics 265
CROSS-LISTED: AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES
This course integrates experience in campaign work with study of the nature of democracy and mechanisms of modern campaigns. Topics include the role of campaign finance, idea of the “permanent campaign,” role of the media in campaigns, and potential for activist organization within the modern political system.

Beyond Elections: Revitalizing Democracy through Citizens’ Assemblies
Politics 268
DESIGNATED: HUMAN RIGHTS
This 2-credit workshop offers practical, hands-on experience in designing deliberative democratic processes with local politicians as it explores the theory and philosophy of sortition, or lottery- based democracy. Students have the opportunity to present their work at the annual Hannah Arendt Center Conference in October.

All Politics Is Local
Politics 270
DESIGNATED: ELAS COURSE
This Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences course is animated by the question: why does local government matter? Local government is often overlooked, but plays a critical role in the day-to-day life of citizens. In spite of this, the structure and activities of local government are poorly understood. Students commit to a semester-long internship with a government office or agency, attend meetings with village and county officials, attend sessions of local government bodies, and read primary and secondary sources concerning the issue of local governance.

Power, Diplomacy, and Warfare in Global Affairs
Politics 273 
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, HISTORICAL STUDIES
DESIGNATED: HSI COURSE
An exploration of the evolving nature of state power in the 21st century; the history, complexity, and changing nature of diplomacy in the projection of state power; and the evolution of warfare from the time of Napoleon to the present, with emphasis on the utility of military force as an instrument of state power projection. The objective is to illuminate the relationship between force and statecraft in the modern (post-Napoleonic) era, focusing on the uses and limitations of military force. 

China/Japan: Postwar Southeast Asia
Politics 277
CROSS-LISTED: ASIAN STUDIES
This course focuses on how Southeast Asia has shaped itself through, and been shaped by, interactions with its most powerful neighbors, Japan and China. Topics include premodern interactions and their disruption by Euro-American colonization; nationalism, Japanese occupation, postwar independence movements, and nation-building; the formation of ASEAN and other multilateral institutions, the “East Asian developmental model,” and the Asian financial crisis; the role of the overseas Chinese community; and recent Chinese initiatives and the struggle for a new regional order.

Democratic Innovation and Citizen Lotteries: From Ancient Athens to the French Climate Assembly
Politics 278
CROSS-LISTED: HUMAN RIGHTS
DESIGNATED: OSUN COURSE
Modern electoral democracies select representatives through voting. But for most of political history, democratic government was understood to be incompatible with elections. In ancient Greek and early Italian democracies, leaders were chosen by lottery. It was common sense that elections privilege those who have money and education. Indeed, modern electoral representative democracies are specifically designed to elect the elite and exclude everyday citizens from the activity of self-government. This course explores the emerging movement to include lottery-based citizen assemblies as well as other innovative ideas to revitalize democracy. 

The Rise of Capitalism
Politics 281
CROSS-LISTED: ECONOMICS, GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS, PHILOSOPHY
This course explores key texts, concepts, and themes in political, social, and economic theory during the rise and development of capitalism, from the late 17th century to the present. Throughout its history, capitalism has been justified, critiqued, and redefined by way of such key political, social, and economic ideas as liberty, equality, property, authority, and progress. Through readings, lectures, and discussions, students acquire an in-depth understanding of central concepts and problems in modern political, social, and economic theory.

Judgment, Pluralism, and Democracy
Politics 284
CROSS-LISTED: PHILOSOPHY
The idea that judgment is an inherently political capacity is most prominently articulated by Hannah Arendt, who draws her inspiration from Kant’s third critique. Readings and topics discussed include Kant’s theory of aesthetic judgment as well as his more explicitly political writings; post-Kantians such as Fichte, Hegel, and Schiller; Habermas, Rawls, and debates about public reason, value pluralism, consensus, and reasonability; Arendt on Kant, truth, freedom, and action; and contemporary defenders and critics of the judgment paradigm. 

Feminist Political Theory
Politics 299
CROSS-LISTED: GSS
Can a theory of feminism be grounded in an ontological claim of “woman”? Should it be? What are the causes of sex and gender inequality? How have these questions shifted since the women’s liberation movement? The course surveys contemporary feminist issues around work, family, kinship, health, sexuality, violence, and politics. Authors may include: John Stuart Mill, Sojourner Truth, Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Catharine MacKinnon, Gayle Rubin, Saba Mahmood, and Nancy Fraser.

Muslim Political Thought and Anticolonialism
Politics 3020 / MES 3020
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION
This course explores 20th-century Muslim political thought as a modern experience of critique and resistance in the context of decolonization. The class reads works by influential theorists, including Sayyid Qutb, Ali Shariati, and Ayatollah Khomeini, as well as speeches and manifestos from contemporary militant Islamists, to understand how these thinkers and militants engage with issues of colonialism, liberation, sovereignty, revolution, justice, democracy, war and gender. How their ideas are put into practice and how they affected Western thinkers is also addressed.

Political Economy of Development
Politics 314
This Upper College seminar examines the economic development of the “Third World” through the lens of several generations of scholars. After reading representative authors of competing theoretical traditions, students move on to concrete cases.

Feminist Resurgence and Decolonization
Politics 318
CROSS-LISTED: AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, GSS, HUMAN RIGHTS
DESIGNATED: RETHINKING PLACE COURSE
Indigenous resurgence refers to individual and collective processes of decolonial liberation grounded on “return” and “revitalization” of traditional sociopolitical values, life-worlds, and experiences. Gesturing toward the possibility of life beyond the state form, Indigenous resurgence also places importance on feminist liberation. The course examines the practices, writings, art forms, and activism of Indigenous communities and feminist thinkers; and analyzes a novel project of feminist decolonization currently being practiced in Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan): democratic confederalism.

The US Constitution as a Political Text
Politics 321
CROSS-LISTED: AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, HISTORICAL STUDIES, HUMAN RIGHTS
This course looks at the origins of the US Constitution, the manner in which it developed, and its influence in contemporary America. While the class engages with legal discussions, these interactions are aimed at exploring the Constitution’s role within American society, not providing a background in law. The course also addresses the first two amendments of the Bill of Rights and the way in which the text of the constitutional document shapes notions of free speech and firearms regulation within the American polity.

Migration, Citizenship, and Work
Politics 323
CROSS-LISTED: HUMAN RIGHTS
DESIGNATED: MIGRATION INITIATIVE COURSE
Large-scale migration has long been integral to global processes that have shaped the modern world. The modern history of international migration begins with European colonization of large parts of the New World, Africa, and Asia. After an overview on international migration, the course focuses on the modern territorial order of formally sovereign states, which is premised to an extent on the disavowal of migration. Since employment eligibility is tied to citizenship status, significant segments of the work force in many countries are now undocumented.

Retribution, Reconciliation, and Reparations: The Politics of Human Rights Injustices
Politics 327
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS
Slavery, genocide, and politically motivated mass killings are distressingly familiar episodes in the history of many societies, including the United States. But can they be properly addressed in the decades and centuries after they occurred? And if so, by what legal and political means, and to what ends? This seminar explores three approaches to confronting historical injustices that have emerged since World War II: retribution, reconciliation, and reparations. 

Truth and Politics
Politics 328
CROSS-LISTED: HUMAN RIGHTS, PHILOSOPHY
False facts, outright lies, and misinformation surround us. For the left, the prime mover of the attack on truth is Donald Trump; for the right, it’s global elites. This course looks at the philosophical and political history of truth, asking: What is truth? Why is it that political truths and facts cannot exist? How are truths transformed into opinions? Readings from Nietzsche, Arendt, and Foucault, as well as texts that look at contemporary debates around lying and politics.

The Global Crisis of Democracy
Politics 330
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS
DESIGNATED: MIGRATION INITIATIVE COURSE
It’s hard to find a region of the world where democracy is not under duress or already undone. In many parts of the developed West, right-wing populist movements are challenging democratic institutions and norms like never before. In Latin America, democracy hangs in the balance, hobbled by corruption, poverty, and inequality. The picture is even bleaker across the post-Communist world. This seminar addresses the foundational concept of democracy, theoretical explanations behind the so-called “crisis of democracy,” and the current state of democracy around the world.

Political Violence and Terrorism
Politics 352
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS
DESIGNATED: HSI COURSE
The September 2001 terrorist attacks irrevocably changed US politics and foreign policy, giving rise to more than a decade of war, expanded surveillance, the use of torture and indefinite detention, and a targeted killing policy through the use of drone strikes. More recently, the January 6th attack on the US Capitol evidenced what can happen when white nationalism and right-wing ideologies are perpetuated by powerful political actors. This seminar examines violence as a political phenomenon, the role of religion and ideology in motivating terrorist groups, and the challenges of government responses.

American Grand Strategy 
Politics 354
The American world system that exists today is version 2.0 of the liberal capitalist system first built by Great Britain. Both the British and US builders of these systems developed a distinct style of strategic thought around the needs of a maritime, global, and commercial system. This grand strategy involved domestic social organization as well as foreign policy and war. Students consider these strategies from the time of the Spanish Armada through the Cold War, and analyze contemporary US policy in light of three centuries of Anglophone world power.

The Individual and American Democracy 
Politics 358
CROSS-LISTED: AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES
Since its formation, and even before, the United States has been associated with the individual. At the same time, the assumption that the “people” govern the country has informed political life. Balancing the interests of the one against the many has therefore emerged as an important theme within American political thought. This course examines the ways in which the concept of the individual has informed thinking about American democracy and vice versa. Authors include Crèvecoeur, de Tocqueville, the abolitionists, Hayek, and Du Bois.

Radical American Democracy
Politics 358
CROSS-LISTED: AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, HUMAN RIGHTS, PHILOSOPHY
This seminar explores the essence of democracy as a specifically modern way of life, rather than a form of government. To do so, it turns to great thinkers of American democracy, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Ralph Ellison, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Hannah Arendt. The course seeks to understand the democratic spirit of radical individualism that has proven so seductive and powerful since its modern birth in the American Revolution.

Ethics and International Affairs
Politics 363
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS
Current foreign policy debates have centered on drone strikes, civilian casualties, the targeted killing of Americans, and humanitarian intervention, with advocates on both sides citing moral and ethical justifications for their respective positions. Each of these debates begs the central question: What does it mean to be ethical in international politics? To whom are we responsible? Do ethical concerns cross borders? This course explores the issues and tensions informing these questions by engaging the underlying theoretical traditions.

Environmental Political Theory
Politics 372
CROSS-LISTED: EUS
This course examines various theories of how relations between human society and nature become politicized. Themes addressed include the nature/culture divide, the relationship between economy and ecology, technology and the management of nature, climate change, and the role nature plays in social power constellations, particularly with regard to women and Indigenous groups. Readings may include Latour, Shiva, Connelly, Heidegger, Leopold, Bennett, Abbey, Bookchin, Daly, Guha, and Haraway.

Grand Strategy from Thucydides to Clausewitz
Politics 377
CROSS-LISTED: GIS
The question of what war is and how wars can be won has exercised great minds from the dawn of recorded history. Students in this advanced seminar examine classic texts on conflict from ancient Greece to modern Europe. Issues include the nature of conflict, role of chance in human affairs, definitions of power, and development of strategic thought.

The American Presidency
Politics 378
CROSS-LISTED: AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, HISTORICAL STUDIES
An examination of the development of the U.S. presidency from the founding until the present day, with special attention given to the Jeffersonian and Progressive Eras; the expansion of executive power under Franklin Roosevelt; how modern presidents contend with multiple and, at times, conflicting roles and responsibilities (party leader, chief executive, commander in chief, media celebrity); and the problem of contemporary presidential power. Also considered is what role presidential power and leadership should play in the life of contemporary U.S. democracy.

Civic Action and Research
Politics 385
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS
DESIGNATED: ELAS AND OSUN COURSE
In this upper-level course, students who are leading a community engagement project deepen their understanding of civil society through participatory research that explores the structure of civil society organizations, the sociopolitical environment in which they operate, the root causes of issues that they are attempting to address, and the context in which the community is addressing the issue. Students also enhance their project management skills through a series of leadership workshops. The course culminates in a peer-led, OSUN-wide conference on leadership and community engagement. 

The Crisis of Expert Rule
Politics 386
CROSS-LISTED: HUMAN RIGHTS, PHILOSOPHY
Today it is almost unthinkable to imagine regulators and political leaders who lack university and technical training. And yet, much of the populist anger rising around the world can be understood as a rejection of expert rule. COVID-19 further exposed the radical distrust in expert-driven governance. While this rejection of scientific knowledge is shocking, there are problems with expert governance. The course explores how expert discourses drive us to abandon fundamental human connections that make human life meaningful. Texts by Arendt, Hayek, Agamben, others.

Hannah Arendt’s Human Condition
Politics 389
Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition investigates the vita activa (activities of human life) in order to think about the distinction between the vita activa and the vita contemplativa (life of the mind). Students read the entirety of the treatise, considering the relationships between scientific advancement, earthliness, and worldliness as they explore questions such as: In what ways do science and technology both facilitate and undermine the possibilities of human life? Can love be political? Can we find a home in the world? What would it mean to do so?

The Political Thought of W. E. B. Du Bois
Politics 392
CROSS-LISTED: AFRICANA STUDIES, AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, HUMAN RIGHTS, PHILOSOPHY
This seminar explores the political thought of the sociologist, organizer, and political theorist William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. The class traces the development of Du Bois’s political thought on the themes of organization, race, class, leadership, democracy, and freedom over the course of his long career. Also considered is the relevance of Du Bois’s political thought to today’s Black freedom struggle.

Race and Gender in US Constitutional Development
Politics 393
CROSS-LISTED: AFRICANA STUDIES, AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, GSS, HISTORICAL STUDIES, HUMAN RIGHTS
This course explores the intersections of race and gender and the development of American constitutional law and practice. Court opinions, arguments, and broader constitutional debates provide students with a method of engaging those discourses at different historical moments. For example, the class looks at the compromises struck at the constitutional convention, but also at challenges to Chinese exclusion (Chae Chan Ping v. United States), Japanese internment (Korematsu v. United States), and the legal strategies used by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and reproductive rights activists.

Theories of Racial Capitalism
Politics 397
CROSS-LISTED: GIS, HUMAN RIGHTS, PHILOSOPHY
DESIGNATED: MIGRATION INITIATIVE AND RJI COURSE
This seminar explores the relationship between ideologies of racial difference and practices of capital accumulation since the rise of the Atlantic slave trade. Students examine the ways thinkers, critics, and historians have employed the concept of “racial capitalism” to reimagine the entanglement of race and capitalism as a theory in which the movement, settlement, and economic exploitation of people of color is indissociable from regimes of capital accumulation, and as a critique standard accounts of capitalism that view racism as a cultural deviation from the market’s economic logic. 

The Crisis of Global Order
Politics 398
CROSS-LISTED: GIS
Created after World War II, the liberal international order is embedded in a web of institutions and agreements that aim to promote the values of liberal democracy, market liberalization, respect for human rights, and interstate cooperation. But with the rise of illiberal democracies and the return of great power rivalry, this order is in crisis. Can it withstand these challenges from within and without? How important is American leadership to the stability of the system? This course examines the history of this system to better understand the contemporary moment.