Independent Study

Consider independently exploring a topic of interest under the guidance of a faculty member. Once you identify the subject, take time to research our faculty and their publications. It is important to ensure your interests intersect before asking if they will work with you. This work will be graded and may apply to your upper-level Political Science degree requirements.

S-Media in American Politics

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.

S-Human Security

In the early 1990s, UN Secretary General Boutrous-Boutrous Ghali suggested that the protection of national borders should be replaced with a concern for human security - the protection of individuals from fear, want and repression by their own governments. This has now become an important mantra of the United Nations, which itself was founded not to protect humans from their own governments but to prevent the scourge of interstate war. What is "human security"? Is it a paradigm shift for thinking about global order or just a bunch of hot air?

S-Green Politics and Theory

This course is designed to appeal to students interested in Environmental Studies (specifically environmentalist social movements) as well as those interested in Political Theory, or both. In the context of the current ecological crises (global climate change, the proliferation of nuclear energy and weapons, bees? extinction, pollution in general?), environmental thought and politics have boomed. During the first half of the semester, we will survey important schools of thought within what has come to be called ?ecosophy? or ?environmental political theory? (EPT).

PoliParticipation&Represent/US

Questions of representation and participation are at the heart of what it means to be a democracy. Creating and maintaining a representative democracy is not easy. Throughout this class, we will discuss these challenges and why they exist, as well as explore potential solutions. We will ask and attempt to answer questions such as: What is ?good? representation? What does it look like within different political institutions? What kinds of political participation are available? Who is allowed to participate? Do people know enough about politics for their participation to be meaningful?
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