DEPARTMENT OF POLITICS
All Politics Department courses are open to all students who meet the prerequisites. For information on requirements for any Politics major or minor, please see Naeem Inayatullah, Politics Department, 325 Muller Faculty Center.
For course schedule: Spring 2016 course schedule
Please note: Not all Spring 2016 classes are included here. Please check the Spring 2016 Schedule for a complete list of Politics offerings.
POLT10100.01, 02 U.S. POLITICS GE:1 Self & Society, GE h: Historical Perspective, (ICC) - Humanities, Liberal Arts, (ICC) - Social Sciences, Social Sciences, Themes: Power and Justice, World of Systems, Identities, and Inquiry, Imagination and Innovation.
3 Credits
INSTRUCTOR: Carlos Figueroa, Muller 319, Ext. 4-7381
ENROLLMENT: 25 per section
PREREQUISITES: None
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This introductory course explores the development of the U.S. political system, the values it is based on, how it works, how politics and policy intersect within it, and its impact upon individuals and groups alike. We engage politics (especially in relation to the presidency & the 2016 electoral campaign season) through the notion of power while taking a two prong approach: an American political development (APD) perspective that pays close attention to how institutions and policies emerge historically & evolve over time and within particular contexts, and a Media perspective that takes new communication technologies seriously in how U.S. citizens engage with, and are informed by the evolving political & economic systems and broader global environment. We explore the role religion and/or morality has played since the founding period and into 21st Century political life. We also give special attention to the development of the federal national system, including the historical power struggles over nation-building and related national political identity formation. In sum, through the lens of power we explore the historical development of U.S. politics, and how individuals & groups have participated in shaping/reshaping our complex/dynamic representative democratic and neoliberal capitalist system through new communication technologies. Lastly, we put the key themes covered in class to work via a classroom Presidential Electoral Campaign Simulation during the second half of the semester.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Lecture/Discussion; group work; SKYPE sessions; guest speakers; films/documentaries; in-class group policy debates; and simulation activities (town hall meetings, Meet the Press session, political commercial, and candidate debates)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: 6 short quizzes; simulation based writings (memos/articles) and oral arguments
POLT 10300-01 and 02: The United States and the World: Politics of Empire*
3 credits
INSTRUCTOR: Asma Barlas
ENROLLMENT: 22 students per section
PREREQUISITES: None
COURSE DESCRIPTION: (*This is the revised description for POLT 10300 and differs from the one in HOMER. Please note the new focus of this course!*) The starting premise of this course is that the U.S. is not just a big power or a superpower but an empire and, in that capacity, exercises a certain kind of power in the global political economy. To this end, we will analyze both the nature of U.S. power and its consequences, beginning with a political history and analysis of how it evolved into an empire and what this means for its commitment to human rights, justice, and democracy. We will also examine the political consensus in the U.S. that allows it to carry out clandestine and overt wars, repression, and torture abroad and will end by discussing the violence and uprisings to which U.S. policies have given rise around the world. The point of such a focus is to help you call into question your own understanding of, and relationship to, the world as a U.S. citizen.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: This is primarily a discussion based class in which students will be required to share their own perspectives on the texts. These include Noam Chomsky, Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings (2013); Richard Immerman, Empire for Liberty(2012); and Lila Rajiva, The Language of Empire (2005). Others TBA.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: Regular attendance and participation in class, mid-term and final concept papers, and three journals.
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POLT 12200-01 & 02 POLITICS AND SOCIETY
3 credits
INSTRUCTOR: Patricia Rodriguez
ENROLLMENT: 26
PREREQUISITES: none
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This introductory politics course explores the impact of social groups and societal dynamics on the politics of diverse countries, as well as the influence of politics and the state on society. We will examine how and to what extent political institutions, individual and collective political action, and historical circumstances are capable of shaping political and social developments in different countries and regions of the world. The key questions to be examined in the course are: are there different versions of democracy, and why does it matter? why/when do democracies emerge but also breakdown? who has power, and why is state power often wielded in repressive manners in different types of political systems? What role do international actors and citizen activism play in reconstructing governments, and with what consequences internally and globally? What impact does citizen activism have in global and national political and economic issues, particularly conflict resolution, democratic rule, and climate change issues? In the process of examining these questions, we will also learn about the history and political processes and events in a variety of countries, such as Chile, Sudan (and South Sudan), Venezuela, and others. Students will analyze current world political events that are (and are not so) covered in the mainstream media. The course will be lecture and discussion based, as we tackle the diverse topics and perspectives that surround political conflicts in these countries. Students are required to attend at least one lecture/presentation or film showing outside of class, and encouraged to keep up with world events.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: lecture/discussion/group projects
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: tba
POLT 12800-01, 02 INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SS LA 1b, g; ICC Social Sciences; Theme: World of Systems; Theme: Power & Justice
3 credits
INSTRUCTOR: Chip Gagnon, Muller 324, Ext. 4-1103
ENROLLMENT: 25
PREREQUISITES: None
STUDENTS: Open to all.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: 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. This course counts as a Comparative and International Studies course for the purposes of the Politics major, the Concentration in International Studies, and the International Politics minor.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Lectures, discussions, films.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: Attendance and participation in class discussions; readings for each class; three take-home exam essays. Readings in Course Reader, about $20, purchased in Politics Dept office starting the first day of classes
POLT 12900 -01, 02 Explorations in Global & Comparative Studies SS LA 1b, g; ICC Social Sciences; Theme: Identities; Theme: Power & Justice
3 Credits
INSTRUCTOR: Peyi Soyinka-Airewele, 314 Muller, ext. 4-3508
ENROLLMENT: 25
PREREQUISITES: None
COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course examines global issues, including culture and identity formation, globalization, human rights, the environment, and militarism. National and international public policies are examined critically and policy alternatives are explored, as are individual responses and responsibilities. The course utilizes country case studies, international simulations, literature and film and emphasizes global awareness.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Lectures, discussions, and collaborative work.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: Regular attendance, full participation, presentations, tests, essays and projects. Open to those who are interested in the subject matter.
POLT 14200-01, 02 IDEAS AND IDEOLOGIES (ICC Themes: P&J, WoS; Perspectives: H, SS. Gen Ed: SS LA 1a, 1b)
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Kelly Dietz, Muller 323, Ext. 4-3581
ENROLLMENT: 28 per section
COURSE DESCRIPTION: What is your idea of the “good life” or a “perfect world”? How do you think we might achieve it, and why? Where do your ideas about the world and your own life come from? How do your individual beliefs relate to broader systems of thought we call ideologies? This course encourages self-reflection on these questions as we explore ideological perspectives on political, social and economic life. Through readings, film, art, music and your own observations, the course focuses on key political ideas and the ideological debates over their meaning and practice. We examine concepts such as freedom, equality, democracy, human nature, security, order, authority, community and nation. We consider how these and other political ideas developed historically, why certain ideas endure, and why they remain important to understanding politics today. In doing so we also pay close attention to how political ideas reflect, reinforce, and challenge relations of power, especially in terms of class, race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. The course encourages critical reflection on where your views about the world come from, and which ideas you take for granted. Encounters with views and theories different from our own help bring to light our unconscious assumptions and also what is distinctive about our political views. Ideological perspectives the course explores include liberalism and conservatism (and their “neo” variants), socialism, anarchism, and fascism.
COURSE FORMAT AND STYLE: mostly discussion, occasional lecture
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRA: active participation, weekly blog contributions, midterm and final take-home essay
POLT 14400-01, 02 Global Political Thought LA SS 1 h
3 credits
INSTRUCTOR: Evgenia Ilieva
ENROLLMENT: 25
PREREQUISITES: none
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Critical engagement with a range of themes and concepts integral to the development of western political thought: identity and difference, freedom, democracy, community, authority, domination, liberation, violence, power and knowledge. Our goal is to analyze how certain key texts in political theory have traveled, been translated, or appropriated across various national and geographical boundaries; to use these texts to help us ask a wide range of questions about ourselves and the world we share with others. More broadly, our aim is to appreciate the role of non-western thought within the western tradition and recognize the presence of the western ideas within non-western thought.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Discussion
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: Participation, short papers.
POLT 19501-01, 02 FOOD AND WATER: CHALLENGES TO SUSTAINABILITY
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Juan Arroyo, Muller 316, Ext. 4-3969
ENROLLMENT: 25 per section
PREREQUISITES: None
COURSE DESCRIPTION: You may think you know what it means to eat and drink sustainably. This course will challenge students by examining different, often conflicting, definitions of sustainability. Even if we do agree to eat and drink differently, we face challenges in changing individual behavior and social patterns in more sustainable directions. This course will look at the many actors and obstacles involved in defining and shaping our choices regarding food and water, especially those in political power. Political systems privilege certain ideas and also specific interests. Economic structures and patterns limit our choices and give certain actors more resources than others. Cultural, and sociological backgrounds structure our options for political action. Students will be challenged to understand the potential for changing patterns of consumption and production, examining their own choices, their communities, and the socio-political system in which we are embedded.
COURSE FORMAT AND STYLE: Discussion/lecture; expert presentations
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING: Readings, active participation in class discussions, 2-3 short papers (4-6 pages), 1 medium paper (5-7 pages), 1 final paper (7-10 pages)
POLT 30600-01 US FOREIGN POLICY LA SS
3 credits
INSTRUCTOR: Don Beachler, Muller 333, ext. 4-1249
ENROLLMENT: 28
PREREQUISITE: Three courses in the social sciences or equivalent.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course will include an historical overview of U.S. Foreign Policy, but is focused on contemporary issues such as the war with Al Qaeda, the occupation of Iraq, and U.S. Middle East policy. Attention will be paid to the politics of intervention in cases of genocide. We will also consider the normative issues surrounding the cost and consequences of being a super-power/empire.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Lecture and Discussion
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: Read 5-6 book and assigned articles. There will be a two exams (mid-term and a final exam) and a research paper.
POLT 34006-01 REBELLIONS: VIOLENCE AND PEACE
3 credits
INSTRUCTOR: Patricia Rodriguez
ENROLLMENT: 22
PREREQUISITES:Three courses in the social sciences
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course examines the interplays between rebellion, violence, and peace in the context of popular uprisings against colonialism, foreign occupation, racial and gender discrimination, dictatorships and so-called democracies. Why do those ‘doing rebellion’ take violent strategies and not a non-violent approach, and vice versa? How much do elements in either path generate social change, or are suppressed? What political, social and cultural processes (capitalism, socialism, nationalism, hegemonies, power dynamics & struggles, discriminations) in different countries (South Africa, India, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Chile) during different historical periods incite violence, and which facilitate negotiation and transformation via non-violent social practice? Is there room for nonviolence at a time of conflict and economic crises? How can we interpret some groups’ role in negotiating different types of violence and peace? We read first hand narratives by survivors of racial, ethnic, political, and gender-based violence in and after the twentieth century.
Required books: Darrell Wanzer-Serrano. 2015. New York Young Lords and the Struggle for Liberation (Temple U. Press).
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: lecture/discussion/group project
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: tba
POLT 34009-01: ST: The Politics of Humanitarian Intervention
3 credits
INSTRUCTOR: Asma Barlas
ENROLLMENT: 22 students
PREREQUISITES: Three courses in the social sciences
COURSE DESCRIPTION: A salient feature of the U.S.'s relationship to other countries is that it seems to be permanently split between violence and charity. Thus, on the one hand, the U.S. continues to fight small and large, and open and covert, wars against many countries; on the other hand, it also intervenes in many countries in the name of humanitarian causes; that is, in the name of doing "good." In this course, we will examine such claims from a critical perspective by asking what makes an intervention good, whether the U.S. has a right and responsibility to protect the citizens of other countries, and what the sources are of some of the crises that allow the U.S. to intervene in the first place. As examples of intervention we will take instances of genocide, food aid, and protecting women and human rights in Muslim countries.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: This is primarily a discussion based class and students will be required to share their own perspectives on the texts we will be reading. TBA.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: Regular attendance and participation in class, mid-term and final concept papers, and three journals.
POLT 34050-01 SELECTED TOPICS: POLITICS IN EAST ASIA CP/IR SS
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Kelly Dietz, Muller 323, ext. 4-3581
ENROLLMENT: 20
PREREQUISITES: Three courses in the social sciences
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course examines political relations in and with East Asia, focusing in particular on China, the Koreas and Japan. Through non-fiction, literature and film, the course pays special attention to everyday experiences of life and popular struggle as lenses on broader political and historical relations. Doing so allows us to gain a richer understanding of the range of actors, relations and processes that constitute “international relations.” We also explore how our own lives intertwine with political relations in the region. This involves examining the United States’ historical and contemporary relations with East Asia. We interrogate dominant representations of the region that Americans are exposed to—the “Orient” or “Far East,” the “China Threat”; North Korea as a “rogue nation” and source of “nuclear crisis”; and Japan as unwavering ally and beloved source of anime—in order to understand how these shape perceptions and political relations. Some of the issues and questions the course focuses on include: How should we interpret claims that China poses a “threat” to the US—and why is the US characterized as a threat to China, or North Korea? How do popular and official memories of imperialism, colonialism and war shape relations in the region today? Why are China and Japan (and Korea and Japan, and Russia and Japan) fighting over tiny, often uninhabited islands—and why is the United States involved in these disputes? How likely is the reunification of North and South Korea, or China and Taiwan? Why does the US have so many military bases in the region? How might environmental problems in the region, which transcend borders, be addressed given interstate rivalries and the emphasis on economic growth? What is the relationship between politics in East Asia and immigration to the United States and elsewhere? How does thinking about politics in state-centric terms shape our understanding of relations in and with East Asia, and what are some other ways of understanding international relations?
COURSE FORMAT AND STYLE: mostly discussion, occasional lecture
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING: active participation, weekly blog contributions, midterm and final take-home essay
POLT 34200-01 Liberalism and Marxism LA SS 1 h
3 credits
INSTRUCTOR: Evgenia Ilieva
ENROLLMENT: 20
PREREQUISITES: Three courses in social sciences or equivalent.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: In this course we will seek to understand how liberalism and Marxism have grappled with the tragedy of modern progress. Themes will include: the nature and purpose of critique, the socio-political legacy of the Enlightenment, the philosophy of history, mass culture and the fate of art, the politics of liberation, and possibilities for social and political change.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Discussion
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: Participation, 4 papers.
POLT 35000 – 01 ST: Theory: Writing and Criticism LA SS
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Naeem Inayatullah, Muller 325, Ext. 4-3028
ENROLLMENT: 15
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Grasping the technical, political, theoretical, and psychodynamic motivations for writing. Understanding the meaning, purpose, and practice of criticism. Students will evaluate their written work via collaborative and individual assessments of others’ work. Together, we will seek to write and criticize well as a means to living meaningfully.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: willingness to accept alternative teaching methods.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: Plenty of reading, writing, and discussion
POLT 36600-01 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
3 credits
INSTRUCTOR: Tom Shevory, 315 Muller Faculty Center, Ext. 4-1347
ENROLLMENT: 14 per section
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Course considers an array of environmental topics from multiple political perspectives: feminist environmentalisms, environmental justice, climate change, food and agriculture, water scarcity, radical action, species depletion. Course topics will be connected to screenings and events connected to the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival. Possible texts include: Mark Hertsgaard, Heat Wave, Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell, Jiang Rong, Wolf Totem, Michael Pollan, Omnivore’s Dilemma, Craig Rosebraugh, Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: Speaking for the Earth Liberation Front, Kenneth Murchison, The Snail Darter Case.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Class will consist of reading, lecture, and class discussion.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: Three papers on class readings will be required.
POLT 40106-01 Seminar: CATHOLICS AND POLITICS LA SS
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Juan Arroyo, Muller 316, Ext. 4-3969
ENROLLMENT: 15
PREREQUISITES: three courses in the social sciences, of which at least one must be in POLT and junior/senior standing; or permission of instructor
COURSE DESCRIPTION: The Catholic Church is one of the oldest continuous institutions in world history. 30% of US voters are Catholic, as are 5 out of 9 Supreme Court Justices. Both 2012 vice-presidential nominees were Catholics. Christian Democratic parties (inspired by Papal doctrines on labor and economics) are major players in political systems of many countries. These are just a few indicators of the Church’s prominence in the political world. This course will guide students as they analyze the politics of the Catholic Church and the politics within the institution. The course has three major themes. The first is a review of the history of Church and state, in Europe, the US and in the rest of the world, including key events and controversies. This part examines the changing balance between church and state in different cultures and times. The second theme looks look at the positions and internal debate regarding the Church’s understanding of prominent policies, such as birth control, abortion, health care, marriage, economic justice, the environment and foreign affairs. Finally, we will also consider the internal politics of the church, and how different interests might be affected by changes in the societies of the world. The spring semester comes just a few months after the Synod that contemplated changes in the doctrine of marriage. The class will simulate the discussions that took place.
COURSE FORMAT AND STYLE: Some presentations; primarily a discussion of documents and analysis.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING: Readings, active participation in class; one in-class presentation of your first 8-12 page paper. 2nd and final paper (8-12 pages); participation in simulation.
POLT 40106 –01 SEM: CONSPIRACY POLITICS, THEORY AND RESEARCH LA SS
3 credits
INSTRUCTOR: Peyi Soyinka-Airewele, 314 Muller, ext. 4-3508
ENROLLMENT: 10
PREREQUISITES: Junior/senior standing; three courses in the social sciences, of which at least one must be in POLT. 1-4 credits; or permission of instructor
STUDENTS: Open to those who fulfill requirements and are very interested in the subject matter.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Students will explore the world of conspiracy politics and theory as comprising a gateway to some of the most urgent questions about the nature of political systems and influential social institutions, corporate power, race, faith, money, fear, exclusion and disposability today. With the emergence of an internet-based political universe, citizenry perceptions of conspiracy politics has become increasingly influential in shaping the actions of political leaders, voting behavior, public mobilizations and responses to oppression and deprivation, and the escalation of sociopolitical global tensions and violence in local and global arenas. Participants will conduct research into socio-political mysteries and crises that fall within Barkun’s classification of Event Conspiracies, Systemic Conspiracies, and Super-conspiracies. Cases will be drawn from within the United States and other parts of the global system and may include an investigation of September 11 controversies, the HIV virus and Ebola debate, assassinations, genocide, militarization and alien landings, terrorism, population control and natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Participant seminar presentations and Roundtable discussions.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: Regular attendance, active participation, primary research, presentations, essays and major final paper
POLT 40200.01 SEM: AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICS AND POLITICAL THOUGHT AP/PT SS LA
3 Credits
INSTRUCTOR: Carlos Figueroa, Muller 319, Ext. 4-7381
ENROLLMENT: 10
PREREQUISITES: Junior/senior standing; three courses in the social sciences, of which at least one must be in POLT. 1-4 credits; or permission of instructor
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This seminar explores the main bases (intellectual ideas/thought) and substance of politics among black Americans and the relation of black politics to the American political order. This course has two objectives. On the one hand, we will explore the thrust and logic of the strategic political discourse of black Americans in the late 19th century and through the early 21st century. We will examine central debates among black American intellectuals and activists with focus on: 1) identifying issues considered and positions taken; 2) locating those debates in relation to American intellectual history and the changing political situation of the black population; 3) analyzing unifying principles that undergird Afro-American political thought & intellectual discourse; 4) examining the connections of social theory and political behavior among black Americans and, perhaps most important, 5) trying to establish links between debates in the past and the present political and ideological configuration in ways that can inform strategic thinking. On the other hand, with the above in mind, we will explore 1) the pertinent issues and social relations since 1865 as a way of helping to make sense of the present, and 2) to develop criteria for evaluating political scientists’ and others’ claims regarding the status and characteristics of black American political activity. A core presumption underlying the course’s organization is that black American politics originated as an autonomous enterprise only after the Civil War and the extension of citizenship rights to the freed-people. It was only then that the general black population could participate in public civic action. Therefore, the course concentrates on the period from Emancipation to the present.
The course also presumes that notions of the boundaries of black American politics – that is, what types of programs and activities qualify as black politics – are themselves the products of political and ideological processes. Consistent with that perspective, we will examine how contemporary ideas of what constitutes black politics emerged and how notions of black political endeavor have evolved over time. We will not assume conventional narratives that restrict the scope of properly black political activity to uniformly racial projects such as protest, assimilation, nationalism, accommodation, inclusion, electoral participation or the pursuit of equality. Certainly, many of those projects can reasonably be understood as expressing elements of black American politics, but they are either too abstract or too narrow to help us understand the practical dynamics and concrete social relations that have driven black Americans’ political concerns and activities. Moreover, such conventional narratives too frequently reduce to a focus on debates between individuals labeled as leaders, which often in effect denies the existence of politics (and political thought) among black people. We will insist on providing a more varied and diverse account of the scope and trajectories of black political thought and politics since Reconstruction.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Discussion; group work; SKYPE sessions; guest speakers; films/documentaries
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: close readings, participation, weekly reflective journaling, 2 short critical papers, final seminar paper, and present research as part of a student conference on Black Politics/Political Thought in April or May