FYS: Free Speech and Its Limits
AS.001.135 (01)

Freedom of speech is a core value for democracies -- and for universities, in which the freedom to challenge accepted beliefs is essential to advancing knowledge. The 1st Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and of the press, as do the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the European Convention on Human Rights. But like other rights, my right to freedom of speech may conflict with yours, or with other important rights or societal objectives. As a result, freedom of speech cannot be (and in practice never is) unlimited. In this First-Year Seminar, we will be asking why freedom of speech has been accorded such importance, and how and why it might legitimately be limited, in politics, in business, in everyday life, and in universities, looking both at the United States and at other liberal democracies. Topics will include asking what should count as speech beyond the mere utterance of words; appropriate protections or limitations for hate speech and other offensive speech and for falsehoods; where the boundary between legitimate protest and unlawful infringement on the rights of others should be drawn; whether free speech includes an affirmative right to be informed, or an affirmative right to be let alone; appropriate regulations for social media; and campus speech codes.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Katz, Richard Stephen
• Room: Mergenthaler 266
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

FYS: The Power of Speech: Law, Politics, and the Humanities
AS.001.137 (01)

What don’t we do with words? Even silence makes manifest the power of speech. This First-Year Seminar will introduce you to some of the ways that power has been described and thought about. In addition to studying arguments that connect the power of speech to what it means to be human, we will explore various attempts both to protect and limit speech, taking into consideration not only how we do things with words but how words affect us. Topics that will be covered include freedom of speech, censorship, hate speech, silence, and storytelling. We will read texts in philosophy, politics, law, and literature, and we will watch at least one film.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: MW 3:00PM - 4:15PM
• Instructor: Culbert, Jennifer
• Room: Gilman 134
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

FYS: Master of the Senate
AS.001.150 (01)

This First-Year Seminar offers an opportunity to think through the nature of political power, political institutions, and political ambition. We make our way through a single book: Robert Caro, Master of the Senate, an account of Lyndon Baines Johnson’s dozen years in the US Senate, from 1949 to 1961. Through lively discussion centered around this completely riveting text, the class will explore central questions in politics (democratic and non-democratic) that reverberate far beyond the bygone world of the midcentury Senate.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: T 10:30AM - 1:00PM
• Instructor: Schlozman, Daniel
• Room: Gilman 413
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

FYS: Citizenship and Society in the United States
AS.001.151 (01)

Popular sovereignty — the idea that the people rule themselves — has been heralded as one of the preeminent innovations of the modern world. And over the course of the last two hundred or so years, a rising tide of nations committed themselves to the principles of popular sovereignty. Yet in recent years, the inevitability, soundness, and very viability of "rule by the people" has come into question. On the one hand, popular uprisings around the globe have rejected the decisions and practices of governing elites on the grounds that they are out of touch with the people’s needs. On the other hand, these uprisings have resurrected and strengthened authoritarian practices and have facilitated the erosion of liberal rights long considered instrumental to preserving democracy. The result — turmoil, unrest, and uncertainty about what the future holds — is evident from Venezuela to England, Turkey to the United States. Can popular sovereignty survive? In what form will the people rule, and at what cost? This First-Year Seminar is an investigation into the idea and practice of popular sovereignty in the contemporary United States. We will explore this topic by actively consulting theory and empirical research in the social sciences. We will supplement this with our own research on the 2022 election, media coverage of issues, popular attitudes about democracy, and popular representation in government and by interest/advocacy groups. Additionally, this class is organized as a collaboration between two first-year seminars: one at Johns Hopkins, the other at Williams College. Over the course of the semester, the two seminars will meet frequently via videoconference to share research and discuss readings and ideas. This is intended to broaden the perspectives brought to bear on our investigation generally and, specifically, to allow each group to share real time research on the politics of the region in which their respective institutions are located.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
• Instructor: Perrin, Andrew Jonathan
• Room: Mergenthaler 266
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

FYS: The Psychology of Mass Politics in the U.S.
AS.001.168 (01)

Taught during the election season of 2022, this First-Year Seminar looks at the deeper psychological motivations of the American electorate. We begin by discussing the meaning of democracy and establishing a common understanding of American democracy specifically, placing the current moment into historical and international context. We then gradually dismantle the "folk theory" of democracy that assumes all voters are rational and economically-minded. Instead, we apply theories from social psychology to understand some essential questions about voter behavior. Why do people vote? How do they understand politics? How are their feelings and judgments affected by their own identities, biases, information sources, and by the messages they hear from leaders? Why have Americans grown so polarized? What role do racial and gender-based prejudice play? Is American politics headed toward a more violent future? We use evidence-based research from political science, sociology, and psychology to answer these questions.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: W 3:00PM - 5:30PM
• Instructor: Mason, Lily Hall
• Room: Mergenthaler 266
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

FYS: The Right to the City - Race, Class, and Struggle in Baltimore
AS.001.177 (01)

Over the past decade, cities have become more important than ever before. Protests against policing, against increasing inequality, as well as attempts to rollback societal shifts all have the city as its core. While some suggest these struggles represent larger struggles over the relationship between labor and capital, Black Radical thinkers connect these struggles to anti-black racism. In the wake of one world challenging movement – Black Lives Matter – and one world altering crisis – the Covid-19 pandemic - this First-Year Seminar will reflect critically on these two traditions of thinking about the city by using Baltimore as a case study. This class will be taught alongside similar courses at other universities, offering students a deep dive into Baltimore.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: Spence, Lester
• Room: Gilman 134
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

Western Political Theory
AS.190.122 (01)

An introductory overview of Western Political Theory, starting with Plato and the Greeks, moving through Machiavelli and the moderns, and ending up with a brief look at current political theory. We will analyze a range of theoretical styles and political approaches from a handful of thinkers, and develop our skills as close readers, efficient writers, and persuasive speakers.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: MWF 10:00AM - 10:50AM
• Instructor: Phillips, Charles
• Room: Mergenthaler 252
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 14/19
• PosTag(s): POLI-PT, INST-PT

Latin American Politics and Society in Comparative and Historical Prespective
AS.190.306 (01)

The seminar will introduce students to the political and economic trajectories of Latin America as a whole and of individual countries, including Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Special attention will be paid to the long-term trajectory of the political regime (democracy versus dictatorship) and of economic development (variations in GDP per capita). Competing theories, from economic dependence to historical institutionalism, will be examined for their contribution to our understanding of Latin America’s relative economic backwardness and low quality democracies.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Mazzuca, Sebastian L
• Room: Gilman 132
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/15
• PosTag(s): INST-GLOBAL, INST-CP, POLI-CP

The University and Society
AS.190.471 (01)

In the 20th century, American universities became the envy of the world, leading in most categories of scholarly productivity and attracting students from every nation. In recent years, though, American higher education has come to face a number of challenges including rapidly rising costs, administrative bloat, corporatization and moocification. We will examine the problems and promises of American higher education, the political struggles within the university and the place of the university in the larger society. Upper classes and Grad Students only.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Ginsberg, Benjamin, Kargon, Robert H
• Room: Shaffer 100
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 2/15
• PosTag(s): INST-AP, POLI-AP

Frantz Fanon's Global Politics: Racism, Madness, and Colonialism
AS.190.476 (01)

“The abnormal is he who demands, appeals, and begs” – Frantz Fanon. This course explores the writings and politics of Frantz Fanon, the radical anti-colonial author, psychiatrist, diplomat, and revolutionary who inspired decolonial and anti-racist struggles across the globe. We will situate Fanon’s writings in the global historical context of decolonization, and ask how they can illuminate contemporary questions of madness, racism, fascism, and empire. In addition to reading Fanon’s work, we will trace his influence on radical social movements, political thought, and global politics, and explore the limits and promises of culture, art, and film for social transformation.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: F 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Kripp, Jacob S
• Room: Krieger Laverty
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 12/15
• PosTag(s): POLI-PT, POLI-IR, INST-PT

Thesis Colloquium
AS.190.498 (01)

Open to and required for Political Science majors writing a thesis. International Studies majors writing a senior thesis under the supervision of a Political Science Department faculty member may also enroll. Topics include: research design, literature review, evidence collection and approaches to analysis of evidence, and the writing process. The course lays the groundwork for completing the thesis in the second semester under the direction of the faculty thesis supervisor. Students are expected to have decided on a research topic and arranged for a faculty thesis supervisor prior to the start of the semester. Seniors. Under special circumstances, juniors will be allowed to enroll. Enrollment limit: 15.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: W 9:30AM - 12:00PM
• Instructor: Marlin-Bennett, Renee E
• Room: Gilman 35
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 6/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Arab-Israeli Conflict (IR)
AS.191.335 (01)

The course will focus on the origin and development of the Arab-Israeli conflict from its beginnings when Palestine was controlled by the Ottoman Empire, through World War I, The British Mandate over Palestine, and the first Arab-Israeli war (1947-1949). It will then examine the period of the Arab-Israeli wars of 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982, the Palestinian Intifadas (1987-1993 and 2000-2005); and the development of the Arab-Israeli peace process from its beginnings with the Egyptian-Israeli treaty of 1979, the Oslo I and Oslo II agreements of 1993 and 1995, Israel's peace treaty with Jordan of 1994, the Road Map of 2003; and the periodic peace talks between Israel and Syria. The conflict will be analyzed against the background of great power intervention in the Middle East, the rise of political Islam and the dynamics of Intra-Arab politics, and will consider the impact of the Arab Spring.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: T 4:00PM - 6:30PM
• Instructor: Freedman, Robert
• Room: Krieger 302
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 16/20
• PosTag(s): INST-IR, INST-CP

Queer Marxism
AS.191.346 (01)

Ever since queer theory emerged as a distinct field of critical inquiry in the early 1990s, its relationship to Marxism has been fraught. Marxian insistence on the primacy of production relations in structuring social reality has turned many queer theorists away from Marx in search of an understanding of how regimes of sexual normalcy operate to conserve a world of gender binarism organized into heterosexual domestic units. However, in the course of the last decade, the global social crisis has left many critics reexamining the relevance of Marx for grappling with issues of sexuality, reproduction and normalization, culminating in a seminal work by Kevin Floyd proposing a path Towards a Queer Marxism. If normality is not a fact of nature but a value relation that is socially produced, as queer theory has insisted from its inception, then Marx’s account of how our societies produce value might prove useful for queer theorizing. This course explores an emerging field of scholarship appearing under the banner of Queer Marxism. It examines theories, mechanisms and processes of social production and reproduction as they apply to family structures, sexual subcultures, child rearing, organization and distribution of labor, and gender embodiment, all the while having in mind the difficult questions about the possibilities for social change in a wider material world in which we are situated.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: TTh 9:00AM - 10:15AM
• Instructor: Vinketa, Darko
• Room: Gilman 377
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 8/18
• PosTag(s): POLI-PT, INST-PT

Democracy, Autocracy and Economic Development: Korea, Indonesia, and Myanmar
AS.192.404 (01)

East Asia’s “miracle growth” has not gone hand in hand with a decisive move toward democracy. The course explores the reasons why democratization proceeds slowly in East Asia, and seems to be essentially decoupled from the region’s fast-paced economic growth. The course is divided into three parts. Part I introduces the specifics of East Asia’s economic development strategies as well as key concepts of democracy, authoritarianism and military rule and the tensions between these theories and the East Asian experience. Part II will focus on the economic and political development experiences of Korea, Indonesia and Myanmar in light of what discussed in Part I. Finally, Part III presents lessons emerging from the comparison of Korea’s, Indonesia’s and Myanmar’s economic and political developmental trajectories.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Dore, Giovanna Maria Dora Maria Dora
• Room: Mergenthaler 266
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 13/18
• PosTag(s): INST-CP, INST-ECON

Brazilian Culture & Civilization
AS.211.394 (01)

Did you know that Brazil is very similar to the United States? This course is intended as an introduction to the culture and civilization of Brazil. It is designed to provide students with basic information about Brazilian history, politics, economy, art, literature, popular culture, theater, cinema, and music. The course will focus on how Indigenous, Asian, African, and European cultural influences have interacted to create the new and unique civilization that is Brazil today. The course is taught in English, but ONE extra credit will be given to students who wish to do the course work in Portuguese. Those wishing to do the course work in English for 3 credits should register for section 01. Those wishing to earn 4 credits by doing the course work in Portuguese should register for section 02. The sections will be taught simultaneously. Section 01: 3 credits Section 02: 4 credits (instructor’s permission required). No Prereq. THERE IS NO FINAL EXAM.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: De Azeredo Cerqueira, Flavia Christina
• Room: Gilman 219
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/15
• PosTag(s): INST-NWHIST, INST-GLOBAL, GRLL-ENGL

China, Southeast Asia, and U.S. National Security
AS.310.305 (01)

The global political and security landscape of the 21st century will be shaped by the rivalry between two superpowers -- China and the U.S. For the foreseeable future, the geographic focus of that contest will be Southeast Asia and the surrounding maritime space, particularly the South China Sea. Southeast Asia is a complex, highly differentiated region of ten-plus nations, each with its own unique history and relationship with China. This course will introduce Southeast Asia as a key region -- geographically, economically, and strategically -- often overlooked by policymakers and scholars. It will also focus on the craft of national security strategy as the best tool for understanding the multi-sided competition, already well underway involving China, the U.S., and the Southeast Asian states.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Ott, marvin C
• Room: Mergenthaler 266
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 2/15
• PosTag(s): INST-CP, INST-IR

Eurasia's Transformation and the Global Implications
AS.310.318 (01)

Eurasia, stretching from the Western Europe across Russia, Central Asia, and China to the Pacific, is by far the largest continent on earth, with a massive share of global population, economic output, and key natural resources. It has been traditionally Balkanized. Yet since the late 1970s, due to China’s modernizations, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and a series of global geo-economic shocks, the nations of this Super Continent have become increasingly interactive, creating fluid new trans-regional political-economic patterns that remain remarkably unexplored. This course explores the critical junctures that made Eurasia the dynamic, growing colossus that it is becoming today, as well as the global implications, from a unique problem-oriented perspective. It looks first at the developmental and political challenges confronting China, Russia, and key European states as the Cold War waned, how the key nations coped, and how they might have evolved differently. It then considers the new challenges of the post-Cold War world, and how national and local leaders are responding today. Particular attention is given, in this problem—centric approach, to the challenges that growing Eurasian continental connectivity, epitomized in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, are creating for US foreign policy and for the grand strategy of American allies in NATO, Japan, and Korea. Note: Some familiarity with Eurasian history and/or politics is recommended

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: T 4:30PM - 7:00PM
• Instructor: Calder, Kent
• Room: Krieger 300
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/18
• PosTag(s): INST-CP, INST-GLOBAL

Labor Politics in China
AS.310.326 (01)

This course explores the transformation of labor relations in China over the past century. It will cover the origins of the labor movement, the changes brought about by the 1949 Revolution, the industrial battles of the Cultural Revolution, the traumatic restructuring of state-owned enterprises over the past two decades, the rise of private enterprise and export-oriented industry, the conditions faced by migrant workers today, and recent developments in industrial relations and labor conflict. The course is designed for upper division undergraduates and graduate students. Cross-listed with Sociology and International Studies (CP).

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Days/Times: W 4:30PM - 7:00PM
• Instructor: He, Gaochao
• Room: Gilman 119
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 2/15
• PosTag(s): INST-CP, INST-GLOBAL, INST-ECON

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