19 courses with the subject HSS, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
HSS 2002Indigenous People's Politics and History
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts This Intermediate level History and Society class is an Introduction to the study of the politics and history of Indigenous peoples. The class will focus mostly on the United States and Canada - two countries created through settler colonial conquest, genocide, and dispossession of Indigenous peoples from their territories. The course will offer opportunities for looking globally at Indigenous people’s experiences, histories and politics. To understand Indigenous people’s history and politics, one must learn about the intertwined history of colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy and heteropatriarchy, and their oppressive impacts upon Indigenous peoples. We will spend a great deal of time on Indigenous political movements that resist and refuse these oppressive systems. The course materials will include scholarly studies, historical narratives, fiction, poetry, first person narratives, documentaries and other media that help students understand the historical and contemporary reality of Indigenous peoples, colonialism, and politics. Students will be expected to develop an understanding of the fundamental elements of Native American and Indigenous studies and will have the opportunity to explore their own topics of interest in project-oriented assignments. This will be a highly participatory class that will require close attention to the assigned materials and consistent class engagement. RHT1000) Credits 4 212
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits This course will be an introduction to the main themes, processes, and ideas in Latin American history since 1810. The central focus will be on Mexico, the Caribbean, and the ABC countries (Argentina, Brazil, and Chile), without neglecting the main thinkers and major historical events from other countries. It will develop familiarity with critical developments in modern Latin American history such as slavery, modernization, neocolonialism, racism, and migratory flows. At times it will take a global perspective to situate Latin America in its proper international context, paying close attention to US-Latin American relations. In other words, the main goals of the course will be to cultivate an understanding of key concepts, developments, and issues in the region’s history, while offering a sense of Latin America’s human and cultural diversity. RHT1000) Credits 4
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits History has been the unfortunate ground on which many of South Asia’s fiercest political battles have played, and continue to play themselves out. This course considers a few of the key debates that have animated South Asian history. These include debates on the nature of colonialism, nationalism; the shape of a free India; the founding principles of the states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan; and the legacy of colonialism on democracy, development, and globalization in these South Asian countries. We will also consider how recourse to certain interpretations of ‘history’ has influenced the crafting of policy and politics Structured chronologically, the course begins with a study of colonialism in the early nineteenth century and ends by considering the challenges of deepening democratization, unequal development and the varied manifestations of globalization. RHT1000) Credits 4 Babson College Undergraduate Catalog 2026-2027
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits This course explores the role of the United States throughout the world from 1900 to the present. We will investigate the people, institutions, and processes that influenced American diplomatic and military engagements, and analyze the impact and effectiveness of America’s role. We will begin by exploring the emergence of America as an empire, and how American power and influence evolved and changed over the course of the century to the present day. We will explore America’s role in shaping the Cold War, in particular in Latin American and the wars in Vietnam, as well as more recent engagements in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa. RHT1000) Credits 4
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits This intermediate course will begin by examining different perspectives on the role of power, anarchy, institutions, and identity in the international system. These ideas will then be used to explore a wide range of current global issues, including war, trade, human rights, humanitarian intervention, and environmental problems. The goal of this course is to learn how various theories can bring both a richer understanding of the nature of international problems and of the motivations and perspectives of various international actors. This semester special attention will be given to the topics of international migration and conflicts in the Middle East. RHT1000) Credits 4
(Formerly American Politics) 4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits The course begins with a focus on significant ideas, major political and economic institutions, and key social conflicts and events that have shaped the character of American politics. We will position American politics in its historical context, recognizing and contending with the legacies of enslavement, white supremacy, and imperial violence in its development. As such, the fundamental role of race, colonialism, gender, sexuality, and class will be addressed throughout so that we can understand key and persistent features of American politics. The latter half of the course will examine contemporary ideologies, struggles over civil liberties and rights, the forces generating economic inequality, and the origins of mass incarceration and systemic racism. We will also spend the beginning of classes discussing the news, so the class will be flexible enough to respond to and address political events as they occur. The course will involve a combination of lecturing, discussion, and small-group activities, so class participation is important. RHT1000) Credits 4 Babson College Undergraduate Catalog 2026-2027
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits Comparative politics is a field that seeks to understand political dynamics within states and to understand a variety of political phenomena common in many countries. This course will use such cases as Britain, France, Russia, China, Iran, India, and Brazil to look at issues of nationalism, economic policies, institutional design, development, and social change. Comparative Politics is also characterized by a methodology that seeks to illuminate the reasons for similarities and differences across countries and provide some tools to think more critically about various political claims and proposals. RHT1000) Credits 4 215
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits This course studies Middle Eastern politics, culture, and society from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. To do this, we will focus on a wide variety of historical developments in different areas of the Middle East, starting with the late Ottoman period and moving into the Mandates of the interwar period, moments of decolonization, and eventually focusing on the post- independent states that emerge in the second half of the 20th century. Additionally, the course provides historical contexts to events, actors, and conflicts that have come to shape the present-day Middle East as well as the world, such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, the politics of oil the rise of Islamism, and the US-Middle East relations. In order to understand these complex issues, we will engage with works of scholarly analysis, primary documents, memoirs, fiction, and film. RHT1000) Credits 4 Babson College Undergraduate Catalog 2026-2027
HSS 2042Germans and Others: Germany in the 20th and
21st Centuries 4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits This course is for students in the Babson Leadership in a Global Context program in Berlin and is not open to students not enrolled in the program. What does it mean to be German in the 20th-21st centuries? Who decides who living within Germany is German and who is Other? Using this theme, you will be introduced to the political, social, economic, and cultura history of contemporary Germany within Europe and the world in the past 100 years. After a brief overview of German history, we will examine four moments: 1. The Holocaust 2. The Guest Worker (Gastarbeiter) Phenomenon 3. The Division and Reunification of East and West
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits Sociology explains human behavior in terms of group activities. The solidarity of a social group allows group members to work cooperatively towards common goals. But the dark side of group solidarity is that it often leads members to feel hostility towards individuals who are not a part of the group and for non-members to experience feelings of resentment towards the group and its members. How is solidarity achieved? How is the formation of social identity affected by group solidarity? How do groups competing for scarce resources construct a view of their group's needs, hopes, and desires? Where are group members and nonmembers situated in this view of social life? This course examines the relationship between group solidarity, resource scarcity, and the formation of social identity in everyday life. RHT1000) Credits 4 Babson College Undergraduate Catalog 2026-2027
