Course:

PS 105  Introduction to Comparative Politics

Professor:

Omar Encarnacion  

CRN:

90018

Schedule:

 Tue  Thurs    12:10 PM - 1:30 PM Olin 201

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Global & International Studies

(PS core course) The basic intellectual premise of comparative politics is that we can better understand the politics of any country by placing it within a broader, global context.  This comparative "method" allows us to address some of the most fundamental questions in the study of politics, such as what makes democracy possible, how is political representation organized around the world, and why some nations are more successful than others at generating wealth and prosperity, while contributing to the building of theories about the nature and evolution of states, interest groups, civil society, and the dynamics of political processes such as revolution, modernization, and democratization.  Class lectures and discussions will cover developed and developing states, as well as democratic and non-democratic ones.

 

Course:

PS 109  Political Economy

Professor:

Sanjib Baruah  

CRN:

90019

Schedule:

Mon  Wed     8:30 AM - 9:50 AM Olin 202

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Global & International Studies; Human Rights

 (PS core course) The term Political Economy refers to the interrelationship between politics and economics. However, political scientists and economists do not always use the term in the same sense. Even within these two disciplines the term has multiple meanings. The course will review the ideas of a few major thinkers such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Karl Polanyi, Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes, and John Kenneth Galbraith, and will introduce students to two subfields in particular: international political economy and the political economy of development. Among the questions we would ask are: Why are some countries rich and others poor? What is development? What are the prime movers of globalization? Is the US an empire given its influence and power in the global economy? How can development be redefined to tackle the challenge of climate change? Among issues that we will look at closely is the role of organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization in managing the global economy and the current debates about reforming these institutions.

 

Course:

PS 115  Introduction to Political Theory

Professor:

Mie Inouye  

CRN:

90577

Schedule:

Tue  Thurs    3:50 PM - 5:10 PM

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

(PS core course) This course offers a survey of Western political theory from ancient Athens to modern Europe and North America. We will explore the themes of justice, freedom, democracy, equality, and social change through the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Karl Marx, Rosa Luxemburg, Frederick Douglass, and others. In each case, we will attend to the problems and experiences, including revolution, civil war, capitalism, and slavery, to which these thinkers responded. We will also consider new problems and experiences of the twenty-first century, and how they might shape our own theories of politics.

 

Course:

PS 207  Global Citizenship

Professor:

Michelle Murray  

CRN:

90021

Schedule:

Mon    Fri   8:30 AM - 9:50 AM Olin 203

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

D+J Difference and Justice

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Global & International Studies (Core Course); Human Rights

(HRP core course) What does it mean to be a global citizen? This question has gained increasing salience as the world has become more globalized. With globalization new problems surface that cut across national borders and fall outside the jurisdiction of individual nation-states. In response new forms of political organization have emerged to address these problems, which challenge the state as the primary locus of political authority and ultimate source of individual rights. In particular, these individuals and groups have appealed to a kind of global citizenship from below to call for action on and demand redress for the harms created by globalization. This interdisciplinary course critically examines the conceptual and theoretical foundations of the concept of global citizenship and investigates how the idea might work in practice. We begin by considering the conceptual, philosophical and historical debates about citizenship. What does it mean to be a citizen of a particular state? What obligations and responsibilities accompany citizenship? How have understandings of citizenship changed and expanded over time? What is global citizenship and how does it differ from national citizenship? Next we evaluate these ideas about citizenship in the context of globalization and the new problems created by an increasingly interdependent world. Topics covered may include: migration and refugees; the environment and resources; (in)security and borders; health and infectious disease; and development and inequality. We conclude by assessing the role (if any) global citizenship can play in global governance and consider how the international system might be transformed to better address the challenges of globalization. This course will be taught concurrently at Bard's international partner institutions. Students will benefit from collaboration with peers at these institutions.

 

Course:

PS 210  American Political Thought

Professor:

Simon Gilhooley  

CRN:

90022

Schedule:

Mon  Wed     10:20 AM - 11:40 AM Olin 310

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

18

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  American Studies

The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to American Political Thought. Drawing upon material from across the entire span of American history, we shall attempt to develop an understanding of concepts such as democracy, liberty, individuality, and republicanism, and to discuss how understandings of each of them have influenced political and social choices in what is now the United States. Readings will include Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Emma Goldman, among others.

 

Course:

PS 214  United States Latin American Relations

Professor:

Omar Encarnacion  

CRN:

90551

Schedule:

 Tue  Thurs    3:50 PM - 5:10 PM Olin 201

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:   American Studies; Global & International Studies; Human Rights; Latin American / Iberian Studies

Since proclaiming the Monroe Doctrine, in 1823, the United States has pursued a project of economic, political, and cultural hegemony towards its southern neighbors in Latin America.  This course employs a wide range of theories and concepts in international relations--especially imperialism, moralism, and realism--to understand the main factors underpinning American behavior towards Latin America.  Along the way, the course also provides a window into how the nations of Latin America have responded to US military interventions and political interferences intended to protect American interests in the region.  The majority of these military interventions and political interferences took place in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America, when the United States was in the midst of a full-blown imperial expansion, and during the Cold War (1945-1991), in reaction to the rise of Marxist-inspired revolutionary governments and guerrilla movements.  The concluding part of the class examines the main issues that bring the United States and Latin America into conflict since the end of the Cold War: trade, immigration, drug-trafficking, and human rights. 

 

Course:

PS 2251  Dissent! Politics, Justice, Dignity

Professor:

Pinar Kemerli  

CRN:

90576

Schedule:

Mon   Fri  12:10 PM – 1:30 PM Olin 204

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  American Studies; Global & International Studies; Human Rights; Middle Eastern Studies

Why do citizens rebel? When is it legitimate to break the law? What makes resistance just? This course surveys modern theories of dissent and resistance. We will examine the characteristics, justifications, and limitations of major forms of resistance including decolonization and civil disobedience, and focus on liberal, republican, and radical perspectives on what makes such resistance necessary and just. We will also study how contemporary technological transformations have changed the forms and means of resistance and what we perceive as justice and injustice. Our goal is to acquire a historically grounded understanding of key concepts in discussions and justifications of dissent including political obligation, independence, conscience, dignity, civility, refusal, and violence/nonviolence, and learn to form connections between theoretical debates and our contemporary political dilemmas. In addition to textual resources, the course includes analysis of several movies and documentaries including Malcolm X (1992), The Square (2013), and Chi-raq (2015).

 

Course:

HR/PS 243  Constitutional Law

Professor:

Peter Rosenblum and Roger Berkowitz

CRN:

90139

Schedule:

Mon  Wed     3:50 PM - 5:10 PM Reem Kayden Center 103

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

40

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  American Studies; Philosophy

This course will provide an introduction to constitutional theory and the evolution of constitutional law in the United States  The course begins with a look at the history and theory of constitutionalism with a particular focus on the writing of Aristotle, Montesquieu and Arendt.  We then explore the advent of written constitutions in the United States and the Federal Constitution, before diving into developments in US Constitutional law from the founding through the New Deal.  Finally, we will explore some key issues in emerging constitutional law that wrestle with core concepts of constitutionalism, including voting rights, campaign finance and the administrative state.  The course confronts the role of a constitution in the state and the particular challenges of a written constitution enforced by courts.  In addition to theoretical and historical materials, the course will include substantial case law readings as well as legal writing by contemporary scholars.

 

Course:

PS 247  American Foreign Policy Traditions

Professor:

Walter Russell Mead  

CRN:

90558

Schedule:

Mon  Wed     8:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Distributional Area:

HA Historical Analysis

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

This course prepares students to analyze contemporary American foreign policy issues by offering an introduction to the historical development of the distinctive foreign policy tradition of the United States. Readings will examine the ideological foundations of American foreign policy and the history of American involvement in different regions around the world to put current developments in perspective.

 

Course:

PS 264  U.S. and the Modern Middle East

Professor:

Frederic Hof  

CRN:

90024

Schedule:

Mon  Wed     8:30 AM - 9:50 AM Olin 305

Distributional Area:

HA Historical Analysis

Class cap:

18

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  American Studies; Global & International Studies; Historical Studies; Middle Eastern Studies

This class will focus on the relationship of US foreign policy to the Arab states of the modern Middle East: the Arab countries of the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Arabian Peninsula, plus Egypt. The first part of the course will put this relationship in its historical perspective.  We will discuss the Ottoman Empire before, during, and immediately after World War I, the postwar treaties that stripped the Empire of its Arab holdings and established European rule in much of the Arab World through the League of Nations mandate system, the creation of independent Arab states, the pivotal year 1948, the rise of Arab nationalism (Nasserism and its rivals), the June 1967 war, and the rise of political Islam, among other topics.  The second part of the course will focus on the official American relationship with the Arab World from post-World War II until the present day.  Topics to be discussed include: securing petroleum resources; the Cold War; the security of Israel; dealing with political Islam and terrorism; the 2003 Iraq War; and the 2011 Arab Spring and its aftermath.

 

Course:

PS 268  Beyond Elections: Revitalizing Democracy Through Citizens’ Assemblies

Professor:

David Van Reybrouck  

CRN:

90555

Schedule:

Tue   Thur     5:40 PM - 7:40 PM Olin 204

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning,Bbeing, Value

Class cap:

15

Credits:

2

Cross-listed:  Human Rights

This is a special 2 credit workshop taught by the Hannah Arendt Center and National Endowment of the Humanities Distinguished Visiting Fellow, David Van Reybrouck.  This course explores how electoral democracies can be enriched with a whole new set of procedures of citizen’s participation. The course is both a practical, hands-on experience on how to design deliberative democratic processes with local politicians, and an exploration into the theory and philosophy of sortition, or lottery-based democracy. We will work as a group, we will learn together and will have the opportunities to exchange with two local mayors from Dutchess County and other community leaders.” Students will have the opportunity to present their work at the annual Hannah Arendt Center Conference on October 14-15. This course meets September 14th – October 12th.

 

Course:

PS 270  All Politics is Local

Professor:

Jonathan Becker and Erin Cannan  

CRN:

90514

Schedule:

Mon     3:50 PM - 5:10 PM Barringer Global Classroom

+ once a week for an internship session of three to six hours

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

12

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  American Studies

This course focuses on the study of, and engagement with, local politics and is animated by the question: why does local government matter?  Local government is often overlooked, but plays a critical role in the day-to-day life of citizens. In spite of this, the structure and activities of local government are poorly understood.  The course will seek to answer the following questions: What role does local government (village, town, and county) play in the day-to-day lives of citizens? How do local politics intersect and differ from state and national politics. What experiments in local governance can inform national discourse on democracy? The course is an Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences Course and is organized around an internship/practicum. Students will commit to a semester-long internship with a government office or agency, that normally meets four hours per week. Students will also participate in a series of seminars and attend meetings with village, local, and county officials, attend sessions of local government bodies, and read primary and secondary sources concerning the issue of local governance. The class will meet twice each week: (a) once for a classroom session of one hour and twenty minutes and (b) once for an internship session of three to six hours. Students in the class may also be asked attend some public meetings, like Town Board meetings. At both locations, we strive to link the classroom to the world. Interested students must email Erin Cannan at civic@bard.edu before registration and complete a brief interest form to help match students to internship sites.

 

Course:

PS 323  Migration Citizenship and Work

Professor:

Sanjib Baruah  

CRN:

90026

Schedule:

Mon       2:00 PM - 4:20 PM Olin 310

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Asian Studies; Human Rights

Large-scale migration has long been integral to global processes that have shaped the modern world. The modern history of international migration begins with European colonization of large parts of the New World, Africa and Asia. The forced migration of millions of Africans to the Americas is also a legacy of this era. Flows out of Europe had dominated international migration until the early twentieth century.  The direction began to change only in the middle of that century when Africa, Asia, and Latin America became a growing source of international emigration.  Starting with a historical overview of international migration, the course will focus on the modern territorial order of formally sovereign states, which is premised to a significant extent on the disavowal of migration. Since employment eligibility is tied to citizenship status, significant segments of the work force in many countries are now undocumented.

 

Course:

PS 352  Political Violence and Terrorism

Professor:

Christopher McIntosh  

CRN:

90027

Schedule:

Mon       10:20 AM - 12:40 PM Olin 301

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed: Global & International Studies; Human Rights

The September 2001 terrorist attacks irrevocably changed US politics and foreign policy, giving rise to nearly two decades of war, expanded surveillance domestically and abroad, the use of torture and indefinite detention and a targeted killing policy conducted primarily via drone strikes around the globe. More recently, the January 6th attacks on the US Capitol evidenced what can happen when white nationalism, hate, and right wing ideologies are perpetuated by powerful political actors. While neither is a new phenomenon, it’s only relatively recently that terrorism and right wing violence have come to dominate the US national security agenda. Political violence, terrorism, and the propagation of hate-based ideologies have a long history in the United States This seminar will provide a theoretical and empirical examination of this type of violence as a political phenomenon. The first part of the course explores the conceptual and theoretical debates surrounding political violence within the United States and abroad typically characterized as terrorism. Topics discussed will include the distinctions between terrorism and other forms of political violence, individual and group motivations for using terrorism to achieve political goals, the role of religion and ideology in motivating terrorist groups, and the importance of state sponsorship in supporting terrorist activity and individual acts of violence like hate crimes. The second part of the course will address the challenges of government responses, including the strengths and weaknesses of counterterrorist tools such as military force, diplomacy, intelligence and law enforcement, the relationship between violence and democracy, and the role of the international community. In the final part of the course we will situate the contemporary US experience with terrorism, right wing violence and hate crimes in a comparative and historical perspective.

 

Course:

PS 358  Radical American Democracy

Professor:

Roger Berkowitz  

CRN:

90028

Schedule:

 Tue      2:00 PM - 4:20 PM Olin 307

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap:

12

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  American Studies; Human Rights; Philosophy

This seminar is an exploration of radical American democracy. While most characterizations of democracy see it as a form of government, this course explores the essence of democracy as a specifically modern way of life. To do so, it turns to some great thinkers of American democracy such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Ralph Ellison, W. E. B. DuBois, and Hannah Arendt. What unites these radical democrats is the conviction that democracy is a practice of individuals rather than an institutional form of governance. As an ideal of radical individualism, American democratic thought offers, perhaps surprisingly, an aristocratic critique of the limits of democratic government even as it, seen from another side, makes possible our culture of narcissistic consumerism. Our aim is to understand the democratic spirit of radical individualism that has proven so seductive and powerful since its modern birth in the American revolution. Texts will include Emerson's essays The American Scholar and Experience, Thoreau's Walden, Ellison's Invisible Man and Arendt's On Revolution.   This course is part of the College Seminar on Crises of Democracy; students will be required to attend parts of the Hannah Arendt Center Conference "Crises of Democracy."

 

Course:

PS 392  The Political Thought of W.E.B. Du Bois

Professor:

Mie Inouye  

CRN:

90572

Schedule:

 Thurs      10:20 AM - 12:40 PM

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap:

12

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Africana Studies; American Studies; Human Rights; Philosophy

This seminar explores the political thought of the sociologist, organizer, and political theorist William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. We will trace the development of Du Bois’s political thought on the themes of organization, race, class, leadership, democracy, and freedom over the course of his long career. Throughout, we’ll consider the relationship between Du Bois’s experiences of political organizing in the Niagara Movement, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Socialist Party and major developments in his political thought. Finally, we will consider the relevance of Du Bois’s political thought to today’s black freedom struggle.

 

 

Cross-listed courses:

 

Course:

CC 102 A  Citizenship as Exclusion

Professor:

Michelle Murray  

CRN:

90508

Schedule:

Mon    Fri   12:10 PM - 1:30 AM Olin 205

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaing, Being, Value

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed: Human Rights; Political Studies

 

Course:

CC 102 B Citizenship in the Contemporary United States

Professor:

Simon Gilhooley  

CRN:

90511

Schedule:

Mon  Wed     2:00 PM - 3:20 PM Olin 202

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaing, Being, Value

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

18

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Political Studies

 

Course:

SOC 144  Introduction to Political Sociology

Professor:

Karen Barkey  

CRN:

90569

Schedule:

 Tue  Thurs    3:50 PM – 5:10 PM Olin 203

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Political Studies