This course introduces students to how the Supreme Court works as a legal institution, by examining landmark civil liberties decisions of the Court within their political and historical contexts. As an Integrative Experience course, this course also connects knowledge and skills from multiple sources, helps build oral communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills, and strengthens students' analytical understanding of how the Supreme Court works. Satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-POLSCI majors.

Not available at this time.

This course evaluates the role of international ethical norms in regulating the practice of organized political violence. We will be gin by considering how to think analytically about the effects of ethical norms on international policy-making. We next consider the origins and evolving dynamics of the laws of war, explore why political actors so often violate these rules and the conditions under which they follow them, and examine the political and ethical dilemmas involved in enforcing them.

The media have been known as the "fourth branch" of the American political system, and not without reason. This course examines the changing role of media in American politics. Key issues include how media shapes citizens' thinking about politics, how politicians and citizen activists try to advance their goals through media, and how media outlets themselves shape what is considered news.

Principles of American foreign policy with an emphasis on the historical, political, and administrative sources of contemporary policies. Analysis of the foreign policy-making process with specific reference to illustrative case studies. (Gen.Ed. SB)

Recommended: POLISCI 101 or 121 or equivalent course.

An overview of city politics in the U.S. Focus on understanding urban political economy, including its relation to state and federal governments, the complexity of relations between public and private sectors, the structure of city governments, and decision-making processes. Includes such topical issues as education, housing, and economic development.

Description not available at this time

The roles of intergovernmental organizations in the management of shared problems, particularly collective security, economic relations, use of common areas or resources, promotion of human rights, and protection of the environment. Contrasts the regional integration effort pursued in the European Community and the looser cooperation pursued through the UN system. POLISCI 121 or equivalent strongly recommended.

This course explores the landscape of opinion on a variety of political topics to develop an understanding about how the public thinks about issues and why they think the way they do. It also examines how peoples' opinions influence their behavior, and whether or not political leaders follow the "will of the public" or manipulate public opinion to achieve their own aims.

UMass Women into Leadership (UWiL) is a series of hands-on workshops designed to educate participants on the existence and causes of gender disparities in public service, to provide leadership training to prepare participants to enter public service careers, and to offer mentoring and networking programs to help launch public service careers.