This course aims to introduce student to normative, ethical, and philosophical debates around the place of science and technology in human societies. Political theory brings a specific set of questions, problems, approaches, and conceptual tools for thinking about power, authority, human nature, the human good, and justice, all of which bear on the centrality of science and technology in social life.

Reading of selected political theorists from 16th to 19th centuries: Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Tocqueville, Marx, and Nietzsche. Emphasis on the nature of the political world and the forms of understanding and activity appropriate to it.

This course examines the critical role that the Supreme Court has played in shaping the landscape of rights and liberties in the United States over time. We begin with a discussion about the power and potential of textual rights protections. Then, we examine the historic rise of an organizational structure that supported legal mobilization to protect individual rights in the United States, and learn about why certain rights were protected before others.

This course investigates the gendered dimensions of armed conflict, foreign policy, international governance, peace-building, and post-conflict insecurities. Students will engage with academic and policy debates about how gendered power distributions shape international and human security. We will explore the issues raised in these debates by considering historical and contemporary global cases, including the role of masculinity in foreign policy, women's participation in political violence, gender- based civilian targeting, international post-conflict courts and transitional justice.

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.

This course explores the relationships among reporters, publishers and politicians, and how each uses the media. Using historical biographies and other texts, the class will examine past strategies by politicians and media figures. Topics include campaign strategies, Washington politics, day-to-day effectiveness in office, making arguments through the media, and how those not elected use the media. Taught by Congressman Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the class offers an opportunity for students to hear how elected officials work with the press.

Analysis of the roles of political parties in elections and in government. Emphasis on elections and democratic theory; voting behavior; party organizations, PACs, and money in congressional and presidential elections; political parties and the governmental process; and parties as sources of continuity and vehicles for change in American politics.

Origin and evolution of political ideas and ideals that have shaped the American constitutional system. Tensions within and between liberalism and democracy and the impact of changing social and economic conditions on political beliefs and values. (Gen.Ed. HS)

Origin and evolution of political ideas and ideals that have shaped the American constitutional system. Tensions within and between liberalism and democracy and the impact of changing social and economic conditions on political beliefs and values. (Gen.Ed. HS)

Origin and evolution of political ideas and ideals that have shaped the American constitutional system. Tensions within and between liberalism and democracy and the impact of changing social and economic conditions on political beliefs and values. (Gen.Ed. HS)