Course Schedule and Descriptions, Spring 2005 Course Schedule Spring 2005: 310-10100 U. S. Politics
LA/SS,H,1B Credits: 3.00
  • 01 TR 08:00-09:15AM (SMID-112) Alexander Moon
  • 02 TR 09:25-10:40AM (SMID-112) Alexander Moon
  • 03 MWF 11:00-11:50AM (SMID-112) Juan Arroyo
310-10200 Media & Politics
LA/SS Credits: 3.00
  • 01 TR 10:50-12:05PM (TEXT-103) Martin L Brownstein
    M 01:00-01:50PM (FRND-304) Martin L Brownstein prefers texter room
  • 02 TR 10:50-12:05PM (TEXT-103) Martin L Brownstein
    W 01:00-01:50PM (FRND-304) Martin L Brownstein prefers textor room
  • 03 TR 10:50-12:05PM (TEXT-103) Martin L Brownstein
    F 01:00-01:50PM (FRND-304) Martin L Brownstein prefers textor room
  • 04 TR 10:50-12:05PM (TEXT-103) Martin L Brownstein
    M 03:00-03:50PM (FRND-202) Martin L Brownstein
  • 05 TR 10:50-12:05PM (TEXT-103) Martin L Brownstein
    W 03:00-03:50PM (FRND-202) Martin L Brownstein
  • 06 TR 10:50-12:05PM (TEXT-103) Martin L Brownstein
    M 02:00-02:50PM (DILL-2) Martin L Brownstein
310-12300 Political Justice
LA/SS,G,1B Credits: 3.00
  • 01 MWF 09:00-09:50AM (FRND-303) Beth Harris
  • 02 MWF 10:00-10:50AM (FRND-303) Beth Harris
310-12800 Intro to International Relations
LA/SS,G,1B Credits: 3.00
  • 01 MWF 11:00-11:50AM (FRND-303) Chip Gagnon
  • 02 MWF 12:00-12:50PM (FRND-303) Chip Gagnon
310-12900 Introduction to Global Studies LA/SS,G,1B Credits: 3.00
  • 01 TR 10:50-12:05PM (SMID-112) Peyi Soyinka-Airewele
  • 02 TR 02:35-03:50PM (SMID-112) Peyi Soyinka-Airewele
310-14100 Power: Race, Sex, and Class
LA/SS,G,1B Credits: 3.00
  • 01 TR 09:25-10:40AM (TEXT-103) Zillah Eisenstein
310-14200 Ideas and Ideologies
LA/SS,1B,1A Credits: 3.00
  • 01 MWF 08:00-08:50AM (SMID-112) Charles Venator Santiago
  • 02 MWF 09:00-09:50AM (SMID-112) Charles Venator Santiago
310-14500 Politics of Identity: Culture, Race, Ethnicity
LA/H,1B,1A Credits: 3.00
  • 01 TR 01:10-02:25PM (FRND-303) Asma Barlas
----------------------------------------------------------- 310-23000 The Holocaust
LA/SS,H,G,1A Credits: 3.00
  • 01 TR 06:50-08:05PM (FRND-303) Donald Beachler
----------------------------------------------------------- 310-30400 U.S. Party Politics
LA/SS | US | Credits: 3.00
  • 01 TR 04:00-05:15PM (SMID-112) Donald Beachler
310-30600 U.S. Foreign Policy
LA/SS | US | Credits: 3.00
  • 80 TBA TBA Ivo Spalatin Warren Schlesinger This course is only open to students accepted into the Washington Program.
310-31900 Selected Topics: US Politics.
Topic: Race and US Politics
LA/SS | US | Credits: 1.00-3.00
  • 01 TR 02:35-03:50PM (FRND-303) Alexander Moon
310-32100 Contemporary British Politics
LA/SS | Int'l/Comp | Credits: 3.00
  • 99 TBA TBA William Sheasgreen Only open to students officially accepted into London Program for Spring 2005.
310-32900 Third World Politics
LA/SS | Int'l/Comp | Credits: 3.00
  • 01 TR 04:00-05:15PM (FRND-303) Asma Barlas
310-33000 European Politics
LA/SS | Int'l/Comp | Credits: 3.00
  • 01 MWF 12:00-12:50PM (SMID-112) Juan Arroyo
310-33100 Latin American Politics
LA/SS | Int'l/Comp | Credits: 3.00
  • 01 MW 04:00-05:15PM (SMID-112) Charles Venator Santiago
310-33600 Whiteness & Multiculturalism
LA/SS | Int'l/Comp | Credits: 3.00
  • 01 MWF 02:00-02:50PM (FRND-303) Chip Gagnon
310-34200 Liberalism and Marxism
LA/SS | Pol. Theory | Credits: 3.00
  • 01 TR 01:10-02:25PM (SMID-112) Zillah Eisenstein
310-36600 Environmental Politics
LA/SS,1A | Public Policy | Credits: 3.00
  • 01 MW 05:25-06:40PM (FRND-303) Thomas Shevory
----------------------------------------------------------- 310-40100 Seminar: Comparative/International Study
LA/SS Credits: 3.00
  • 01 W 03:00-05:30PM (WILL-317) Asma Barlas
    TOPIC: CLASSICS OF COLONIALISM
  • 02 R 04:00-06:30PM (DILL-6) Peyi Soyinka-Airewele
    TOPIC: SOUTH AFRICA: MINEFIELDS OF MEMORY
310-40200 Seminar
LA/SS Credits: 3.00
  • 01 W 03:00-05:30PM (FRND-204) Zillah Eisenstein
    TOPIC: ELSEWHERES
  • 02 T 06:50-09:20PM (SMID-112) Beth Harris
    TOPIC: WITNESSING INJUSTICE
  • 03 W 06:50-09:20PM (FRND-202) Martin L Brownstein
    TOPIC: GAY POLITICS
  • 04 W 06:50-09:20PM (FRND-205) Alexander Moon
    TOPIC: POLITICS OF PRISONS
310-40500 Internship
NLA Credits: 01
  • TBA TBA Donald Beachler

------------------------------------------------------

Course Descriptions, Spring 2005

These course descriptions are from the H&S Supplement

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICS (310)

310-10100-01, 02       U.S. POLITICS      SS LA 1b,h

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR: Alex Moon, Muller 312, Ext. 4-1258

ENROLLMENT:  30 per section.

PREREQUISITES:  None.

OBJECTIVES:  Institutions, processes, and cultural roots of U.S.politics.  Complex interrelationships among a highly specific set of political-economic institutions which have evolved to reflect the conditions of U.S. society; Congress, the presidency, bureaucracy, judiciary, parties, interest groups, media, and the electoral process.

FORMAT AND STYLE:  Lecture/discussion

 

310-10100-03  U.S. POLITICS  SS LA 1b,h

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR: Juan Arroyo, Muller 312, Ext. 4-3969.

ENROLLMENT: 30 per section

PREREQUISITES: None.

OBJECTIVES:  Institutions, processes, and cultural roots of U.S.politics.  Complex interrelationships among a highly specific set of political-economic institutions which have evolved to reflect the conditions of U.S. society; Congress, the presidency, bureaucracy, judiciary, parties, interest groups, media, and the electoral process.

STUDENTS:  Open to all students.

FORMAT AND STYLE:  Discussion/lecture.

 

310-10200-01 through 06     MEDIA AND POLITICS      SS LA

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Martin Brownstein, Muller 307, Ext. 43544.

ENROLLMENT:  6 sections @15 students each=90

PREREQUISITE:  None.

OBJECTIVES:  1. To understand the symbiotic, mutually reinforcing nature of the relationship of governmental institutions and institutions of mass media.  2. To explore the myth of the adversary relationship between the press and the public order.  3. To see how issues of public policy are presented to mass audiences in terms of symbolic valence.  4. To comprehend the ways in which elections are influenced by media.  5. To explain the salient differences in method of news presentation by alternative media sources; to see how differing methods produce different outlooks. 6. To learn how governmental regulation of electronic media is qualitatively different from the forms of regulation imposed on print media; to understand the results of that difference.  7. To identify alternative forms of governmental regulation of public media in other nations.  8. To assess the relevance of this course material for the future of American democracy, for future prospects for citizen participation in public life, and for personal development; to ask "So What?"  9. To understand that political disputation and argument are integral to political education, that a wide variety of political beliefs is both legitimate and necessary for constructive public discourse, to know that everybody is biased, and properly so.  10. To reaffirm my sense that the study of politics is both intellectually rewarding--and great fun!

STUDENTS:  Students from all disciplines at Ithaca College are encouraged to take this course.  Students from Communications are especially welcomed, as are students from Business and all Humanities and Sciences departments.  Seniors, juniors, sophomores and first-year students are all invited to apply for this course.  NOTE: This course does not meet any specific Politics Department distributional requirements.

FORMAT AND STYLE:  Two lectures, and one discussion class per week, and student involvement is actively sought. This course will make extensive use of films and other video materials.

REQUIREMENTS:  Course requirements include approximately five books, the daily reading of The New York Times, attention to at least one weekly periodical magazine of political opinion, and at least one daily television news program.  Three take-home papers are required, and these may be rewritten so that students may be afforded the chance to learn from their errors.  Most fundamentally, students are expected to bring interest and enthusiasm into this course.

GRADING:  Traditional A, B, C, D, F grading will be used.

 

310-12300-01,02  POLITICAL JUSTICE SS LA 1b  g

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR: Beth Harris, Muller 310, Ext. 4-3517

ENROLLMENT:30 per section.

PREREQUISITES: None.

OBJECTIVES:We examine the relationships between law, politics power, witnessing, and justice in a comparative context.  The readings and videos draw on a number of disciplinary and professional approaches, including law, the social sciences, the humanities, and journalism.  We use four case studies to analyze conflicts between nation building/national security strategies and those social and politics groups whose civil liberties are threatened by official legal and political strategies.  The case studies explore:   1) the legal dimensions of conflicts between the Cherokee Nation, American settlers, and the United Statesgovernment.  2) the legal consolidation of the Third Reich in Germany and its impact on Jewish people under its rule.  3) the legal construction of Israel’s military rule over the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the impact of military occupation on the Palestinian population.  4) the transformation of law and consequences of “official” justice within the United States in response to threats to national security.

FORMAT AND STYLE: Discussion of readings and videos, student presentations of group research projects.

REQUIREMENTS:Reading, watching videos, open-note exams, writing, researching and preparing group projects and presenting dramatizations and group projects in class.

 

310-12800-01,02   INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS   SS LA 1b, g

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Chip Gagnon, Muller 324, Ext. 4-1103.

ENROLLMENT:  27 per section.

PREREQUISITES:  None.

OBJECTIVES:  We examine and discuss issues of security ranging from security of the state to security of individuals. Issues include the future of war, terrorism, the global economy, nationalism, ethnic and religious conflict, and the role of the media in how we think about the international.  We also study how different perspectives lead us to see different worlds, looking specifically at realism, liberalism, global humanism, and theories of identity.

STUDENTS:  Open to all.

FORMAT AND STYLE:  Lectures, discussions, films.

REQUIREMENTS:  Attendance and participation in class discussions; readings for each class; three take-home exam essays.

GRADING:  Standard, based on above requirements.

 

310-12900-01, 02    INTRODUCTION TO GLOBAL STUDIES    SS LA 1b, g

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR: Peyi Soyinka-Airewele, Muller 314, Ext. 4-3508

ENROLLMENT:  30 per section

PREREQUISITES: None

OBJECTIVES: 1) To expose participants to critical global challenges such as the protection of human rights in a competitive marketplace, the resolution of conflicts emanating from identity politics, weapons proliferation, the use of natural resources, the globalization of capitalist production and struggles for global justice.  2) To provide fundamental analytical frames through which students can address the on-going debates on global history and the moral use of power, culture and development, and the internationalization of the struggle to protect the rights of oppressed populations, such as young victims of the global sex industry. 3) To undertake a comparative study of selected countries as a means of deepening our awareness of the histories, power, racial and social structures that affect peoples and societies. 4) To foster dialogue that will contribute to the personal growth of all participants.

FORMAT AND STYLE: Lectures/Discussions, Films.

STUDENTS: Open to all

REQUIREMENTS: Attendance, participation, 'discussion facilitation', end-of-section tests and exams, final project and essay.

GRADING: Based on above requirements.

 

310-14100-01     POWER: RACE, SEX AND CLASS     SS LA

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:Zillah Eisenstein, Muller 316, Ext. 4-3554

ENROLLMENT:45

OBJECTIVES:We will deal with the distribution of power in the U.S.according to economic class, sex, and race hierarchies.  We discuss what power is, where it comes from, where it is located, how it changes.  This involves the analysis of power in terms of issues of capitalism, globalism, patriarchy, and racism, as well as the specific issues they raise for policy making, persons, the family, and corporate power.  The analysis will hopefully help us understand the relations of power defining black working class women, white male workers, white middle class women, etc.  The premise of the course is that in order to understand capitalist society one must understand the racialized aspects of sexuality as a form of power, as well as the sexualized aspects of race.  Some specific topics discussed are: the changing aspects of the nation-state; Reagan/Clinton political discourses; the Gulf Wars; the Afghan War; the Chilean 1973 Coup; the changing realities of the middle/working class; the global racialized sexual division of labor; the O.J. Simpson trial, and so on.

STUDENTS:Majors and non-majors alike.

REQUIREMENTS:Students will read a variety of books and write two 7-page analytical papers.

 

310-14200-01,02        IDEAS AND IDEOLOGIES           SS LA 1a, 1b

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR: Charles, Venator Santiago, Muller 325, Ext. 4-5714

ENROLLMENT: 30 per section

OBJECTIVES:  Exploration of the philosophical and ideological roots of political life and political inquiry.  The course will address notions such as social responsibility, civil disobedience, conscientious objection, the French Revolution, Marxism, Fascism, Nazism, cultural politics, Western Liberalism, conservatism, international law and justice, human rights, patriotism, nationalism, homeland security, and identity and violence.

FORMAT AND STYLE: Three lectures a week.  MWF 8-9:00am and 9:00-10:00am

GRADING: Students are expected to write five short papers, to complete a journal,  and to actively participate in class.

 

310-14500-01 POLITICS OF IDENTITY:  CULTURE, RACE AND ETHNICITY

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Asma Barlas, Muller 312, Ext. 4-3557

ENROLLMENT:  28

PREREQUISITIES:  None; students who took 310-12000-01 (FYS) may not take this course for credit.

OBJECTIVES:  This course examines different constructions of race and ethnicity and how these impact people’s sense of themselves and of others.  It has two objectives: to foster a critical engagement with your own identity and to explore the obstacles to, and possibilities for, a dialogue beyond color lines.  Course materials raise a set of open-ended questions that you are free to answer for yourself, such as, what is race?  Does racial or cultural diversity threaten “national unity?”  What are the social and psychological implications of thinking in terms of Self/ Other, white/ black, similarity/ difference?  Why are people invested in the idea of (racial) difference, and how should one think about difference itself?  Do women and men have similar attitudes to race (and racism)?  Is being color-blind the same as being antiracist?  Is political and racial solidarity possible or even desirable?

Tests: Ruth Frankenberg, White Women, Race Matters; bell hooks, Black Looks; William Finnegan, Cold New World; and TBA.

FORMAT:  Discussion based.

 

310-23000-01   THE HOLOCAUST         SS LA

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Don Beachler, Muller 333, Ext. 4-1249

ENROLLMENT:  24

PREREQUISITES:  One social science or humanities course.

OBJECTIVES:  This course is an introductory survey of major issues related to the Holocaust.  We will examine the role of Anti-Semitism in Western Culture and the rise of the racial anti-Semitism that animated Nazi hatred of the Jews.  Among the topics to be covered are:  The rise of Hitler to power; the initial policies of persecution and dispossession of the Jews and Jewish responses to these policies; the evolution of Nazi policy from expulsion of the Jews to extermination;  the role of Jewish community leadership in attempting to cope with a murderous onslaught by establishing Jews in vital industries; the cooperation of many German bureaucrats in the final solution; the relationship of the Holocaust to the Nazi’s overall racial views and their war of racial supremacy in eastern Europe; the ongoing controversy over whether more Jews could have been rescued by the nations opposing Hitler and his regime.

 

310-30400-01  PARTY POLITICS    LA

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Don Beachler, Muller 333, ext. 4-1249

ENROLLMENT:  25

PREREQUISITE:  Three courses in the social sciences

OBJECTIVE:  To cover several important themes in American party politics.  The dynamics of presidential and congressional elections are explored.  The role of money in politics will be considered.  We will also cover the impact of the electoral college and the single member plurality electoral system.  Considerable attention will be devoted to the development of the party system from the 1930s to the present.  The thesis that elections play a decreasing role in American politics is investigated.  We will follow the 2004 presidential election closely, though this is not a primarily a current events class.

FORMAT AND STYLE:  Lecture and discussion

REQUIREMENTS:  Two exams, two short papers

GRADING:  Letter grades

 

 

310-31900-01  SELECTED TOPICS:  RACE AND US POLITICS 

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Alex Moon, Muller 308, Ext. 4-1258

ENROLLMENT:  28

PREREQUISITES:  Three courses in social sciences.

OBJECTIVES:  Course begins with a short section on the history of racial subjugation and civil rights struggle in the United States.  Next, we examine the role of the South's interest in racial subjugation in accounting for the history of party alignments, retarded welfare state development, and decline of the New Deal coalition.  We end with an examination of the role of attitudes towards race in accounting for citizen views on affirmative action,
taxation, welfare, and crime.

 

310-32900-01 SELECTED TOPICS:  THIRD WORLD POLITICS

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Asma Barlas, Muller 312, Ext. 4-3557

ENROLLMENT:  28

PREREQUISITES:  Three courses in social sciences.

OBJECTIVES:  The “Third World” is a term used to describe the underdeveloped countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America in contrast to the economically advanced first world countries, the U.S., Europe, and Japan.  In this course, we will examine both the concept of a “third world” and the social, political, and economic realities of people’s lives who live in it.  In particular, we will focus on the alienation, oppression, and marginalization that result from unequal economic development and globalization as well as from political repression within Third World societies.

STUDENTS:  Politics majors and minors and any student with an interest in the subject matter.

TEXTS/REQUIREMENTS: de Jesus, Child of the Dark;  Freire,  Pedagogy of the Oppressed;  others TBA.  Concept papers, exams, participation.

FORMAT: student-run, discussion based.

 

310-33000-01  EUROPEAN POLITICS

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Juan Arroyo, Muller 308, Ext. 4-3969

ENROLLMENT:  38

PREREQUISITES:  Three courses in social sciences or the equivalent.

OBJECTIVES:  We start with the question of European identity: do we only mean the EU or something more general? Who is included or excluded, and how is this decided? Can one identify specifically European values? The course provides further background by looking at some of the key European ideological/political variations that are less familiar in the U.S. (social democracy, Christian democracy, post-communism and the far right). Students will then examine national political systems. The emphasis will be on institutional and policy variations in how each country responds to the same needs or issues, such as economics, civil rights, immigration, and nationalism. Special attention will be paid to the problems facing Eastern European nations. Students will also consider Europe’s interaction with the rest of the world, both at the level of a union and of the individual countries. In their institutions and responses to such concrete problems, is there really a difference between "old" Europe and "new" Europe?  We will address tensions affecting the creation of a new geo-political entity called “Europe” out of many separate European countries. We consider the mechanisms and values of the European Union. The focus will be on the ideals of such a union, as contrasted with the reality of including different nations with very different policy priorities.

 

310-33100-01  LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS  SS LA

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Charles R. Venator Santiago, Muller 325, Ext. 4-5714

ENROLLMENT: 28

PREREQUISITES:  Three courses in social sciences or equivalent.

OBJECTIVES: This course will provide students with an introduction to the study of Latin America through a historical discussion of social and political social movements that have sought to challenge different forms of oppression.  The course will address Perry Anderson’s claim that the Latin American experience provides historical examples of resistance that can help us think about alternative forms of resistance to Empire.  The course also responds to a popular claim among U.S. scholars that social and political movements in Latin America have come to an end after the fall of the Soviet Union. 

FORMAT AND STYLE: Two lectures a week.  Mondays and Wednesdays.

GRADING: Students are expected to write several short papers and to actively participate in class.

 

310-33600-01   WHITENESS AND MULTICULTURALISM  SS LA

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Chip Gagnon, Muller 324, Ext. 4-1103.

ENROLLMENT:  20

PREREQUISITES:  Three courses in social sciences or equivalent. 

OBJECTIVES:  The course interrogates the concept of "Whiteness" and relates it to conceptualizations of multiculturalism, tackling these issues at the theoretical level but also comparatively at the empirical level.  Cases
include the United States as well as other western and nonwestern societies.  The goal of the course is to foreground the category of White, with the goal of recognizing the meanings of this category, the effect it has on White and non-White individuals, and the relationship of whiteness to power, factors that too often are invisible in discussions of race.  It also seeks to bring about a critical rethinking of the concept of multiculturalism by exploring how some forms of multiculturalism serve to reinforce the hegemony of whiteness.
STUDENTS: Open to all students
FORMAT AND STYLE: Discussion and lecture
REQUIREMENTS: A variety of readings, discussions, written reactions to readings.

 

310-34200-01  LIBERALISM AND MARXISM:  THEORIZING CAPITALISM, SLAVERY, AND PATRIARCHY         SS LA

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Zillah Eisenstein, Muller 316, Ext 4-3554

ENROLLMENT: 23

 

OBJECTIVES: This course intends to open students to thinking theoretically and within historical context.  We examine and query the relationship between liberalism and Marxism in terms of sexual, racial, and economic class hierarchies.  The course deals with the capitalist division of labor and its relation to the racist and patriarchal sexual division of labor in slavery.  The theorists studies are:  Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, JJ Rousseau, Karl Marx, JS Mill, Sri Aurobindo, Rosa Luxemburg, and Maria Stewart.  Our study looks to significant conflicts between Marxism and liberalism with in their theories of private property and individuality.  And, we look to the similarities within these theories on masculinist privilege and slave-trade relations.  Constructs of nature, natural, democracy, civilization, rationality, inclusivity, and humanity are explored.

FORMAT AND STYLE:  Lectures and some discussion

REQUIREMENTS:  Serious commitment to the readings and two 8-page analytically developed papers.

 

310-36600-01   ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS   SS LA

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Tom Shevory, Muller 315, Ext. 4-1347

ENROLLMENT:  28

PREREQUISITIES:  Three courses in social sciences or the equivalent.

OBJECTIVES:  Involves examination of a variety of issues related to environmental politics.  Considers the relationship between politics and economic growth from environmental perspectives.  Includes attention to the role of various political and economic systems in supporting or undermining environmental protection, with special attention to China.  Examines a variety of case studies:  the politics of global warming, the politics of recycling (in Chicago), the global politics of water, the politics of Love Canal.  Attention is given to questions of political action, including civil disobedience, in environmental contexts.  Environmental politics is recognized as existing within racialized and engendered contexts.

STUDENTS:  Open to all interested students who meet prerequisites.

FORMAT AND STYLE:  Lecture/discussion.

REQUIREMENTS:  Four take-home exams.  Books include:  Gelbaspan, Garbage Wars; Ward, Water Wars; Mazur, A Hazardous Inquiry; Economy, The River Runs Black; Merchant, Earthcare

GRADING:  Standard, based on requirements.

 

310-40100-01 SEMINAR:  COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL STUDIES   SS LA

TOPIC:  Classics of Colonialism

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Asma Barlas, Muller 312, Ext. 4-3557

ENROLLMENT:  15

PREREQUISITES:  Three courses in social sciences or the equivalent; permission of the instructor.

OBJECTIVES:  In this seminar, we will read some of the classic texts that deal with the social, economic, cultural, and psychological impact of colonization upon both the colonizer and the colonized.  One of the objectives of such an exercise in historical remembering is to learn how the European epistemologies of Othering that lay at the heart of the colonial encounter continue to shape Western political discourses and people’s sense of themselves and others even today.

TEXTS/REQUIREMENTS:  Aime Cesaire, Frantz Fanon, Albert Memmi, George Orwell, others TBA. Concept papers, journals, student presentations.

FORMAT:  Student run discussions, no lectures.

 

310-40100-02  SEMINAR  SS LA

TOPIC:  SOUTH AFRICA: MINEFIELDS OF MEMORY

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR: Peyi Soyinka-Airewele, Muller 314, ext. 4-3508

ENROLLMENT: 15

PREREQUISITES: Permission of the instructor and three courses in social sciences or the equivalent.

OBJECTIVES:  One of the most ambitious projects in human history is being written in post apartheid South Africa and participants in this course will study the tensions of collective memory in post-apartheid South African society and will debate the dilemmas confronting the nation. How, for instance, will the strategic erasure of memory vie for space with the re-signification of the past and the efforts to address an unconscionable crime against humanity? What are the best pathways toward reconciliation, social justice and recovery? What lessons does the South African experience offer other divided societies? The course will be facilitated by film, scholarly and political debate, guest lectures, ‘factional’ novels and comparative studies of other societies caught between multiple layers of traumatic violence and impunity. For interested students, SIT and other organizations are offering opportunities to visit or study in South Africa in summer 2005.

FORMAT: Discussion, guest lectures, visuals.

STUDENTS: Open to those who fulfill prerequisites and are interested in the subject matter.

GRADING: Based on attendance, participation, essays and discussion facilitation.

 

310-40200-01   SEMINAR   SS LA

TOPIC:  ELSEWHERES

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Zillah Eisenstein, Muller 316, ext. 4-3554

ENROLLMENT:  10

PREPREQUISITES:  Permission of instructor and three courses in social sciences or equivalent.

OBJECTIVES:  This course asks you tho think deeply about what you see and the way you see it; what you look at and what you don’t, and why.  I HOPE TO UNSETTLE THE INTELLECTUAL BORDERS THAT HAVE BECOME NATURALIZED AND NORMALIZED; SAME/DIFFERENCE; SELF/OTHER; NATURE/CULTURE; WHITE/BLACK; ETC.  The course has evolved out of, and along with  my newest research, travel , and writing related to the deconstruction and reconstruction of the so-called WEST/NON-WEST divide.  I ask students to rethink their thinking about what this divide invokes, both historically and contemporarily.  Some questions we will entertain are:  ARE THE ORIGINS OF DEMOCRATIC THEORY TRULY OR SIMPLY OF THE WEST?  WHAT ROLE DOES THE SLAVE TRADE PLAY IN THESE FORMULATIONS?  HOW DO THE EVENTS OF Sept 11, 2001, AND THEIR AFTERMATHS INFORM AND IMPACT THIS DISCUSSION?  Some of the authors we will read:  M. Bernal, G. Deleuze, A. Roy; A. Rashid, S. Rushdie, W.E.B. Dubois, H. Zinn, Z. Eisenstein.

REQUIREMENTS:  There will be two eight-page analytic papers and students are expected to participate fully in discussion each and every class.

 

310-40200-02  SEMINAR  SS LA

TOPIC:  WITNESSING INJUSTICE

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Beth Harris, Muller 310, ext. 4-3517

ENROLLMENT:  15

PREREQUISITES:  Permission of instructor and three courses in social sciences or the equivalent.

OBJECTIVES:  Students will read about the role of “witnessing injustice” in struggles for social and political transformation both within the United States and in other parts of the world.  The class will focus on the problem of being a “witness” in political and legal contexts where those who are abused have little or no access to legislative and judicial venues.  Students will explore the relationship between witnessing, judgment, justice and truth.  Assignments will include theoretical writings, empirical studies of witnessing, legal documents, documentaries, testimonials and scripts.  For final projects, students will serve as witnesses and present the
evidence of injustice to an audience with the goal of contributing to justice.  Students may work individually or in groups to create their final projects. 
STUDENTS:  This is an upper-level course designed for juniors and seniors who want to examine the relationship between law, politics and justice. Sophomores must get special permission from the professor.  Students must be willing to work in a committed learning community.

 

310-40200-03  SEMINAR  SS LA

TOPIC :  GAY POLITICS

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR :  Martin L. Brownstein, Muller 307, ext. 4-3544

ENROLLMENT :  10

PREREQUISITES :  Permission of instructor and three courses in social sciences or the equivalent.

OBJECTIVES :  To explore the transormative nature of sexuality and gay identity in contemporary politics.  This seminar will frame the politics of sexual identity within political theory.  It will trace the history of sexual identity during the latter twentieth century--both within the United States and globally.  We will study key modern  sexual/political controversies such as gay marriage, gays in military and gay adoption.

STUDENTS :  Upper-level Politics majors and minors are invited to enroll, as are other upper-level students with appropriate social-science background and serious interest in the politics of alternative sexualities. 

FORMAT :  One seminar meeting each week, with emphasis on discussion.

REQUIREMENTS :  Active participation weekly, approximately ten books, three papers.

GRADING :  Standard A – F grades will be employed.

 

310-40200-04  SEMINAR  SS LA

TOPIC :  POLITICS OF PRISONS: Theory and Practice of Punishment

3 CREDITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Alex Moon, Muller 308, Ext. 4-1258

ENROLLMENT: 10

PREREQUISITES:  Permission of instructor and three courses in social sciences or the equivalent.

OBJECTIVES:  This tutorial covers the theory and practice of punishment.  We begin with justifications and critiques of the idea of punishment.  In order to evaluate these theories and contemporary practice, we examine historical and current prison conditions.  The last section of the course will deal with the politics of prison construction and its intersection with the politics of race in the United States.

 

310-40500-01  INTERNSHIPS  NLA

VARIABLE CREDIT

INSTRUCTOR:  Don Bleachler, Muller 333, Ext. 4-1249

ENROLLMENT:  10.

PREREQUISITES:  Permission of instructor and three courses in social sciences or equivalent.

OBJECTIVES:  The Politics Department offers a wide variety of internship opportunities for students in different fields.  Faculty will work with students to find internships that meet their needs.  Internships are available in Ithaca and the surrounding areas.  Internship/Field Study can be used to meet both 300 and 400 level requirements.  Possible internship sites include: Tompkins County Environmental Management Council; Citizen's Environmental Coalition; Offender Aid and Restoration (working with jail inmates); Planned Parenthood; Assemblyman Marty Luster; Congressman Maurice Hinchey; Community Dispute Resolution Agency; Dispositional Alternatives (Youth Bureau); Red Cross; Human Services Coalition; Mayor's Office; City Attorney's Office; Prisoner's Legal Services; Loaves and Fishes; Alternatives Credit Union; Women's Community Center; Cornell Environmental Law Society; Eco-Justice Task Force; City of Ithaca, Dept. of Planning and Development; Tompkins County Planning Department; Tompkins County Solid Waste Management Division; Rune Hill Earth Awareness School; New York Public Interest Research Group; Science Center; Battered Women Task Force; GIAC; Downtown Business Council; Day Care Council; Human Rights Commission.

STUDENTS:  Interested students should see Tom Shevory, Muller 315, to register for an internship.

REQUIREMENTS:  Students receive one hour credit for every 60 hours of internship-related work.  Students are required to keep a journal and undertake internship-oriented research and writing.