williams college political science course catalog

What explains this diverse and uneven pattern of democracy in South Asia? out that most Americans know very little about politics and lack coherent political views, are easily manipulated by media and campaigns, and are frequently ignored by public officials anyway. She wrote luminously about the darkness that comes when terror extinguishes politics and the shining, almost miraculous events of freedom through which politics is sometimes renewed. investigate the founding of Garveyism on the island of Jamaica, the evolution of Garveyism during the early twentieth century across the Americas and in Africa, Garveyism in Europe in the mid-twentieth century, and the contemporary branches of the Garvey movement in our own late modern times. Why do we find the visible presence of certain kinds of things or persons to be unbearably noxious? Does economic development drive political change, or the other way around? Utilizing primary source material ranging from presidential speeches to party platforms, newspaper editorials to novels, we will seek to interrogate -- reconciling where possible, distinguishing where necessary, interpreting in all instances -- the disparate visions and assessments of the American political experience offered by politicians, artists, intellectuals, activists, and ordinary citizens over the course of more than two centuries. We will discuss cases of Buddhism, Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism), Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam (Sunni and Shi'a), and Judaism. For more information, contact the Health Sciences office at (918) 595-7002. Should "religion" be singled-out for exclusion from government? [more], Even before the pandemic, scholars, pundits, and the public thought Congress was in a state of crisis. We will examine both the international and domestic context of the war, as well as pay close attention to both South and North Vietnamese perspectives on the war. We first engage with the treaty's content and exclusions, next examine the incentives it provides states and criminals, and last assess the way that geopolitical and climate change create new opportunities and constraints for states, firms, international organizations, and activists. [more], Nationalism is a major political issue in contemporary East Asia. The readings will consist mostly of Palestinian authors, with an emphasis on documents, histories, and political analyses. How do resource gaps tied to inequality in society (such as race and class) influence who votes and for whom? Course Catalog Search Title/Course Description Keyword Search input and button. While we address current debates over migration governance in the United States, we situate US migration policy within the contemporary global context. First, it will consider the the terms of American foreign policy after the Cold War, how it sets these, and continuities and discontinuities between the Clinton and Bush administrations. things that happen in and around the political world--are often underestimated as catalysts of political change. While America ultimately rejected the League of Nations, the Wilsonian tradition has continued to exert a powerful influence on scholars and policymakers. This tutorial will intensively examine Wilson's efforts to recast the nature of the international system, the American rejection of his vision after the First World War, and the reshaping of Wilsonianism after the Second World War. Insofar as it fits student interest, we will also explore the cave's considerable presence in visual culture, ranging from Renaissance painting through such recent and contemporary artists as Kelley, Demand, Hirschhorn, Kapoor, Sugimoto, and Walker, to films such as The Matrix. This course is an investigation into this global liberal project, engaging both theory and practice. The basic format of the course will be to combine brief lectures--either posted on the class website beforehand or given at the start of each class--with an in-depth discussion of each class session's topic. Does it reflect a polity divided by racial and ethnic tensions with different visions of the nation's past and future? members are private groups and individuals, include the International Seaweed Association as well as Doctors Without Borders and Human Rights Watch. What kinds of regimes best serve to encourage good leaders and to constrain bad ones? Or should feminists reject objectivity as a myth told by the powerful about their own knowledge-claims and develop an alternative approach to knowledge? The second introduces social science methodology, covering hypotheses, literature reviews, and evidence while continuing half time with materials about human rights. Beginning with the evolution of the field, this course will equip students with the methodological tools to critically navigate their own specific regional, inter-regional, or interdisciplinary tracks in the Asian Studies concentration. The structure of the course combines political science concepts with a detailed survey of the region's diplomatic history. The last quarter of class focuses on student projects, on integrating and revising research to produce a set of findings and an evaluation of their meaning. In other words, to what extent and in what respects were these fundamental turning points made "democratically"? Before his death in 1950 at the young age of forty six, Orwell produced a stunningly large and diverse body of work in the fields of journalism, literature, and political commentary. How has globalization changed the international system? What does "religion" mean in this formulation? Not even the Civil War could resolve this issue, as demonstrated by the failure of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow. How can feminist power be realized? [more], This course examines one of the most important concepts in the analysis of sex and gender and efforts to envision sexual and gender justicethe concept of powerfrom multiple feminist perspectives. What is "objectivity" anyway, and how has this norm changed through history? We conclude the course with a look toward the future of global capitalism and of the liberal world order. Who loses? As a final assignment, students will write an 18-20 page research paper on a topic of their choice related to the core themes of the course. Religion, Politics, and Society: A Global Perspective. To create and maintain political order requires devising collective means to pile up, bury, burn, or otherwise dispose of stuff deemed dirty or disorderly: waste management is regime management. At the end we briefly reconsider current U.S. policies in historical perspective. Yet at the same time, others worry that the U.S. has abandoned the Anglo-Protestant traditions that made it strong and has entered a period of moral decay and decline. that used to be the prerogative of human actors. In investigating this theme, our cornerstone will be Max Weber's famous argument from. The second half of the course will look at leaders in action, charting the efforts of politicians, intellectuals, and grassroots activists to shape the worlds in which they live. If the U.S. is a nation of immigrants, why is immigration reform so difficult to achieve? Are there forms of unequal social power which are morally neutral or even good? Introduction to International Relations: World Politics. Through these explorations, which will consider a wide variety of visual artifacts and practices (from 17th century paintings to the optical systems of military drones and contemporary forms of surveillance), we will also take up fundamental theoretical questions about the place of the senses in political life. The course concludes with an examination of a number of major contemporary policy debates in security studies. Coverage will range from modern classics to innovative contemporary arguments. Who gets to make these judgments, and according to what rules? [more], An unprecedented assault on the U.S. Capitol, the rise of white nationalism, a pandemic, a volatile economy, racial reckoning, and rapidly evolving environmental crises have all rocked American politics in the last year. This seminar engages some of the major attempts at rethinking produced in the 20th and 21st centuries, particularly at those that, characterizing liberalism as masking structures of subordination and elements of conflict in political life, undervaluing the importance of citizen action and public space, or being ill-suited to altered technological and ecological conditions, seek to rework or move beyond it. We will begin with an analysis of primary texts by Fanon and end by considering how Fanon has been interpreted by his contemporaries as well as activists and critical theorists writing today. Third, through ongoing, self-guided reading on students' individual topics as well as feedback from both the seminar leader and other seminar participants on their written work about that topic, it endeavors to guide students to frame a viable and meaningful research project. [more], Must we choose between "socialism or barbarism?" Political dissent has taken various forms since 1979 but the regime has found ways to repress and divert it. Its political system, however, is little changed. While the course will focus primarily on the United States, our conceptual framework will be global; though our main interest will be contemporary, we will also examine previous eras in which democratic leadership has come under great pressure. The course will sweep across American history but will not attempt to be exhaustive in any way. But is anyone immune to media influence? uses this category, to what ends, and with what success. Is there is a trade-off between democratic accountability and effective governance? Students will examine multi-disciplinary texts, such as academic historical narratives, memoirs, political analyses, in critical and comparative readings of mid-late 20th century struggles. Does this idea ultimately reinforce American hegemony, or plant the seeds of a non-American order? [more], The course will discuss the relationship between nationalism and far-right populism, also often referred to as alt-right politics in the United States. Readings are drawn from Supreme Court opinions, presidential addresses, congressional debates and statutes, political party platforms, key tracts of American political thought, and secondary scholarship on constitutional development. [more], This seminar focuses on the political thought of Herbert Marcuse, investigating the influences of leftist social movements of the 1960s on his critical theory. Human Rights Claims in International Politics. as it did in the prenuclear era, or has it undergone a "revolution," in the most fundamental sense of the word? Does Thomas Jefferson's statue belong on a university campus? Can the strategies theorists propose and employ really aid in the advancement of racial equity? In examining these issues, we will seek not only to understand the contours of the potentially dramatic political changes that some say await us but also to put these issues into historical context so that we may draw lessons from the crises of the past. that used to be the prerogative of human actors. The class will begin with background readings, since no prior work in Chinese philosophy or history is assumed. But there are other examples of treating the body as property that seem more ambiguous, or even benign: the employment contract in which bodily services are offered in exchange for payment; the feminist slogan "my body, my choice"; or even the every-day transfer of bodily properties into creative projects that then become part of the things people own --- chairs, tables, houses, music, art, and intellectual property. To this end, the department offers two routes to completing the major, each requiring nine courses. What should be done to dissuade the authoritarian regime in North Korea from acquiring nuclear capabilities and lead it to different paths toward national survival? Readings and discussions provide a view on the past and ongoing use of media in the shaping of popular knowledge, collective actions, and public policies. Does the state and its policies make the nation, as many scholars claim? We investigate three types of cases: UN Security Council threats and condemnations, international criminal prosecutions, and international election monitoring. This course examines the historical development of American constitutional law and politics from the Founding to the present. We will do so by investigating the different kinds of institutions that mediate risks throughout the lifecycle, from parental leave to old age pensions, and by comparing these institutions between different countries. If so, should they focus their efforts on relocation to the historical land of Israel? Looming environmental catastrophes capable of provoking humanitarian crises. Class will be driven primarily by discussion. When should we leave important decisions to technocratic experts? What anti-democratic means? CAPSTONE: Sylvia Wynter, Black Lives, and Struggle for the Human. They contend that it legitimates a view of the status quo, in which such terrible things are bound to happen without real cause. What are the root causes of racism? We invite students either to organize their major through the subfields that structure the discipline of political science (American politics, international relations, political theory, and comparative politics), or to develop individual concentrations reflecting their particular interests, regardless of subfields. More information can be found on the Political Science site. And what does it mean to study this richly diverse region? What are the social and ethical prerequisites--and consequences--of democracy? Central notions such as democracy, identity, and their relation to far-right populism will be discussed alongside questions of contemporary mobilization strategies. [more], How can we live a good life? How does Congress act as an institution and not just a platform for 535 individuals? This seminar explores how our understanding of politics and political theory might change if visuality were made central to our inquiries. Who might change it, and how? States. Then the class will read significant portions of the following canonical works: Yijing, Analects, Mencius, Daodejing, Zhuangzi, and Han Feizi. [more], This course deals with what democracy means and how it is achieved. She would be the first to refuse to use inherited concepts as if they were keys to unlock the present. At the 100-level, we offer four courses to introduce students to the traditional subfields in . [more], Scandals. We will address both empirical and normative dimensions of the issues, as well as learn about examples of democratic erosion around the world from early 20th century until today. What is the connection between social and physical power? attack! We first engage with the treaty's content and exclusions, next examine the incentives it provides states and criminals, and last assess the way that geopolitical and climate change create new opportunities and constraints for states, firms, international organizations, and activists. Here we look closely at whether it is economic development which leads to the spread of democracy. The course goes back to the founding moments of an imagined white-Christian Europe and how the racialization of Muslim bodies was central to this project and how anti-Muslim racism continues to be relevant in our world today. It looks at how difference works and has worked, how identities and power relationships have been grounded in lived experience, and how one might both critically and productively approach questions of difference, power, and equity. Illustrative cases to aid our inquiry will be drawn primarily from the USA and Canada, with additional examples from India, South Africa, and possibly European law. We also compare historical U.S. foreign policy toward the hemisphere to U.S. policy toward the entire world after the Cold War. It aims not to address crises' causes nor to assist with solutions--which it considers political--just to keep human bodies alive. and dominant media companies (Google, FaceBook, CNN, FOX, etc.). How are international organizations and domestic governments regulating this level of unprecedented global mobility in destination countries as well as countries of origin? Importantly, this course is not intended as a partisan critique of any particular American politician or political party. This seminar will address these questions with the aim of introducing students to important theoretical topics and key concepts that are relevant to the comparative and critical study of Asia. [more], This course, the senior capstone for both Leadership Studies and the American Politics subfield in Political Science, examines the challenges and opportunities facing political leaders in contemporary liberal democracies. Political theory addresses questions such as these as it investigates the fundamental problems of how people can, do, and ought to live together. The first concentrates on common readings on these questions, and prioritizes discussion, explication, and hypothesis brainstorming. [more], This course will help students understand the US role in the world. Others suggest that most Americans have moved "beyond race" and that racism explains little of modern-day partisan and electoral politics. What role do moral and legal considerations play in world politics? But social risk has not disappeared--you could lose your job, get into an accident, or find yourself plunged somehow into poverty. What is it and how might it work? The class will be composed equally of nine Williams students and nine inmates and will be held at the jail. But what is Asia? We will apply our learning on many of these topics to the ongoing 2022 midterm elections. Contemporary social science and the humanities overwhelmingly portray it as a critique of black politics in the latter's liberal, libertarian, and conservative forms. is an investigation into this global liberal project, engaging both theory and practice. Du Bois and the subsequent cleavages in political thought and allegiances among their respective adherents will be addressed, along with various other core issues including: the relationship between race, nation, and empire; transnationalism; the meaning of power; notions of leadership; the limitations of understanding Garveyism by the phrase "Back-to-Africa"; the moral philosophy of respect, reparation, and redemption; prophetic political theory; Pan-Africanism; the impact of Garveyism on political theological movements such as the Nation of Islam and Rastafari; women in the Garvey movement; and Garveyite strategies for forging models of political solidarity in dark times. Coverage will range from modern classics to innovative contemporary arguments. Our primary questions will be these: Why does transformative leadership seem so difficult today? [more], This is a class about international politics in the age of cyberweapons. This research seminar investigates organized international, multilateral attempts to mold a delinquent country's domestic politics by enforcing extranational standards. Yet, more than ever before, the means exist in affluent regions of the world to alleviate the worst forms of suffering and enhance the well-being of the poorest people. Is it freedom, empowerment, privilege, or oppression? For governance? As Louis Menand argues, "almost everything in the popular understanding of Orwell is a distortion of what he really thought and the kind of writer he was." fact has widely been deemed the 'Asian Century'. We begin with examinations of these central notions and debates, and then move to investigations of the political thought of four key late modern Afro-Caribbean and African-American thinkers within the tradition: Walter Rodney, Sylvia Wynter, Cedric Robinson, and Angela Davis. Then we will look at some important factors which shape how followers approach would-be leaders: inequality and economic precarity; identity and group consciousness; notions of membership, community, and hierarchy; and declining local institutions. We will go on to discuss the U.S. support for Islamist political parties during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and the consequent rise of the Taliban, and the role of Afghanistan in the September 11th attacks and the "War on Terror" that followed. What, if any, is the relationship between economic development and the organization of power (regime type)? As a background to understanding the reasons for and histories of these policies, this course will read several important books that deal with the Great Depression, the financial crisis a decade ago, and the risks of debt. Currently over 281 million international migrants live in a country different from where they were born, about 1 out of every 30 humans in the world and a population that has roughly doubled since 1990. The Sentinels Scholar may submit her/his essay for consideration for honors in Political Science. The course delves into theories on political parties, ethnic politics, electoral institutions, civil-military relations, political violence, state-building, inter-state conflict, and civil wars to understand the variation in regime type in the region. Drawing on political speeches, documentary films, humanitarian campaigns, and a variety of academic texts, we critically analyze how those categories are constructed, as well as the political work they do in making claims, justifying policies, and shaping public opinion. [more], America's founding documents explicitly state that the will of the people is the authority upon which our government rests. Serious inquiry into waste is rare in political theory and political science--perhaps understandably, given that the study of politics is shaped by the same taboos that shape politics. The readings include Alexis de Tocqueville, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Karl Polanyi, Barrington Moore, Robert Putnam, Michel Foucault, and Edward Said. How are tensions between liberty and equality resolved? Should they, perhaps, abandon Europe altogether and re-constitute themselves elsewhere? [more], Martinican psychiatrist, philosopher, and revolutionary Frantz Fanon was among the leading critical theorists and Africana thinkers of the twentieth century. Yet, in spite of the state's efforts, opposition and dissent continue to bubble to the surface. Skepticism of government has deep roots and strong resonance throughout American political history. [more], In the past half-century, American cities have gotten both much richer and much poorer. does it mean to be an American? How do nuclear weapons affect great power politics? The course then will turn to Israeli settlement policies on the West Bank, the controversies surrounding the Oslo Agreement, and the contemporary situations in the West Bank and Gaza. To what extent do these calamities pose new, existential threats to the republic? Finally, we will assess whether US foreign policy decisions are coherent - that is, whether the US can be said to follow a "grand strategy." DuBois, Frantz Fanon, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Ella Baker and contemporary theorists like Saidiya Hartman, Charles Mills, bell hooks, and Frank Wilderson--among others. With equality? inexplicably lawless, violent, and anarchic. In addition to those who argue for an expanded and emancipatory conception of politics, we will consider arguments against politics as primary path to improvement or focus of commitment. Women and Girls in (Inter)National Politics. Our task in the seminar is to uncover and interrogate those visions. course focuses on the adoption and development of policies to address poverty and inequality in the U.S. The third part surveys significant topics relevant to the themes of the course, with applications to current public policy issues, such as: power relations and autonomy in the workplace; asymmetric information and social insurance; economic inequality and distributive justice; equality of opportunity; the economics of health care; positional goods and the moral foundations of capitalism; social media and addiction; economic nationalism; behavioral economics; climate change and intergenerational equity; finance and financial crises; and rent-seeking. From its heretical roots in Jamaica, Garveyism, Ethiopianism, and Pan-Africanism, Rastafari has evolved from a Caribbean theological movement to an international political actor. First, it will consider the the terms of American foreign policy after the Cold War, how it sets these, and continuities and discontinuities between the Clinton and Bush administrations. What are the social and ethical prerequisites--and consequences--of democracy? We then move on to the empirical section of the course in which we cover case studies of state failure in parts of Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. What's really at stake when we depict our leaders? How is the office and purpose of the presidency affected by an economic order predicated on private capital? [more], This course's goal is to show how the racialization of Islam and Muslims has been constitutive to the latter's imagination. How does corruption grow and what can we do about it? The course will begin--by focusing on the Manhattan Project--with a brief technical overview of nuclear physics, nuclear technologies, and the design and effects of nuclear weapons. Many who today are recognized as great leaders were, in their historical moment, branded dangerous. [more], The recent history of Venezuela offers a window into many of the most important political and economic issues faced by people in developing countries. American independence movements through the end of the Cold War and recent developments. The New Left and Neoliberalism in Latin America. The course integrates theoretical perspectives related to a range of international security issues--including the causes of war, alliance politics, nuclear strategy, deterrence, coercion, reassurance, misperception, and credibility concerns--with illustrative case studies of decision-makers in action. [more], Geography has decreed that the futures of Mexico and the United States will be tightly bound. Economically, the course will look at the institutional configuration of neo-liberalism, changes in economies, growing inequality, the financial crises, and prevalence of debt. We will also explore the current implications of Wynter's thought for Africana political theory, Afro-futurism, social justice, human rights, and critiques of liberal humanism. This research seminar examines the intent, process, meaning and consequence of these new practices, particularly in terms of national constitutions, international law, and principles of justice. How is the domination or conquest of nature connected with domination and conquest within human societies? Second, was one side primarily responsible for the length and intensity of the Cold War in Europe?

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williams college political science course catalog