POLITICAL SCIENCE (POLSC)
POLSC 101 - UNDERSTANDING POLITICS
Prerequisite: None
This course immerses students in the intensive study of the fundamental question: What is politics? Our goal is to understand how politics shapes society and what distinguishes the political from the economic social, artistic, religious, etc. We will read several fundamental works of political thought and statesmanship which may include the Bible, Plato's Apology, Aristotle's Politics, Machiavelli's The Prince, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar or Henry V, Locke's Two treatises of Government, Rousseau's Social Contract, Penn Warren's All the King's Men, or Churchill's The Gathering Storm. Meets Core credit for social sciences.
Credit: 3
POLSC 102 - DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA
Prerequisite: None
An introduction to American politics, with primary emphasis on national institutions. Course topics include the political theory of the American Constitution, the relations among the different branches of government and between state and federal institutions, and the role of the courts in the protection of civil liberties. Meets core credit for social sciences.
Credit: 3
POLSC 201 - TOPICS IN CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION
Prerequisite: None
See HIST 201 for course description.
Credit: 3
POLSC 205 - COMPARATIVE POLITICS
Prerequisite: None
This course immerses students in the comparative study of regimes such as liberal democracy, monarchy, tyranny, and theocracy, especially as these are found in historical or contemporary city-states, nations, or empires. Such study can be comparative either because two or more different regimes are being examined together (e.g., aristocracy and democracy) or because the same regime is being investigated from different perspectives (e.g., liberal democracy in Germany and France) or with different means (e.g. tyranny is studied using contemporary and historical information, literature, political biography, geography, religious traditions, political theory, etc.). In every case, at least two different countries will be studied.
Credit: 3
POLSC 231 - INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Prerequisite: None
This course will immerse students in the study of international relations, especially how and why countries fight wars and make and maintain peace. Drawing on both historical and contemporary examples, the course may examine both the writings of theorists and the speeches and deeds of leading statesmen.
Credit: 3
POLSC 236 - AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY
Prerequisite: None
A study of the foreign relations of the United States, underscoring the factors that determine formulation, execution and substance of U.S. foreign policy, traditional and contemporary, with emphasis on the role of the United States in today's world. HIST 236/POLSC 236 credit.
Credit: 3
POLSC 305 - POLITICAL PARTIES AND INTEREST GROUPS
Prerequisite: None
A study of the origins, development and contemporary character and problems of American political parties and the party system, and an examination of the role of interest groups in the political process.
Credit: 3
POLSC 310 - THE PRESIDENCY
Prerequisite: None
A study of the nation’s Chief Executive Office.
Credit: 3
POLSC 312 - CONGRESS
Prerequisite: None
A study of the nation's legislative body, focusing on the nature of representation in Congress, the place of Congress within the framers' constitutional design, the historical development of the institution and its powers, and the operation of the modern Congress.
Credit: 3
POLSC 320 - AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT I: REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR
Prerequisite: None
A study of the political ideas of American statesmen and writers from the 18th century to the secession crisis. Candidates for consideration include Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Madison, Hamilton, and Calhoun.
Credit: 3
POLSC 321 - AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT II: RECONSTRUCTION TO THE PRESENT
Prerequisite: None
A study of the political ideas of American statesmen and writers from the Civil War period to the present. Candidates for consideration include Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Twain, Melville, Booker T. Washington, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt.
Credit: 3
POLSC 336 - CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS
Prerequisite: POLSC 102
A study of the American constitutional framework for the exercise of governmental power, with particular emphasis on the role of the Supreme Court in articulating that framework. Through reading Court cases and other materials, students address such questions as: how should the Constitution be interpreted? What are the respective powers of the Courts, the Congress and the President? What limits on those powers does the Constitution impose? What is the proper constitutional relationship between the state and the federal government?
Credit: 3
POLSC 337 - CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
Prerequisite: POLSC 102
A study of the individual rights protected by the U.S. Constitution, as viewed through Supreme Court cases and other materials. The primary focus will be on the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and press and of religious liberty, the 14th Amendment's guarantee to each person of the equal protection of the laws, rights of political participation and constitutional protections of property and privacy.
Credit: 3
POLSC 341 - MODERN MIDDLE EAST
Prerequisite: See HIST 341 for course description.
Credit: 3
POLSC 343 - WESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT I: ANCIENT POLITICAL THOUGHT
Prerequisite: POLSC 101
This course immerses students in the study of ancient political thought, whose central concern is the search for the best regime-the one that most cultivates human excellence. We will examine this politics of virtue by reading several great works of political philosophy from thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle.
Credit: 3
POLSC 344 - WESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT II: MEDIEVAL POLITICAL THOUGHT
Prerequisite: POLSC 101
This course is an intensive study of major texts in medieval political thought. Particular attention will be given to the issue of how medieval thinkers from a variety of backgrounds attempted to deal with the relationship between reason and revelation in politics. Thinkers to be studied may include Augustine, Aquinas, Dante, Marsilius of Padua, Maimonides, Alfarabi, Averroes, or Avicenna.
Credit: 3
POLSC 345 - WESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT III: EARLY MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT
Prerequisite: POLSC 101
This course is designed to immerse students in the study of modern political thought, whose central concerns are human security, comfort, and liberty. We will examine this new politics of freedom by reading several great works of political philosophy from thinkers such as Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Locke. Meets Core credit for social sciences.
Credit: 3
POLSC 346 - WESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT IV: LATE MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT
Prerequisite: POLSC 101
A study of selected works of leading political thinkers from the end of the 18th century to the present, such as Kant, Hegel, Mill, Marx, Nietzsche, Strauss and Rawls.
Credit: 3
POLSC 351 - POLITICS AND RELIGION
Prerequisite: POLSC 101
This course is an intensive study of important thinkers, texts, or issues focusing on the proper relation between political authority and religious authority, law, or faith. Topics may include Christianity and politics, the rise of the political principle of religious toleration in the West, Islamic political thought, or the contemporary relation between religion and liberal democracy.
Credit: 3
POLSC 352 - THE AMERICAN FOUNDING
Prerequisite: None
A seminar on the principles and practices of America's founding statesmen. We examine how the founders formulated and reconciled ideas (natural rights, separation of powers, federalism) with interests (economic, political, regional, etc.). HIST 352/POLSC 352 credit.
Credit: 3
POLSC 355 - INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
Prerequisite: None
A study of historical movements toward world cooperation, including an evaluation of the League of Nations and a study of the United Nations as well as regional organizations established since World War II.
Credit: 3
POLSC 360 - REGIONAL STUDIES
Prerequisite: None
A study of political systems of different countries or regions selected on a rotating basis, including such geographic areas or nations as Western Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Soviet Union and Japan. May be repeated for credit for different topical or area studies.
Credit: 3
POLSC 365 - CONTEMPORARY GERMANY
Prerequisite: None
A study of contemporary Germany with an emphasis on the establishment and character of democracy in that country. Examines the statesmen and politicians, as well as the constitutional, social, economic and intellectual factors that help to explain the German polity since World War II. Meets Social Science core requirement.
Credit: 3
POLSC 370 - TOPICS IN AMERICAN POLITICS
Prerequisite: None
Intensive study of a topic in the field of American government and politics. May be repeated for credit as topics change.
Credit: 1-3
POLSC 375 - LINCOLN
Prerequisite: See HIST 375 for course description
Credit: 3
POLSC 380 - TOPICS IN POLITICAL THOUGHT
Prerequisite: None
Intensive study of some theme or thinkers in the field of political thought. May be repeated for credit as topics change.
Credit: 1-3
POLSC 381 - CHURCHILL
Prerequisite: None
A seminar that considers the political thought and actions of Winston S. Churchill. Readings may include a number of his speeches, essays and books. e.g., My Early Life, Savrola and The Gathering Storm. HIST 381/POLSC 381 credit.
Credit: 3
POLSC 385 - SHAKESPEARE’S POLITICS
Prerequisite: None
An examination of those plays of Shakespeare that shed particular light on essential political issues, such as tyranny, legitimacy, and statesmanship.
Credit: 3
POLSC 390 - TOPICS IN COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
Prerequisite: None
Intensive study of a topic in the fields of comparative and international politics. May be repeated for credit as topics change.
Credit: 1-3
POLSC 430 - INTERNSHIP IN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Prerequisite: Junior status and major or minor in political science or International political studies
To provide for on-the-job experiences for students of government and politics on an individual basis in selected offices or installations at the local state, or federal level. Each internship is arranged by the student's advisor with a specific official for a designated purpose, comporting with the student's interest and capabilities. Internships may be for either three or six hours in a local office, nine hours for a summer program, or 12 hours for an off-campus semester.
Credit: 3-12
POLSC 431 - HUMAN BEING AND CITIZEN
Prerequisite: Senior status or permission of the instructor
An attempt to understand the great issues animating politics-freedom, justice, equality, ethnicity-from the point of view of other disciplines and perspectives. The seminar will examine what it means to be a citizen, something of what it means to be a human being, and how each depends upon the other. Meets Core credit for social sciences
Credit: 3
POLSC 497 - THESIS SEMINAR
Prerequisite: Senior status and departmental major or minor
The course is designed for a major or minor in the Department who is researching and writing a senior thesis. It is a guided, intensive study of some topic of interest to the student, which results in a substantial scholarly paper. The student may not have acquired or be in the process of acquiring more than 3 hours of academic credit for work connected to the project to be undertaken in HIST/POLSC 497 (for example, through Independent Study). The student may repeat the course if no other academic credit for work connected to the project was acquired.
Credit: 3
POLSC 501 - THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Prerequisite:
This course focuses on three topics: political developments in North America and the British empire and the arguments for and against independence, culminating in the Declaration of Independence; the Revolutionary War as a military, social and cultural event in the development of the American nation and state; and the United States under the Articles of Confederation.
Credit: 2
POLSC 502 - THE AMERICAN FOUNDING
Prerequisite:
This course is an intensive study of the constitutional convention, the struggle over ratification of the Constitution, and the creation of the Bill of Rights. It will include a close examination of the Federalist Papers and the anti-federalist writings.
Credit: 2
POLSC 503 - SECTIONALISM AND CIVIL WAR
Prerequisite:
This class is a study of the sectional conflict beginning with nullification crisis. The course will not only examine the political, social, and economic developments in the period leading to the Civil War, but will emphasize the political thought of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, and John C. Calhoun.
Credit: 2
POLSC 505 - THE PROGRESSIVE ERA
Prerequisite:
The transition to an industrial economy posed many problems for the United States. This course examines those problems and the responses to them that came to be known as progressivism. The course includes the study of World War I as a manifestation of progressive principles. The course emphasizes the political thought of John Dewey, Herbert Croly, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson, and their political expression of progressive principles.
Credit: 2
POLSC 506 - RISE OF MODERN AMERICA 1914-1945
Prerequisite:
With the exception of the Civil War era, it is difficult to find another thirty-year period in U.S. history during which the nation underwent such dramatic change. In 1914 the United States was no more than a regional power, with a primarily rural demography and a relatively unobtrusive federal government. Thanks to the experience of two world wars, a major cultural conflict (the 1920s), and a disastrous economic crisis the country was transformed into the global economic and military power that it remains to this day. This course will examine the cultural, economic, military, and diplomatic events and trends of the period 1914-1945.
Credit: 2
POLSC 507 - LINCOLN
Prerequisite:
This course provides an in-depth study of Abraham Lincoln's political thought and action. Students will study Lincoln's most important speeches, as well as study various aspects of his political leadership, including his role as the leader of the Republican party and as commander in chief. The course will also provide opportunities for students to analyze Lincoln's rhetoric and political argumentation.
Credit: 2
POLSC 510 - GREAT AMERICAN TEXTS
Prerequisite:
This course is an intensive study of one important text in American history, politics, or literature. Examples might include The Federalist Papers, Franklin's Autobiography, Tocqueville's Democracy in America, or Twain's Huckleberry Finn. The text may change from course to course and the course may be repeated up to two times with the permission of the associate director.
Credit: 2
POLSC 601 - SOURCES OF THE AMERICAN REGIME
Prerequisite:
This course examines the European heritage of ideas and practices upon which the American Founders drew as they devised a new government for the United States.
Credit: 2
POLSC 602 - EUROPEAN DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT
Prerequisite:
An examination of the motives behind and the consequences of the expansion of European power beginning in the sixteenth-century. The course focuses on the European settlement of North America and the interactions between Europeans and indigenous peoples.
Credit: 2
POLSC 603 - COLONIAL AMERICA
Prerequisite:
This course focuses on the development of an indigenous political culture in the British colonies. It pays special attention to the development of representative political institutions and how these emerged through the confrontation between colonists and King and proprietors. The course also considers imperial politics through a study of the Albany Plan of Union.
Credit: 2
POLSC 604 - THE EARLY REPUBLIC
Prerequisite:
Having adopted a form of government, the Americans had to make it work. This course examines their efforts to do so, as the Republic took shape amid foreign dangers, political conflict, westward expansion, and religious revivals.
Credit: 2
POLSC 605 - THE AGE OF ENTERPRISE
Prerequisite:
In the last decades of the 19th century, the United States took decisive steps away from its rural, agrarian past toward its industrial future, assuming its place among world powers. This course examines that movement, covering such topics as business-labor relations, political corruption, immigration, imperialism, the New South, and segregation and racism.
Credit: 2
POLSC 606 - AMERICA BETWEEN WORLD WARS
Prerequisite:
In the 1920s, changes in America that had been underway for several decades came fully into view. This is the period when cultural wars first appeared (e.g., The Scopes Trial) and the transformative effects of industrial capitalism touched every part of American life. In the 1930s, an economic crisis challenged received views of the proper relationship of the government to the economy. The course examines various political and economic changes that occurred in this period, with a special emphasis on the New Deal.
Credit: 2
POLSC 607 - AMERICA DURING THE COLD WAR
Prerequisite:
The simmering conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1989 was the defining phenomenon of the age, affecting not only the country's foreign policy but its politics, society, economy, and culture as well. In this course students will examine the most important events, ideas, and personalities of the forty-four years from the end of World War II to the end of the Reagan administration.
Credit: 2
POLSC 608 - CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION
Prerequisite:
This course will examine military aspects of the war, as well as political developments during it, including the political history of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural. The course also examines the post-war Amendments and the Reconstruction era.
Credit: 2
POLSC 609 - WORLD WAR II
Prerequisite:
An examination of World War II, the most widespread, costly, and destructive war in the history of the planet. This course will cover the origins of the war, the strategies pursued by the participants, and the major events in both the Pacific and European theaters from the 1930s until 1945. Further, it will consider the significance of the war for the history of Europe, Asia, and the United States.
Credit: 2
POLSC 610 - AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY
Prerequisite:
Students examine events and issues in the foreign policy of the American republic. Topics include the major schools of thought and approaches, the connection between domestic and foreign politics, and the connection between the principles of the American regime and its foreign policy. Course may be taken twice with the permission of the program Chair.
Credit: 2
POLSC 611 - THE AMERICAN WAY OF WAR
Prerequisite:
The course examines how Americans have used military force, focusing on the relationship between civilian and military leaders, characteristic strategic approaches, and the connection between our political principles and our military practices.
Credit: 2
POLSC 613 - POSTWAR AMERICA, 1945 TO 1973
Prerequisite:
An examination of the United States during the three decades following the Second World War. The social, economic, political, and diplomatic development of the country is stressed with a thematic emphasis.
Credit: 2
POLSC 614 - CONTEMPORARY AMERICA, 1974 TO PRESENT
Prerequisite:
Examines the United States from the end of Watergate to the present, with emphasis on the rise of the new conservatism, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the search for a new foreign policy. The social, economic, political, and diplomatic development of the country is stressed with a thematic emphasis.
Credit: 2
POLSC 620 - THE REFORM TRADITION IN AMERICA
Prerequisite:
America has lived through three periods of sustained interest in reforming its political and social life, the first in the decades preceding the Civil War, the second in the decades preceding World War I and the third in the decade or two following World War II. The course examines aspects of these reform movements, particularly their connection to religion and Protestant theology.
Credit: 2
POLSC 621 - RACE AND EQUALITY IN AMERICA
Prerequisite:
This course explores the history of black Americans as they strove to secure their dignity as human beings, and rights as American citizens, in the face of racial prejudice. Students will examine the writings of leading black intellectuals and activists about human equality, slavery, self-government, the rule of law, emancipation, colonization, and citizenship. The course will also review laws, constitutional amendments, court cases, and social criticism addressing civil and political rights in America.
Credit: 2
POLSC 622 - RELIGION IN AMERICAN HISTORY AND POLITICS
Prerequisite:
From the time that the first Europeans arrived in America, religion has been an important part of American life. This course examines the various ways in which religion has played a role in American history, with particular emphasis on the role of religion in American politics.
Credit: 2
POLSC 623 - WOMEN IN AMERICAN HISTORY AND POLITICS
Prerequisite:
This course explores the history of women in America from the early 19th century to the present, especially the political struggle to gain increased civil and political rights. Using primary source material from leading female intellectuals and activists, this course will consider the myriad ways that women have helped to shape the course of United States history and politics.
Credit: 2
POLSC 624 - AMERICAN CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Prerequisite:
An examination of the nature and development of the United States by way of its culture. What does American music, art, literature, and film reveal about America? How has America shaped the culture of its people? The course addresses these questions through a selective examination of some American culture during some distinctive episodes in American History. Because of the breadth of possible topics covered in this course, it may be taken more than once with the permission of the chair.
Credit: 2
POLSC 630 - AMERICAN STATESMEN
Prerequisite:
Even though the powers of the American Executive are controlled and limited, extraordinary acts of statesmanship are possible. This seminar examines those presidents who have demonstrated extraordinary political leadership. We will examine such statesmen and the political circumstances in which their prudence revealed itself. Among those examined will be Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt. Course may be taken more than once with permission of the program Chair.
Credit: 2
POLSC 631 - AMERICAN POLITICAL RHETORIC
Prerequisite:
This course examines the principles and practice of American political rhetoric through the careful reading of the speeches of its leading statesmen.
Credit: 2
POLSC 632 - THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY I, WASHINGTON TO LINCOLN
Prerequisite:
This course is an examination of the political and development of the office of president from the Founding era through the Civil War. It focuses on how the presidency shaped American political life as the country grew and struggled with rising sectional tensions.
Credit: 2
POLSC 633 - THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY II, JOHNSON TO THE PRESENT
Prerequisite:
This course is an examination of the political and constitutional development of the office of president from Reconstruction to the present. It focuses on how changing conceptions of the presidency have shaped American political life in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially as America has become a global power.
Credit: 2
POLSC 640 - SPECIAL TOPICS
Prerequisite:
Individual or group studies of course work in political science. Graduate standing, permission of the professor of record, and the approval of the director of graduate studies in education.
Credit: 1
POLSC 641 - THE SUPREME COURT
Prerequisite:
The course is an intensive study of the highest court in the federal judiciary, focusing on the place of the Supreme Court in the American constitutional order. Areas of study may include the relationship between the Court and the other branches of the federal government as well as the states; the Court's power of judicial review; and judicial politics and statesmanship. We will examine these kinds of issues by investigating how the Court has interpreted the Constitution in some of its most historic decisions.
Credit: 2
POLSC 642 - POLITICAL PARTIES
Prerequisite:
This course examines the development of American political parties, focusing on the meaning of parties and historic moments in the rise and fall of political parties from the Founding era to the present. Topics may include re-aligning elections, changing coalitions within American parties, and the contemporary Democratic and Republican parties.
Credit: 2
POLSC 643 - CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND POWERS
Prerequisite:
A study of the American constitutional framework for the exercise of governmental power, as well as the individual rights it was meant to protect. Through reading Court cases and other materials, students address such questions as: how should the Constitution be interpreted? What are the respective powers of the Courts, the Congress and the President? What do "liberty" and "equality" mean in the context of the Constitution? What limits on those powers does the Constitution impose? What is the proper constitutional relationship between the state and the federal government? Because of the breadth of possible topics covered in this course, it may be taken more than once with the permission of the chair.
Credit: 2
POLSC 644 - THE CONGRESS
Prerequisite:
This course focuses on the legislative branch of the US government. It examines topics such as the constitutional powers of Congress, the relations between Congress and the other branches of the federal government and the states, and the changing structure and internal politics of Congress.
Credit: 2
POLSC 660 - TOPICS IN AMERICAN HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT
Prerequisite:
Topics courses allow faculty to meet the needs of small groups of students by offering a course specifically designed to examine an important contemporary or historical topic in significant depth and detail. Course may be repeated with permission of the program Chair.
Credit: 2
POLSC 670 - DIRECTED STUDY
Prerequisite: Permission of Chair
Students wishing to develop expertise requiring study beyond what is offered in other courses may arrange with a professor to work individually on a topic.
Credit: 2
POLSC 680 - SEMINAR IN HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND CIVICS
Prerequisite: Note: no more than four hours of HIST/POLSC 680 credit may be applied to MAHG or MASTAHG degree requirements.
An intensive study of topics related to American political, diplomatic, social, and economic history (including state and local history); the origins, philosophies, structures, and practices of national, state and local governments in the United States; and/or the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a self-governing society.
Credit: 1-4
POLSC 691 - THESIS
Prerequisite: Permission of the Thesis/Capstone Coordinator
In order to complete requirements for the degree, each student must complete a thesis, capstone project, or comprehensive exam. The purpose of the thesis is to show mastery of both subject matter and analytical and interpretive skills.
Credit: 4
POLSC 692 - CAPSTONE PROJECT
Prerequisite: Permission of the Thesis/Capstone Coordinator
In order to complete requirements for the degree, each student must complete a thesis or capstone project. The purpose of the capstone project is to show mastery of both subject matter and analytical and interpretive skills.
Credit: 4
POLSC 693 - QUALIFYING EXAMINATION
Prerequisite: Completion of all required coursework and permission of Program Director
The qualifying examination evaluates the candidates' understanding of significant ideas, events, persons, and text in American history and government. Additionally, the exam will evaluate the candidate's ability to analyze and use documentary evidence in academic writing. Exams are offered as arranged by the student and the student's examination advisor.
Credit: 0
POLSC 6XX - EFFECTIVE WRITING FOR MAHG AND MASTAHG
Prerequisite: Permission
Students in this course will work to improve basic writing skills, with the specific intent of becoming more effective writers in general, and during their time in the MAHG or MASTAHG programs. The purpose of the course is for the student to develop an extended essay meeting at least the minimal requirements specified in the MAHG and MASTAHG grading rubric for content knowledge, analysis of, and interpretation. The focus will be on improving the organization, structure, and logic of written work; improving clarity and readability; and identifying and correcting errors in grammar and usage. The course is offered concurrently with other courses and may be taken more than once upon the recommendation of the chair.
Credit: 0