Please consult the online course catalog for cross-listed courses and full course information.
The courses listed below are provided by Student Information Services (SIS). This listing provides a snapshot of immediately available courses within this department and may not be complete. Course registration information can be found at https://sis.jhu.edu/classes.
Column one has the course number and section. Other columns show the course title, days offered, instructor's name, room number, if the course is cross-referenced with another program, and a option to view additional course information in a pop-up window.
Course # (Section)
Title
Day/Times
Instructor
Room
PosTag(s)
Info
AS.100.295 (01)
American Thought since the Civil War
MW 10:00AM - 10:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AM
Burgin, Angus
Gilman 119
HIST-US, INST-PT
American Thought since the Civil War AS.100.295 (01)
A survey of major developments in American philosophy, literature, law, economics, and political theory since 1865. Among other subjects, readings will explore modernism and anti-modernism, belief and uncertainty, science and tradition, uniformity and diversity, scarcity and surfeit, and individualism and concern for the social good.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 10:00AM - 10:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AM
Instructor: Burgin, Angus
Room: Gilman 119
Status: Open
Seats Available: 9/20
PosTag(s): HIST-US, INST-PT
AS.100.295 (02)
American Thought since the Civil War
MW 10:00AM - 10:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Burgin, Angus
Gilman 119
HIST-US, INST-PT
American Thought since the Civil War AS.100.295 (02)
A survey of major developments in American philosophy, literature, law, economics, and political theory since 1865. Among other subjects, readings will explore modernism and anti-modernism, belief and uncertainty, science and tradition, uniformity and diversity, scarcity and surfeit, and individualism and concern for the social good.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 10:00AM - 10:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Instructor: Burgin, Angus
Room: Gilman 119
Status: Open
Seats Available: 6/10
PosTag(s): HIST-US, INST-PT
AS.100.445 (01)
Revolution, Anti-Slavery, and Empire 1773-1792: British and American Political Thought from Paine, Smith, and the Declaration of Independence to Cugoano, Wollstonecraft, and the Bill of Rights
MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Marshall, John W
Krieger 304
HIST-EUROPE, HIST-US, INST-GLOBAL, INST-PT
Revolution, Anti-Slavery, and Empire 1773-1792: British and American Political Thought from Paine, Smith, and the Declaration of Independence to Cugoano, Wollstonecraft, and the Bill of Rights AS.100.445 (01)
This seminar-style course will focus on discussing British and American political thought from the "Age of Revolutions", a period also of many critiques of Empire and of many works of Antislavery. Readings include Paine's Common Sense and Rights of Man, the Declaration of Rights, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers; works by Smith, Burke, and Wollstonecraft; and antislavery works by Cugoano, Equiano, Rush, Wesley, and Wilberforce.
This course investigates core questions of what constitutes political freedom, what limits on freedom (if any) should be imposed by authority, adn the relationship between freedom, responsibility, and political judgement. Spanning texts ancient, modern, and contemporary, we shall investigate how power inhabits and invigorates practices of freedom and consent. Among the questions we will consider: Can we always tell the difference between consent and coercion? Are morality and freedom incompatible? Is freedom from the past impossible? By wrestling with slavery (freedom's opposite) we will confront the terrifying possibility that slavery can be both embodied and psychic. If our minds can be held captive by power, can we ever be certain that we are truly free? The political stakes of these problems will be brought to light through a consideration of issues of religion, gender, sexuality, civil liberties, class and race.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 3:00PM - 3:50PM, F 3:00PM - 3:50PM
Instructor: Brendese, PJ Joseph
Room: Shaffer 301
Status: Open
Seats Available: 7/20
PosTag(s): INST-PT, POLI-PT
AS.190.180 (02)
Introduction to Political Theory
MW 3:00PM - 3:50PM, F 3:00PM - 3:50PM
Brendese, PJ Joseph
Shaffer 301
INST-PT, POLI-PT
Introduction to Political Theory AS.190.180 (02)
This course investigates core questions of what constitutes political freedom, what limits on freedom (if any) should be imposed by authority, adn the relationship between freedom, responsibility, and political judgement. Spanning texts ancient, modern, and contemporary, we shall investigate how power inhabits and invigorates practices of freedom and consent. Among the questions we will consider: Can we always tell the difference between consent and coercion? Are morality and freedom incompatible? Is freedom from the past impossible? By wrestling with slavery (freedom's opposite) we will confront the terrifying possibility that slavery can be both embodied and psychic. If our minds can be held captive by power, can we ever be certain that we are truly free? The political stakes of these problems will be brought to light through a consideration of issues of religion, gender, sexuality, civil liberties, class and race.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 3:00PM - 3:50PM, F 3:00PM - 3:50PM
Instructor: Brendese, PJ Joseph
Room: Shaffer 301
Status: Open
Seats Available: 12/20
PosTag(s): INST-PT, POLI-PT
AS.190.180 (03)
Introduction to Political Theory
MW 3:00PM - 3:50PM, F 1:30PM - 2:20PM
Brendese, PJ Joseph
Shaffer 301
INST-PT, POLI-PT
Introduction to Political Theory AS.190.180 (03)
This course investigates core questions of what constitutes political freedom, what limits on freedom (if any) should be imposed by authority, adn the relationship between freedom, responsibility, and political judgement. Spanning texts ancient, modern, and contemporary, we shall investigate how power inhabits and invigorates practices of freedom and consent. Among the questions we will consider: Can we always tell the difference between consent and coercion? Are morality and freedom incompatible? Is freedom from the past impossible? By wrestling with slavery (freedom's opposite) we will confront the terrifying possibility that slavery can be both embodied and psychic. If our minds can be held captive by power, can we ever be certain that we are truly free? The political stakes of these problems will be brought to light through a consideration of issues of religion, gender, sexuality, civil liberties, class and race.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 3:00PM - 3:50PM, F 1:30PM - 2:20PM
Instructor: Brendese, PJ Joseph
Room: Shaffer 301
Status: Open
Seats Available: 6/20
PosTag(s): INST-PT, POLI-PT
AS.190.180 (04)
Introduction to Political Theory
MW 3:00PM - 3:50PM, F 1:30PM - 2:20PM
Brendese, PJ Joseph
Shaffer 301
INST-PT, POLI-PT
Introduction to Political Theory AS.190.180 (04)
This course investigates core questions of what constitutes political freedom, what limits on freedom (if any) should be imposed by authority, adn the relationship between freedom, responsibility, and political judgement. Spanning texts ancient, modern, and contemporary, we shall investigate how power inhabits and invigorates practices of freedom and consent. Among the questions we will consider: Can we always tell the difference between consent and coercion? Are morality and freedom incompatible? Is freedom from the past impossible? By wrestling with slavery (freedom's opposite) we will confront the terrifying possibility that slavery can be both embodied and psychic. If our minds can be held captive by power, can we ever be certain that we are truly free? The political stakes of these problems will be brought to light through a consideration of issues of religion, gender, sexuality, civil liberties, class and race.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 3:00PM - 3:50PM, F 1:30PM - 2:20PM
Instructor: Brendese, PJ Joseph
Room: Shaffer 301
Status: Open
Seats Available: 5/20
PosTag(s): INST-PT, POLI-PT
AS.190.204 (01)
Ancient Political Thought
Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Bennett, Jane
Krieger 170
INST-PT, POLI-PT
Ancient Political Thought AS.190.204 (01)
The premise of this course is that a political perspective is tied up with a (meta)physical one, that is to say, with ideas about the nature of Nature and of the status of the human and nonhuman elements within it. How is the universe ordered? Who or what is responsible for it? What place do or should humans occupy within it? How ought we to relate to nonhuman beings and forces? We will read three different responses to such questions and show how they are linked to a particular vision of political life. In the first, the world into which human are born is ordered by gods whose actions often appear inexplicable: Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and Hippolytus by Euripedes will represent this tragic vision of the cosmos. In the second, Plato , in Republic and in Phaedrus, the forces of reason and eros play central and powerful roles. In the third, Augustine of Hippo presents a world designed by a benevolent, omnipotent God who nevertheless has allowed humans a share in their own fate. We end the course with Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy , which offers a perspective on these three visions of the world -- the tragic, the rational, and the faithful -- which will help us evaluate them in the light of contemporary political and ecological concerns.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Bennett, Jane
Room: Krieger 170
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/15
PosTag(s): INST-PT, POLI-PT
AS.190.220 (01)
Global Security Politics
MW 1:30PM - 2:20PM, F 1:30PM - 2:20PM
Deudney, Daniel Horace
Hodson 110
INST-IR, POLI-IR, ENGY-SCIPOL
Global Security Politics AS.190.220 (01)
Contemporary and emerging technologies of nuclear (weapons, terrorism, energy) outer space (missiles, missile defense, asteroids), biosecurity (bioweapons, pandemics, terrorism) and cyber (war, spying, surveillance) and implications for security, international politics, arms control, and political freedom.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 1:30PM - 2:20PM, F 1:30PM - 2:20PM
Instructor: Deudney, Daniel Horace
Room: Hodson 110
Status: Open
Seats Available: 2/20
PosTag(s): INST-IR, POLI-IR, ENGY-SCIPOL
AS.190.220 (02)
Global Security Politics
MW 1:30PM - 2:20PM, F 1:30PM - 2:20PM
Deudney, Daniel Horace
Hodson 110
INST-IR, POLI-IR, ENGY-SCIPOL
Global Security Politics AS.190.220 (02)
Contemporary and emerging technologies of nuclear (weapons, terrorism, energy) outer space (missiles, missile defense, asteroids), biosecurity (bioweapons, pandemics, terrorism) and cyber (war, spying, surveillance) and implications for security, international politics, arms control, and political freedom.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 1:30PM - 2:20PM, F 1:30PM - 2:20PM
Instructor: Deudney, Daniel Horace
Room: Hodson 110
Status: Open
Seats Available: 2/20
PosTag(s): INST-IR, POLI-IR, ENGY-SCIPOL
AS.190.220 (03)
Global Security Politics
MW 1:30PM - 2:20PM, F 3:00PM - 3:50PM
Deudney, Daniel Horace
Hodson 110
INST-IR, POLI-IR, ENGY-SCIPOL
Global Security Politics AS.190.220 (03)
Contemporary and emerging technologies of nuclear (weapons, terrorism, energy) outer space (missiles, missile defense, asteroids), biosecurity (bioweapons, pandemics, terrorism) and cyber (war, spying, surveillance) and implications for security, international politics, arms control, and political freedom.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 1:30PM - 2:20PM, F 3:00PM - 3:50PM
Instructor: Deudney, Daniel Horace
Room: Hodson 110
Status: Open
Seats Available: 12/20
PosTag(s): INST-IR, POLI-IR, ENGY-SCIPOL
AS.190.220 (04)
Global Security Politics
MW 1:30PM - 2:20PM, F 3:00PM - 3:50PM
Deudney, Daniel Horace
Hodson 110
INST-IR, POLI-IR, ENGY-SCIPOL
Global Security Politics AS.190.220 (04)
Contemporary and emerging technologies of nuclear (weapons, terrorism, energy) outer space (missiles, missile defense, asteroids), biosecurity (bioweapons, pandemics, terrorism) and cyber (war, spying, surveillance) and implications for security, international politics, arms control, and political freedom.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 1:30PM - 2:20PM, F 3:00PM - 3:50PM
Instructor: Deudney, Daniel Horace
Room: Hodson 110
Status: Open
Seats Available: 15/20
PosTag(s): INST-IR, POLI-IR, ENGY-SCIPOL
AS.190.308 (01)
Democracy and Dictatorship: Theory and Cases
TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Mazzuca, Sebastian L
Shaffer 300
INST-CP, POLI-CP
Democracy and Dictatorship: Theory and Cases AS.190.308 (01)
The course will cover three topics:
1) The conceptualization of political regime, democracy and authoritarianism. We will also consider neighboring concepts of other macro-political structures—government, state, and administration—in order to be able to demarcate what is distinctive about the study of political regimes.
2) The characterization of political regimes in most Western and some non-Western countries, in history and today. We will centrally focus on the so called “Waves of Democratization,” but we will also consider stories with less happy outcomes, that is, processes that led to the breakdown of democracies and the installation of repressive dictatorships.
3) The explanation(s) of the stability and change of political regimes around the world. Theoretical accounts of regime change come in many flavors—emphasis on economic versus political causes, focus on agents and choices versus structures and constraints, international versus domestic factors, among others. We will consider most of them.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Instructor: Mazzuca, Sebastian L
Room: Shaffer 300
Status: Open
Seats Available: 1/30
PosTag(s): INST-CP, POLI-CP
AS.190.310 (01)
The Global Color Line: American Segregation and Colonial Order
TTh 3:00PM - 4:15PM
Kripp, Jacob S
Bloomberg 276
POLI-AP, POLI-IR, INST-IR, INST-AP
The Global Color Line: American Segregation and Colonial Order AS.190.310 (01)
At the end of the 19th century racial segregation was imagined as a more than a part of Jim Crow in the U.S. South: it was imagined as a model for global order. Theorists of imperial rule crisscrossed the Atlantic to study “race relations” in the United States to bolster projects of colonial rule in Africa and the Pacific. This course will unpack the theories of spatial, racial, and urban control that underwrote these visions of global order as well as the long-lasting material impact of these ideas on cities across the globe. Together, we will also uncover the role of Baltimore, as the first city in the United States to try and implement a law upholding residential segregation, in these international relations. Other case studies include Charleston, Chicago, and Johannesburg and topics include the politics of rioting, racial capitalism, race war, gender and sexuality, and public health.
This course takes a “war and society” approach to the Korean War. It explores the ways in which the war entangled the United States and Korea, shaping society and politics in the US and on the Korean peninsula. The course looks at the Korean War “in the round,” as involving culture, gender, and economy as well as military operations, diplomacy and strategy. We will consider the causes, course and consequences of the war locally and globally and we will look at literature and film as well as history and social science. Properly understanding a war requires an interdisciplinary approach. Students will come away from the course not only knowing about the Korean War but also how to approach understanding any war in all its dimensions.
The study of public policy is the study of power—who has it, how it is acquired, and how policies themselves grant or diminish the power of individuals and groups. It is also the study of choice—how political actors make consequential decisions to deploy their resources in different ways, some of which enhance magnify their power while others diminish it. This class will examine the scholarly literature on how public policy is made and how it can be changed. We will also engage directly with actors seeking to change public policy, in order to integrate our academic knowledge with their practical experience.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Instructor: Teles, Steven Michael
Room: Gilman 277
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/15
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.190.322 (01)
Future of American Democracy
TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Lieberman, Robert C
Maryland 217
INST-AP, POLI-AP
Future of American Democracy AS.190.322 (01)
For the most part, observers of American politics have not considered the possibility that the American democratic regime might be at risk. But the unexpected election of Donald Trump in 2016 and the subsequent course of his presidency have occasioned a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety about whether democracy in the United States is at risk and whether American political institutions can withstand the stresses of contemporary politics. This course will use the Trump era to explore the conditions that seem to threaten the stability of the American regime. We will begin by exploring the political circumstances that led to Trump’s rise. We will then examine what we can learn from the experience of other countries about the conditions that make democracy either robust or fragile. Finally, we will consider how a set of contemporary political conditions in the United States — extreme partisan polarization, intense racial antagonism, growing economic inequality, and expanded executive power — contribute to the challenges facing American democracy today and in the future.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Instructor: Lieberman, Robert C
Room: Maryland 217
Status: Open
Seats Available: 3/20
PosTag(s): INST-AP, POLI-AP
AS.190.331 (01)
America and the World
TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Schmidt, Sebastian
Maryland 202
INST-AP, INST-IR
America and the World AS.190.331 (01)
This course is a survey of the unique position of the United States in world politics. We will cover the broader international relations literature on the dynamics of hegemony and empire, from work in the realist tradition to more critical approaches. The course will encompass security politics as well as the economic and monetary dimensions of American influence. Interested students must have at least completed one 100 or 200 level introductory course in international relations.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Instructor: Schmidt, Sebastian
Room: Maryland 202
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/20
PosTag(s): INST-AP, INST-IR
AS.190.334 (01)
Constitutional Law
W 3:00PM - 5:30PM
TerBeek, Calvin John
Mergenthaler 252
INST-AP, POLI-AP
Constitutional Law AS.190.334 (01)
Topics include executive and emergency power, racial and gender equality, and selected free speech and religious freedom issues.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: W 3:00PM - 5:30PM
Instructor: TerBeek, Calvin John
Room: Mergenthaler 252
Status: Open
Seats Available: 13/19
PosTag(s): INST-AP, POLI-AP
AS.190.355 (01)
Comparative Racial Politics
T 4:00PM - 6:30PM
Chung, Erin
Mergenthaler 366
INST-CP, POLI-CP
Comparative Racial Politics AS.190.355 (01)
This course surveys the major trends and approaches to the comparative study of race in political science and critically examines the link between race and politics. Topics include race and state formation, citizenship and national membership, immigration, racial regimes, and the political economy of race. Recommended Course Background: Courses in comparative politics, immigration, and racial politics.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 4:00PM - 6:30PM
Instructor: Chung, Erin
Room: Mergenthaler 366
Status: Open
Seats Available: 3/20
PosTag(s): INST-CP, POLI-CP
AS.190.370 (01)
Chinese Politics
MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Yasuda, John Kojiro
Gilman 219
INST-CP, POLI-CP
Chinese Politics AS.190.370 (01)
This course is designed to help students better understand the politics of China. Lectures will focus on the tools of governance that China has employed to navigate its transition from plan to market, provide public goods and services to its citizens, and to maintain social control over a rapidly changing society. The course will draw heavily from texts covering a range of subjects including China's political economy, social and cultural developments, regime dynamics, and historical legacies. Students interested in authoritarian resilience, governance, post-communist transition, and domestic will find this course particularly instructive.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Instructor: Yasuda, John Kojiro
Room: Gilman 219
Status: Open
Seats Available: 5/20
PosTag(s): INST-CP, POLI-CP
AS.190.379 (01)
Nationalism and the Politics of Identity
Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Kocher, Matthew A
Bloomberg 176
INST-PT, INST-CP, POLI-PT, POLI-CP
Nationalism and the Politics of Identity AS.190.379 (01)
Nationalism ties powerful organizations to political mobilization, territory, and individual loyalty. Yet nationalism is typically studied in isolation from other social formations that depend upon organizational – individual linkages. Alternative types of identity category sometimes depend similarly upon organizations that collect and deploy resources, mobilize individuals, erect boundaries, and promote strong emotional connections among individuals as well as between individuals and institutions. In this class, we study classic and contemporary works on nationalism, drawn from multiple disciplinary and analytic traditions, in the comparative context of alternative forms of identity. The focus of the class will be primarily theoretical, with no regional or temporal limitations.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Kocher, Matthew A
Room: Bloomberg 176
Status: Open
Seats Available: 11/18
PosTag(s): INST-PT, INST-CP, POLI-PT, POLI-CP
AS.190.398 (01)
Politics Of Good & Evil
M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Connolly, William E
Krieger 180
POLI-PT, INST-PT, POLI-RSCH
Politics Of Good & Evil AS.190.398 (01)
The Politics of Good and Evil examines comparatively a series of classical myths and modern philosophies concerning the sources of evil, the nature of goodness and nobility, the relations of culture to politics, nature and the gods, the degree to which any metaphysic or theological faith is certain, and so on. It is a course in “elemental theory” in the sense that each text pursued challenges and disrupts others we read. Often the reader is disrupted existentially too, in ways that may spur new thought. A previous course in political theory or a theoretical course in the humanities is advised. A high tolerance for theory is essential. Texts on or by Sophocles, Job, Genesis ("J" version), Augustine, Voltaire, Nietzsche, James Baldwin, W. Connolly and Elizabeth Kolbert form the core of the class. Assignments: 1) One 12 page paper and a second 5-7 page paper, both anchored in the readings; 2) a class presentation on one text; 3) regular attendance and quality participation in class discussions.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Connolly, William E
Room: Krieger 180
Status: Open
Seats Available: 7/14
PosTag(s): POLI-PT, INST-PT, POLI-RSCH
AS.190.405 (01)
Food Politics
TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Sheingate, Adam
Shriver Hall Board Room
ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR
Food Politics AS.190.405 (01)
This course examines the politics of food at the local, national, and global level. Topics include the politics of agricultural subsidies, struggles over genetically modified foods, government efforts at improving food safety, and issues surrounding obesity and nutrition policy. Juniors, seniors, and graduate students only. Cross-listed with Public Health Studies. A student who takes AS.190.223 (Understanding the Food System) in Summer 2021 cannot also enroll in this course.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Instructor: Sheingate, Adam
Room: Shriver Hall Board Room
Status: Open
Seats Available: 1/19
PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR
AS.190.408 (01)
Sovereignty: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Issues
T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Schmidt, Sebastian
Wyman Park N325F
INST-IR, POLI-IR
Sovereignty: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Issues AS.190.408 (01)
This seminar provides an in-depth exploration of the concept of sovereignty as the central organizing concept of international relations. Rather than taking it for granted as a framework that simply individuates state actors in international politics, we will explore the history of its emergence in colonial and imperial relations and trace its interactions with phenomena such as nationalism, globalization, territoriality, and intervention. The course is open to undergraduates with previous coursework in political science.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Schmidt, Sebastian
Room: Wyman Park N325F
Status: Open
Seats Available: 11/15
PosTag(s): INST-IR, POLI-IR
AS.190.423 (01)
Planetary Geopolitics
Th 4:30PM - 7:00PM
Deudney, Daniel Horace
Krieger 307
Planetary Geopolitics AS.190.423 (01)
With the tools of geopolitics, course explores political debates over globalization of machine civilization and changes in scope and pace, space and place, and role of nature in human affairs.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: Th 4:30PM - 7:00PM
Instructor: Deudney, Daniel Horace
Room: Krieger 307
Status: Open
Seats Available: 7/17
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.190.432 (01)
Afropessimism
T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Spence, Lester
Mergenthaler 366
POLI-IR, INST-PT, INST-AP
Afropessimism AS.190.432 (01)
Afropessimism represents a critical body of thought that takes as its fundamental premises two ideas, the Black is the Slave, and in order to end that ontological condition the world must end. In this course, we will interrogate the key readings associated with this body of thought as well as responses.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Spence, Lester
Room: Mergenthaler 366
Status: Open
Seats Available: 10/15
PosTag(s): POLI-IR, INST-PT, INST-AP
AS.190.438 (01)
Violence and Politics
M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Ginsberg, Benjamin
Shriver Hall 104
INST-IR, POLI-IR
Violence and Politics AS.190.438 (01)
This seminar will address the role of violence–both domestic and international–in political life. Though most claim to abhor violence, since the advent of recorded history, violence and politics have been intimately related. States practice violence against internal and external foes. Political dissidents engage in violence against states. Competing political forces inflict violence upon one another. Writing in 1924, Winston Churchill declared–and not without reason–that, "The story of the human race is war." Indeed, violence and the threat of violence are the most potent forces in political life. It is, to be sure, often averred that problems can never truly be solved by the use of force. Violence, the saying goes, is not the answer. This adage certainly appeals to our moral sensibilities. But whether or not violence is the answer presumably depends upon the question being asked. For better or worse, it is violence that usually provides the most definitive answers to three of the major questions of political life--statehood, territoriality and power. Violent struggle, in the form of war, revolution, civil war, terrorism and the like, more than any other immediate factor, determines what states will exist and their relative power, what territories they will occupy, and which groups will and will not exercise power within them. Course is open to juniors and seniors.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Ginsberg, Benjamin
Room: Shriver Hall 104
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/15
PosTag(s): INST-IR, POLI-IR
AS.190.469 (01)
White Supremacy
T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Brendese, PJ Joseph
POLI-PT, INST-PT
White Supremacy AS.190.469 (01)
This is a writing intensive, advanced undergraduate political theory seminar on racial formation. Specifically, the course examines white supremacy in politics and theory. We shall take a critical-historical approach to theorize the continuities and changes in whiteness over time. For instance, what power hierarchies and political goals has white identity been fashioned to advance historically? By studying whiteness as race---and not the absence thereof--we will take up questions of how to best understand and contest contemporary manifestations of white supremacy in environmental racism, imperialism, discourses of race war and replacement theory, and ongoing neo-colonial, biopolitical and death-dealing necropolitical projects. Building on this work, we will investigate the white disavowal of existential crises of climate change and pandemic threats within apocalyptic modes of whiteness---ways of thinking and acting where the end of white supremacy is imagined and lived as the real end of the world.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Brendese, PJ Joseph
Room:
Status: Open
Seats Available: 13/15
PosTag(s): POLI-PT, INST-PT
AS.190.499 (02)
Senior Thesis
David, Steven R
Senior Thesis AS.190.499 (02)
Seniors also have the opportunity to write a senior research thesis. To be eligible to write this thesis, students must identify a faculty sponsor who will supervise the project.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times:
Instructor: David, Steven R
Room:
Status: Open
Seats Available: 4/5
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.190.499 (03)
Senior Thesis
Marlin-Bennett, Renee E
Senior Thesis AS.190.499 (03)
Seniors also have the opportunity to write a senior research thesis. To be eligible to write this thesis, students must identify a faculty sponsor who will supervise the project.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times:
Instructor: Marlin-Bennett, Renee E
Room:
Status: Open
Seats Available: 4/5
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.190.499 (07)
Senior Thesis
Chung, Erin
Senior Thesis AS.190.499 (07)
Seniors also have the opportunity to write a senior research thesis. To be eligible to write this thesis, students must identify a faculty sponsor who will supervise the project.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times:
Instructor: Chung, Erin
Room:
Status: Open
Seats Available: 4/5
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.190.499 (11)
Senior Thesis
Simon, Josh David
Senior Thesis AS.190.499 (11)
Seniors also have the opportunity to write a senior research thesis. To be eligible to write this thesis, students must identify a faculty sponsor who will supervise the project.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times:
Instructor: Simon, Josh David
Room:
Status: Open
Seats Available: 4/5
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.190.499 (12)
Senior Thesis
Han, Hahrie
Senior Thesis AS.190.499 (12)
Seniors also have the opportunity to write a senior research thesis. To be eligible to write this thesis, students must identify a faculty sponsor who will supervise the project.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times:
Instructor: Han, Hahrie
Room:
Status: Open
Seats Available: 4/5
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.191.318 (01)
Empires of Capital: The British and American Empires in Global Historical Perspective
TTh 3:00PM - 4:15PM
Johnson, David Kenneth
Maryland 104
POLI-IR, INST-IR, INST-GLOBAL, INST-CP, INST-ECON
Empires of Capital: The British and American Empires in Global Historical Perspective AS.191.318 (01)
What is the relationship between capitalism and empire in modern times? The history of capitalism and the history of imperialism are often treated as separate subjects. By contrast, this course begins with the hypothesis that modern empires were the progenitors of capitalist globalization, and that capitalism has been an international or geopolitical system from its earliest inceptions. The purpose of the course, then, is to engage students in a dual exploration of the political economy of modern empires and the geopolitical dimensions of modern capitalism, with a focus on Britain and the United States. We will draw our course readings from a diverse array of theoretical and historical sources on capitalism, empire and global political economy. The overarching aim of the course is to excavate how imperial histories can illuminate the nature of contemporary globalization.
American Leviathan: Conservative State-Building in the United States
W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Frydl, Kathleen Jill
Krieger 306
INST-AP
American Leviathan: Conservative State-Building in the United States AS.191.334 (01)
udging by institutional capabilities, modern conservative state-building is the most ambitious project ever undertaken by the American government, or perhaps any government in history.
This seminar-style course will trace the emergence and unique features of this American Leviathan, encompassing the institutions dedicated to enforcement and national security as well as conservative visions of social policy. Across these different domains, we will look at how and why these programs and agencies manage to claim resources and attract unrivaled political support. From metaphorical wars waged against drugs or crime to a military-industrial complex unprecedented in its scale, we will look for patterns of conservative state-building in the presentation of mission, leadership style, and operation. Drawing on literatures and relying on insights from the disciplines of history and political science, this seminar will encourage and employ a broad analytical skill set in order to critique, and to better understand, the remarkable record amassed by the Leviathan of 20th century conservative state-building.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Frydl, Kathleen Jill
Room: Krieger 306
Status: Open
Seats Available: 5/20
PosTag(s): INST-AP
AS.191.341 (01)
Race and (Anti) Racism in Neoliberal America
TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Taylor, Ben B
Krieger 302
POLI-AP, POLI-PT, INST-AP
Race and (Anti) Racism in Neoliberal America AS.191.341 (01)
This course examines the concept of race in historical and theoretical perspective. “Race” is, as are all concepts, historically constituted, and racism has taken a variety of distinct forms since the earliest emergence of “racial orders.” We are especially concerned in this course with the forms of racism that have characterized the United States in the period since the late 1960s, when the dismantling of formally institutionalized white supremacy and the concomitant adoption of explicitly anti-racist values at the level of the official state policy immediately preceded institutional transformations typically captured under the label of “neoliberalism,” transformations characterized by explosions in wealth and income disparity as well as the slow dismantling of the post–World War II Keynesian/service/welfare state. Why, to put the question straightforwardly, does “race” remain one of the most effective principles of political organization despite anti-racism being the official ideological position of the United States and given the return of levels of inequality not seen since the Gilded Age? If there can be no politics in a capitalist society that is not a “class politics,” then what class politics does the current emphasis on racial disparities abet? Do anti-racist politics present a challenge to the political regime that has emerged since the 1960s, or is it part and parcel of the logic of expanding inequality, the same expanding inequality that continues to maintain racial disparities? This course will begin to address these and related questions by examining the historical development of black politics in the post–civil rights era, concluding with a consideration of contemporary debates regarding race and education, incarceration, and wealth distribution/reparations.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Instructor: Taylor, Ben B
Room: Krieger 302
Status: Open
Seats Available: 19/25
PosTag(s): POLI-AP, POLI-PT, INST-AP
AS.191.343 (01)
Global Political Ecology: Colonialism, Capitalism, and Climate Change
Global Political Ecology: Colonialism, Capitalism, and Climate Change AS.191.343 (01)
The ecological crisis currently underway calls into question political theories that emphasize concern with the ‘human’ above all else. Yet this is the hallmark of humanist political thought, encompassing notions of freedom, equality, property, knowledge, agency, time, and so on. This course rethinks ‘politics’ (theory and modes of action) from the more-than-human perspective of political ecology in conjunction with Black, Indigenous, feminist, and postcolonial thought. We will challenge political concepts that justify the domination of nature for human flourishing, and consequently question prevalent notions of what counts as ‘human’ and what as ‘nature’. We will situate anthropocentric politics within histories of capitalism and colonialism and explore the interconnections between human and non-human domination through such processes as ecological imperialism, racial capitalism, and environmental racism. Toward the end of the course, we will explore recent scholarship on modes of political action suitable for building alternate, just futures for all forms of life in a more-than-human world.
Political Development in the Americas AS.191.351 (01)
This course examines the development of political institutions in the American continent from a comparative and a historical perspective (19th and 20th century), addressing a series of questions, such as: why are some states in the Americas able to provide public goods while others are not? Why are some states democracies while others are dictatorships? The course seeks to situate national developments in a broader regional trajectory and identify long-term patterns of political development. Emphasis is placed on state structures, regimes, and social dynamics in the region and in particular countries within the region (Argentina, Chile, Mexico, United States). The course will also introduce students to research tools in comparative and American politics.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Casas, Julieta
Room: Mergenthaler 252
Status: Open
Seats Available: 17/19
PosTag(s): POLI-CP, POLI-AP, INST-CP
AS.191.360 (01)
Revolution: Political Theory and Practice on the French Left 1789-1968
W 3:00PM - 5:30PM
Bean, Conor J
Greenhouse 113
POLI-PT, INST-PT, INST-CP
Revolution: Political Theory and Practice on the French Left 1789-1968 AS.191.360 (01)
What is revolution and how is it done? Who is up to the task of revolution: the nation, working class, the colonized? How do radicals learn from the mistakes of past revolutions and evaluate the possibility of revolution in their own time? In this course, we will follow a series of debates in political theory in France from forerunners to the French Revolution (Rousseau, Sieyes) through to the aftermath of May 1968 revolts (Kristeva, Badiou, Foucault). The goal of the course is to map these theoretical debates alongside historical events in French history to which these theories are in some way responses and interventions. Besides the two major historical events bookending the course, we will also chart a course through 19th Century and 20th Century developments in the theories of popular sovereignty, violence, decolonization, and revolution (looking to theorists like Blanqui, Sorel, Fanon, Beauvoir, Sartre, and Althusser among others). Beyond the particular French examples discussed in the course, we will also focus on broader questions about the relationship between political theory and history, and we will discuss a variety of approaches to making sense of theory and history alongside one another. No previous familiarity with political theory or French history is expected for this course. Readings in French history will be assigned alongside works of political theory to help contextualize the material.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: W 3:00PM - 5:30PM
Instructor: Bean, Conor J
Room: Greenhouse 113
Status: Open
Seats Available: 6/12
PosTag(s): POLI-PT, INST-PT, INST-CP
AS.196.301 (01)
Social Entrepreneurship and Democratic Erosion
MW 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Warren, Scott L
Gilman 186
Social Entrepreneurship and Democratic Erosion AS.196.301 (01)
This course will explore the dynamics and interplay between social entrepreneurship, social change, and policy. Students will explore this specific moment in our democracy, and contextualize erosion happening in international and domestic contexts. The course will examine the intersection between social change and policy change, examining how the two concepts intersect while focusing on the end goal of systems change and furthering democracy. Students will examine different case studies of social transformation (or proposed social transformation) from across the United States and world. Guest speakers will include diverse practitioners of social entrepreneurship who think about long-term pathways to transformative social change, and dynamic policymakers. While the course will include case studies on broader domestic and international challenges and models of democratic erosion, a larger focus will be on specific local social problems and solutions. This will manifest through class discussions and a final project based on the surrounding community.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Instructor: Warren, Scott L
Room: Gilman 186
Status: Open
Seats Available: 3/20
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.310.340 (01)
Development and Social Change in Rural China
T 3:00PM - 5:30PM
He, Gaochao
Mergenthaler 266
INST-GLOBAL, INST-CP
Development and Social Change in Rural China AS.310.340 (01)
This course will survey the major issues of development and social change in rural China since 1950s. These issues will be addressed in chronological order. They include land ownership and land grabbing, organization of rural economic, political, and social life, rural elections and village governance, development strategies, urban-rural relationship in resource allocation, rural modernization strategies in regard to irrigation, clean drinking water, electricity supply, hard paved road, education and rural medical service, women’s rights and family life, rural consumption, and etc. This course will prepare students, both empirically and analytically, to understand what happened in rural China from 1949 to the present, and how we can engage in policy and theoretical discussions based on what we learn.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 3:00PM - 5:30PM
Instructor: He, Gaochao
Room: Mergenthaler 266
Status: Open
Seats Available: 3/15
PosTag(s): INST-GLOBAL, INST-CP
AS.362.216 (01)
The Politics of Black Cultural Production
M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Spence, Lester
Hodson 203
The Politics of Black Cultural Production AS.362.216 (01)
Rather than being a niched form of popular culture, black music, films, and art has in some ways become synonymous with American culture. These productions and the workers associated with them have been used to sell everything from life insurance to computer chips. But accompanying these cultural productions are a whole host of questions regarding racial authenticity, the reproduction of urban space, and various gender/class dynamics, that have gone relatively understudied. In this class we will seek to trace the politics of the production, circulation, and consumption of black cultural production.
