POLITICAL STUDIES

CRN

13522

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 104

Title

International Relations

Professor

Sanjib Baruah

Schedule

Wed Fri 3:00 pm - 4:20 pm OLIN 201
The course introduces basic concepts of International Relations as a field of study. It is organized around the question: how is world order maintained? Projects to create world order are necessarily fraught with tension and conflict. The course will examine the role of military power, alliance systems, international organizations, and international law. The rules and institutions that govern global cooperation in areas such as trade, economic development, environmental policy, human rights or health-care will be among our concerns. Are we seeing the emergence of a new world order? Would it be different from the world order that prevailed during the second half of the 20th century? What are the consequences of civil conflicts, state failure, and international terrorism for world order? What are the implications of the Bush administration's new national security posture of pre-emptive action against hostile states? The goal of the course will be to learn to think theoretically about "current events."

CRN

13142

Distribution

A/C

Course No.

PS 118

Title

Theories of the Self

Professor

Elaine Thomas

Schedule

Tu Th 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm OLIN 303
This course examines the psychological, social, and intellectual origins of the "self" and compares different theoretical and practical approaches to transforming it. The course will begin by retracing the early development of Freud's psychological theory of the self and his invention of a new "psychoanalytic" approach to treatment and self-understanding. Freud's theory of the self will then be critically compared to the ideas of other contemporary authors representing a range of alternative cultural and intellectual viewpoints. The course will be particularly concerned with whether theories of the self can be applied cross-culturally, and with how understandings of self-identity and practices of self-transformation in different contexts reflect, challenge, or reinforce socially established patterns of sexual, racial, and economic inequality.

CRN

13385

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 126

Title

East Asian Politics and Society

Professor

Nara Dillon

Schedule

Tu Th 10:00 am - 11:20 am OLIN 307

Cross-listed: Asian Studies

This course offers an introduction to the comparative politics of Japan, Korea, and greater China. We will focus on a few of the "big questions" that comparativists have posed about the politics of the region, rather than attempt a comprehensive survey. The first part of the course focuses on the question of economic development: how can industrialization and sustained economic growth be achieved? After examining how the economies of East Asia were surpassed by the European industrial revolution, we will turn to the "miracle" of their resurgence in the 20th century, even as many other countries in the world tried and failed to industrialize. In the second part of the course, we will turn to the question of revolution: what are the causes underlying social revolutions? Why did China and Korea undergo radical revolutions, when both countries seemed to lack all the necessary ingredients for one? How did Japan avoid a revolution in its rapid transformation from a closed, agricultural society to an industrialized, imperial power? Finally, we will address the question of democracy in a region with a long history of authoritarian rule. In addition to examining democratization in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, we will explore different cultural conceptions of democracy and their impact on political reform.

CRN

13146

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 153

Title

Latin American Politics and Society

Professor

Omar Encarnacion

Schedule

Mon Wed 11:30 am - 12:50 pm OLIN 202

Cross-listed: LAIS

This course examines political life in Latin America in the postcolonial period. The course covers the entire region but emphasizes the most representative countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, and Peru. The overarching purpose of the course is to understand change and continuity in this region. We will endeavor to accomplish this by emphasizing both the historical development of institutions and political actors in Latin America (e.g. the state, capital, labor, the church, the military) as well as the variety of theoretical frameworks that scholars have constructed to understand the dynamics of political development throughout the region (e.g. modernization, dependencia, and political culture). Among the major themes covered in the course are the legacies of European colonialism, state building, revolution, corporatism and populism, military rule, and redemocratization. Open to all students.

CRN

13179

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 182

Title

Contested Ideals in American Political Thought

Professor

Mark Lindeman

Schedule

Tu Fri 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm OLIN 201

Cross-listed: American Studies

Liberty, democracy, equality, the "American dream." These fundamental values have been invoked, disputed, and transformed from the colonial period to the present. This course examines the contentious construction of American political ideals and visions of the good life and good society. We survey canonical texts in American political thought, as well as explicit critiques over the years.

CRN

13516

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 226

Title

Changing European Identities and Ethnic Relations

Professor

Elaine Thomas

Schedule

Tu Th 10:00 am -11:20 am OLIN 101

(Some Tu 10:00 am - 11:20 am HDRANX 106)

This course investigates contemporary problems in the sphere of ethnic relations in view of transformations of collective identities in European countries. The course will consist of two unequal parts. The first part will concentrate on basic concepts that will be used throughout the course, such as identity, ethnicity, nation and nationalism, and citizenship. The second, larger part will examine selected country cases, and will be further subdivided into "West European" and "East European" parts. The country cases will aim at mapping the key markers of national identity, identifying the most important historical narratives, and comparing the nature of identity- and ethnicity-related conflicts in different places. In addition, we will pay special attention to the social construction of "the West" and "the East" in European discourse. This course is one of the first being offered under the auspices of the Bard-Smolny Virtual Campus Project. Students will participate in experimenting with using innovative technologies, including live videoconferencing, to establish direct exchange between students at Bard and students taking the same course in parallel at Smolny College in St. Petersburg, Russia. Learning to use the technology will be part of the course; no prior experience with it is required. The class will be in English.

CRN

13494

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 254

Title

Constitutional Discourse

Professor

Daniel Karpowitz

Schedule

Wed Fri 10:00 am - 11:20 am PRE 101

PIE CORE COURSE

This course has two main objectives. The first is to introduce students to the American Constitutional structure by way of several doctrinal themes such as federalism, the separation of powers, and due process. The second, and more challenging goal, is to introduce students to some basic questions about American jurisprudence, such as the proper relation between law and morality, and the supposed opposition between 'the rule of law' and 'the rule of men'. Students learn some key legal terms and doctrines, but within larger, more critical frameworks that pay close attention to the rhetorical nature of constitutional discourse. Ultimately, by developing an interest in the relationship between politics and aesthetics, this course aims to enrich students' ways of thinking about texts. It also suggests the deeper importance of the institutions of American constitutionalism.

CRN

13654

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 256

Title

Politics and the News Media: National and Global Issues

Professor

Jonathan Becker

Schedule

Mon Wed 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm OLIN 202

PIE CORE COURSE

This course examines broad questions about the relationship between the news media and politics. It addresses the interaction between government and news media, concentrating on the characteristics of different national media systems, legal regulation of the media, the impact of corporate ownership and globalization, and the role of new media technologies. Particular attention will be devoted to the role of media in elections and restrictions related to national security concerns. About one-third of the course will be devoted to media in the United States. The rest of the course will involve thematic comparisons of media in a number countries, including Russia, Hungary, Sweden, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

CRN

13180

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 260

Title

Environmental Politics in United States

Professor

Mark Lindeman

Schedule

Tu Th 4:30 pm - 5:50 pm OLIN 204

Cross-listed: American Studies, Environmental Studies

Environmental politics involve many crucial themes in American politics: How does government regulation work and fail to work? How do competing interests and values shape policy outcomes? How do federal, state, and local governments interact? How do policymakers grapple with (or evade) complex technical issues? Why is political powerlessness hazardous to one's health? What role does the United States play in international politics, and why? What do the American people really value, and what do they really understand? How do social movements and activists try to change "the system"? We will consider major issues in American environmental politics, including toxic waste and environmental justice, climate change and energy policy, wilderness conservation, endangered species protection, and others.

CRN

13524

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 274

Title

Politics of Globalization

Professor

Sanjib Baruah

Schedule

Wed Fr 10:00 am - 11:20 am HEG 201
Advocates of free markets see globalization as a positive force which can generate employment and raise the world's living standards. Critics see it as an excuse for the exploitation of workers and the expropriation of resources of poor countries, environmental degradation, cultural homogenization and a race to the bottom in living standards. The course will be framed by the question: what is new about globalization and what is not? If globalization is new, what does one make of earlier historical processes that were global in scope, e.g. western colonial expansion, global networks of production and exchange, the settling of entire continents by peoples from another continent, the slave trade, pre-modern empires or attempts to create universal communities of faith? Does globalization describe a distinct and linear process of social change taking place in our time? We will read about globalization - old and new. We will conclude with a discussion exploring the causes and consequences of September 11th and ask: is it possible that we are seeing yet another historical phase of a period of intensive global interaction being checked by countervailing forces generated by the forces of globalization?

CRN

13176

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 295

Title

Dreams of Perfectibilty II: The Quest for Hegemony from FDR to Bush II

Professor

James Chace

Schedule

Mon 11:30 am - 12:50 pm OLIN 205

Tu 11:30 am - 12:50 pm OLIN 310

Cross-listed: American Studies

Immediately after the Second World War, a clash of ideologies developed into a Cold War between the two victors, the United States and Soviet Russia. To what extent was this a moral struggle and to what degree, a classic conflict of great powers? This course will analyze the direction of American foreign policy during an era that has been characterized as a pax americana. It will also make use of new material dealing with the Soviet approach to the postwar world by studying excerpts from recently released Soviet archives. The second half of the twentieth century also traces a trajectory from American predominance to American decline, and then, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, to American hegemony. The end of the Cold War marked the end of the bipolar world and the emergence of the United States as megapower. The question now is, will the twenty-first century be the American Century? Open to First Year students.

CRN

13181

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 310

Title

Rule of the People

Professor

Mark Lindeman

Schedule

Th 1:30 pm - 3:50 pm OLIN 304
"Democracy" means, more or less, "rule of the people." H. L. Mencken said, "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard." Do people rule in the United States? Do people know what they want? Should people get what they want? Do people get what they want (or perhaps what they deserve)? These issues point to empirical questions about the American political system and the citizens who putatively run it. This course addresses our knowledge about the public's role in policymaking, and its intellectual and moral competence to make policy. We pay special attention to racial politics, gender issues, and other controversies that complicate our evaluation of majority rule. Ample time and support is devoted to student

research projects, which may run the gamut of topics in American politics.

CRN

13037

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 322

Title

The American Age: U.S. Power and Purpose in the Twenty-First Century

Professor

James Chace

Schedule

Wed 10:00 am - 12:20 pm OLIN 107

PIE CORE COURSE

With the collapse of Soviet power in Eastern Europe in 1989, the bipolar world that endured for almost five decades came to an end. This has produced an unexpected result in the international order: the end of superpower rivalry. The United States is thus deprived of a role that provided it with its national mission throughout the years of the Cold War. At the same time, its allies and antagonists seek to curb the hegemonic ambitions of the new American imperium. Isolated, resented and envied, the United States finds itself compelled to reconsider not only what it must do but, in a significant respect, what it is and what it stands for. There is a new global agenda for America, whose power and predominance has never been greater, and in which the search for invulnerability takes place in a world torn by disorder and conflict. This new American agenda will be debated and defined by a group of upper-level students.

CRN

13386

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 329

Title

Popular Protest in the Modern World

Professor

Nara Dillon

Schedule

Wed 10:30 am - 12:50 pm OLIN 309

Cross-listed: Asian Studies

What moves people to take to the streets to protest injustice? Why do people risk their lives for political change? Under what conditions are these kinds of political actions effective? This seminar aims to give students command over the major social science theories about protest movements, social movements, rebellions, and revolutions. After an overview of the historical development of this school of social science theory, students will read a range of the leading theoretical approaches employed by scholars today, including moral economy, rational choice, popular culture, and social movement theory, among others. Theoretical readings will be paired with case studies of protests against capitalism, millenarian rebellions, the French Revolution, the Chinese Communist Revolution, and the American civil rights movement. In addition, we will turn these theoretical approaches and comparative cases to the task of understanding the problems and potential of contemporary forms of collective action, such as anti-globalization protests and suicide bombings.

CRN

13523

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 333

Title

Nations, States and Nationalism

Professor

Sanjib Baruah

Schedule

Th 10:30 am - 12:50 pm OLIN 305

Cross-listed: MES

The twentieth century was the century of nationalism. The national conflicts that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in the territory of the former USSR and in the rest of Eastern and Central Europe were only the most recent evidence of the power of nationalism. But even though we talk of national identities as if they are natural, terms such as nations, nationalities and nationalism are difficult to define. The competition faced by official nationalisms from other comparable solidarities - those that are larger than official nations, e.g. pan-Arabism, or pan-Islamicism, or smaller than official nations, e.g. Quebec, Basque, Kashmiri or Sri Lankan Tamil national identities -- is often underestimated or misunderstood because we tend to take the national order of things as given. We will examine the history of the idea of nations and the "nation state" and will read a number of key theoretical texts. Students will be required to decide on a research topic early in the semester. While the readings selected by the instructor will provide the basic framework of the seminar, research topics chosen by students for their papers will constitute case studies. A high degree of participation is expected.

CRN

13623

Distribution

C

Course No.

PS 413

Title

The Spread of Democracy

Professor

Omar Encarnacion

Schedule

Tu 10:30 am - 12:50 pm OLIN 305

Cross-listed: LAIS

PIE CORE COURSE

Since the mid-1970s, over forty nations in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia have exited authoritarian rule and inaugurated democratic government, occasioning a global democratic revolution of unprecedented proportions. The rise of open and competitive political systems in parts of the world once seemingly condemned to dictatorship raises at least two critical questions to students of political development in general and democracy in particular. What accounts for the triumphant rise of democracy at the end of the twentieth century? And what are the prospects for democratic consolidation among fledgling democracies? These questions provide the anchor for this seminar on the politics of democratization. They frame a wide range of issues and theoretical questions in the study of the politics of democratization such as whether democracy is the outcome of material prosperity or skillful political actors, which kinds of political institutions and arrangements are best suited to a new democracy, how democratizing societies settle the legacies of repression of the retreating authoritarian regime, and the links between democratization and political violence. The cases covered by the seminar include Spain, Argentina, Russia and South Africa. Open to students with a background in the social sciences.

(Note:David Kettler is on assigned-research leave during the Spring and Fall Semesters, 2003. He will hold regular office hours and remain available for informal student conferences, senior project advising, and individual tutorials/reading courses on subjects relating to his specialties: topics in eighteenth-century political thought, Weimar social and legal theory; labor and the law in the US and Canada; intellectuals in exile. Registration for tutorials by interview only.)