Political Theory and Methodology

Introduction to social justice theory and practice. Course engages theoretical and empirical connections between social justice concerns and capitalism, governance and religion. Several social justice frameworks are explored and critiqued. We analyze tensions and opportunities for furthering the common good within existing societal systems in both the US and the world. 

This course covers the major classics of political thought from Western antiquity through the Medieval period. It explores the origins of western political philosophy in ancient Greece in the writings of Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle, and then charts its further development in Christendom in the works of St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas.

This course covers the major classics of political thought of the Modern Era through the 19th century. It begins with the Renaissance writings of Machiavelli and moves through the political works of such modern thinkers as Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Nietzsche, and Mill.

Constitutional liberal democracy has established itself as the only legitimate form of political organization in the developed West. This course examines contemporary theories and critiques of liberal democracy.

Why does democracy matter? What is your democratic civic duty? Using multiple disciplinary lenses, and engaging with collaborators across the University and beyond, students will interrogate perhaps the biggest challenge of our time: how to shore up liberal democratic norms within a diverse and fractured society. While this course will meet in person weekly, significant learning will take place asynchronously online.

This course explores seminal American political writings ranging from the colonial and Founding periods to the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics include varieties of American liberalism and conservatism, and theories of American democracy, classical republicanism, and constitutionalism. The goal is to see how American political thinking evolved in historical context to better understand the American political experiment.

This course explores resistance, social movements, and revolutions in a global context. We examine contemporary forms of resistance, explore strategies of social movements, and study revolutionary leaders as a means of understanding how collective action can lead to change. 

This course explores the relationship between politics and identity through the lens of intersectionality. We study a range of collective identities including nationality/citizenship, class/status, race/ethnicity, gender/sexuality, religion/belief, migration/indigeneity, and political interests to understand how identities are formed, framed, and practiced.