This course will focus on the writings of Black political thinkers in the Americas, Africa and Europe. Through critical examination of the conditions against, and contexts within, which the discourses of these thinkers are situated, this course hopes to arrive at some understanding of the principles, goals and strategies developed to contest and redefine the notions of citizenship (vis-a-vis the imperatives of race/racism and the global colonial formation), humanity, development, democracy, and freedom.

This course addresses the federal Constitution and civil liberties. Topics include the authority of the courts to read new rights into the Constitution; equal protection of the laws and affirmative action for racial minorities, women, gays, and non-citizens. Also, freedoms of expression, association, and the press. Emphasis on the appropriateness of different methods of interpreting law. Case method.

"Black Metropolis" refers to the more than half a million black people jammed into a South Side ghetto in Chicago at mid-twentieth century that featured an entrenched black political machine, a prosperous black middle class, and a thriving black cultural scene in the midst of massive poverty and systemic inequality. This course will follow the political, economic, and cultural developments of what scholars considered to be the typical urban community in postwar United States.

This course examines the dynamics and causes of protest, rebellion, and revolution. Topics include the three 'great' revolutions - the French, Russian, and Chinese - as well as such social science theories as moral economy, rational choice, resource mobilization, political culture, and relative deprivation. Attention will be devoted to peasant protest and elite responses to resistance movements.

This course explores propaganda techniques and mobilization for war. Drawing on recent comparative and historical examples, we will analyze war mobilization strategies and different forms of propaganda, its control, and dissemination from a variety of cross-cultural perspectives. We will address the following questions: Why is propaganda necessary? What is the media's relationship to state propaganda efforts? How do states control information in an age of 'citizen journalists' armed with cell phones? How do activists and protest movements contest state propaganda?

Through readings authored by cannonical thinkers such as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Nietzsche, Burke, but also more contemporary thinkers reflecting on the emergence and practices of modern state power and discourses, we will trace the development of key political concepts such as sovereignty, the "science" of politics, natural rights, rationality, and tradition, in order to weigh the promise and peril of each idea.

What is freedom? What makes freedom political? How has political freedom been understood over time? What are the obstacles on the way to freedom? Is freedom something we even desire? This course will introduce students to the concept of political freedom through diverse readings that include Greek tragedy, modern political thought, the Book of Exodus, Dostoyevsky's Grand Inquistor, and social science research.

This course is a survey of contending approaches to the study of conflict and cooperation in world politics. Examines key concepts--including balance of power, imperialism, collective security, deterrence, and interdependence--with historical examples ranging from the Peloponnesian War to the post-cold war world. Analyzes the emerging world order.

This course is a survey of contending approaches to the study of conflict and cooperation in world politics. Examines key concepts--including balance of power, imperialism, collective security, deterrence, and interdependence--with historical examples ranging from the Peloponnesian War to the post-cold war world. Analyzes the emerging world order.

Offers an overview of the American political system and the theories of those who both celebrate and criticize it. Focuses on the institutions of American politics, including the Constitution, the presidency, Congress, the courts, parties, elections, interest groups, and movements seeking political change. Also includes a theoretical focus: a critical examination of the varieties of liberalism, conservatism, pluralism, and democracy that inform the practice of American politics.