96 courses with the subject POSC, 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.
POSC 10002 Society in Silico6
Can models help us understand the social world? Vexing issues like segregation, economic inequality, corruption, market failure, resource over-exploitation, genocide, insurgency and terrorism have inspired scholars to ask if computational models of social systems can shed light on the hard-to-observe micro processes underlying macro problems. In this course we will explore the conceptual and empirical foundations of modeling especially in complex systems. We will read about, then experiment with, existing models while students learn to program their own using open-source software. Offered: Fall 2025 Liberal Arts Requirements: AI/WR1, Argument & Inquiry/WR1 IS, International Studies QRE, Quantitative
POSC 122Politics in America: Liberty and Equality6
An introduction to American government and politics. Focus on the Congress, Presidency, political parties and interest groups, the courts and the Constitution. Particular attention will be given to the public policy debates that divide liberals and conservatives and how these divisions are rooted in American political culture. Offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social
Introduction to ancient and modern political philosophy. We will investigate several fundamentally different approaches to the basic questions of politics–questions concerning the character of political life, the possibilities and limits of politics, justice, and the good society–and the philosophic presuppositions (concerning human nature and human flourishing) that underlie these, and all, political questions. Offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2 Tags: CL: 100 level PHIL Social and Political Theory 1 PHIL Traditions 2 POSI Core Faculty: Mihaela Czobor-Lupp · Laurence Cooper
POSC 210Misinformation, Political Rumors, and Conspiracy Theories6
Why do people believe in conspiracy theories, hold on to misinformed beliefs even in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary, and/or spread political and social rumors that may have little basis in fact? Who is most vulnerable to these various forms of misinformation? What are the normative and political consequences of misperceptions (if any)? This course explores the psychological, political, and philosophical approaches to the study of the causes, consequences, and tenacity of conspiracy beliefs, misinformation, and political rumors, as well as possible approaches that journalists could employ to combat misperceptions. Offered: Spring 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies SI, Social Inquiry Tags: AMST Democracy Activism CL: 200 level POSI Elective Faculty: Christina Farhart
POSC 211Media, Politics, and Difference: How Film Teaches Us Who We Are(n’t)
As cultural and historical texts, narrative films offer important insight into the cultures that produce and view them. Entertainment media teach us about how to see the world, including what counts as difference —abilities, genders, sexualities, races, ethnicities, classes, identities—and these categories’ meanings and commitments. The messages are “political” in many ways, signaling who has what kinds of: authority,
POSC 215Comparative Political Communication: News Coverage of Elections
This course will focus on the major theories of political communication in election advertising and political news contexts. Our case studies will focus on recent U.S., French, and UK elections. We compare the legal and cultural contexts of election news coverage and advertising in these countries and
The United States prides itself on freedom, yet millions of “legal” and “undocumented” citizens live without it. Across federal and state prisons, county jails, private prisons, and undocumented detention centers, the mark of incarceration has a significant impact on American politics. We center this paradox throughout the course as we look at different aspects of incarceration and punishment. We analyze the United States criminal justice system through policy, public opinion, sociology, and political theory. By using an interdisciplinary approach centered in political science, together we will discover whether the relationship between freedom and domination is truly a paradox. Offered: Winter 2026 Credits: 6 Liberal Arts Requirements: SI, Social Inquiry Tags: CL: 200 level POSI Elective Faculty: Adam Le
The power of the executive branch is loosely defined in the second article of the U.S. Constitution. While the presidency was designed to be clearly subordinated to Congress, presidential has exploded over time and has reshaped American politics around presidential prerogatives. Today, the other branches of the government defer to the president, while voters look to the president to solve a snowballing set of public problems. However, citizen expectations of the president have outpaced even the growth in executive power, which has simultaneously upended the constitutional order while still leaving the average American chronically dissatisfied with government in Washington. This course is designed to explore the dynamics, the drama, and the intrigue associated with the rise of the imperial presidency in America. Offered: Fall 2025 Liberal Arts Requirements: IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2 Tags: AMST Democracy Activism CL: 200 level POSI Elective Faculty: Ryan Dawkins
POSC 229The U.S. Congress: Coordination and Conflict
How does Congress make public policy? What factors inhibit or enhance legislative productivity? Is the policymaking process too partisan? This course provides a comprehensive introduction to congressional organization and procedures, the policy process, and the core debates and theories surrounding legislative politics in the United States Congress. The path of policy within Congress is an incredibly complex and conflict-ridden coordination problem. As a class, we will explore how the underlying motivations to win office, produce policy, and gain prestige drive congressional member behaviors. We will also carefully consider the institutional details of the House and Senate that constrain these legislative actors and influence legislative outcomes. Offered: Spring 2026 Credits: 6 Liberal Arts Requirements: SI, Social Inquiry Tags: CL: 200 level POSI Elective Faculty: Ryan Dawkins
This course should be taken as soon as possible after declaring a major, but not simultaneously with the stats class listed above. This course cannot be substituted with any other method course at Carleton or elsewhere. Methods POSC 232 Course – (3 credits) Course from a list of courses offered in the department. Methods courses of 3 credits or more in other departments may be substituted with prior approval from the chair.
In this lab, students will examine the epistemology, history, and application of the comparative method in contemporary political science with a particular focus on the subfields of comparative politics and international relations. Instruction will begin with an examination of methods of similarity and difference in paired comparisons and move to large-N comparative methods employing both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Offered: First Five Weeks, Winter 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: SI, Social Inquiry Tags: CL: 200 level POSI Methods Sequence Faculty: Alfred Montero
POSC 238Sport and Globalization in London and Seville Program: Globalization and6
Development: Lessons from Int’l Football This course uses international football (soccer) as a lens to analyze topics in globalization, such as immigration and labor, inequality, foreign investment, trade in services, and intellectual property. Students will be presented with key debates in these areas and then use cases from international football as illustrations. Focusing on the two wealthiest leagues in Europe, the English Premier League and the Spanish Liga, students will address key issues in the study of globalization and development, and in doing so enhance their understanding of the world, sports, and sport’s place in the world. Offered: Winter 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry program. Tags: CCST Encounters CL: 200 level POSI Elective EUST Transnational Support Faculty: Bob Carlson
POSC 243Socio-Political Systems and Gender Issues Across Europe
This course examines the role of activism centered on gender, race, sexuality, and disability in shaping political life across the Netherlands, Germany, and the Czech Republic. While the main emphasis is on current activism and politics, discussions are anchored in relevant historical contexts. Students investigate the impact of Europe’s colonial heritage on minorities, the ongoing legacies of World War II, the Cold War, and the EU expansion into Eastern Europe. Topics include reproductive rights, LGBT politics, homonationalism, “anti-genderism,” sex work, immigration, challenges faced by women of color and Jewish people in Europe, the legacy of state socialism in Eastern Europe. Offered: Fall 2025 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry Tags: ACE Theoretical GWSS Elective POSI Elective EUST Transnational Support Faculty: Iveta Jusová
Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Women's and Gender Studies in Europe program.
POSC 244The Politics of Eurovision
At first glance, Eurovision, the decades-long, continent-wide singing contest, is nothing more than a mindless pop culture event. Dismissed as a celebration of (at best) mediocre music, Eurovision seems like it would be the last place to learn about serious politics. In this class, however, we will explore Eurovision as a place where art is deeply political and often engages in debates about gender and sexuality, race, the legacies of colonialism, war and revolution, nationalism, and democracy—not just within the context of the competition itself but how these discussions spill over into broader social and political dynamics.
This course examines the history and politics of China in the context of a prolonged revolution. The course begins by examining the end of imperial rule, the development of Modern China, socialist transformations and the establishment of the PRC. After a survey of the political system as established in the 1950s and patterns of politics emerging from it, the analytic focus turns to political change in the reform era (since 1979) and the forces driving it. The adaptation by the Communist Party to these changes and the prospects of democratization are also examined. Topics include protests, economic development, religious freedom, the environment and internet censorship. Offered: Fall 2025 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry Tags: ASST East Asia CL: 200 level EAST Core EAST Supporting POSI Elective Faculty: Chris Heurlin
POSC 248Asian Communism: Politics of China, Viet & N Korea6
Examines the Asian communism in China, Vietnam, and North Korea. Asian communism presents a series of fascinating questions. Why did communist revolutions occur in some Asian states but not others? Why were relations between some Asian communist states peaceful while others were hostile? Why did some adopt significant economic reforms while others maintained command economies? Why did communist regimes persist in most Asian states, while Communism fell in Mongolia and all of Europe? The approach of the course is comparative and structured around thematic comparisons between the three states. Offered: Fall 2025 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry Tags: ASST East Asia CL: 200 level EAST Core EAST Supporting POSI Elective
POSC 249From the International to the Global: Critical Theories of World Politics6
Why is the world divided territorially? Why are some states considered more powerful than others? What can be done about violent conflict? This course will introduce students with critical approaches to world politics that ask these and other big questions. Marxist, feminist, post-structuralist and post-colonial scholars have challenged classical approaches of thinking about the international in terms of states and power. They have also questioned the dominance of western conceptions of politics in the way political scientists view the world. In this course will read and debate their contributions and apply them to real cases. Not offered in 2025-26 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry Tags: CL: 200 level POSI Elective
Nietzsche understood himself to be living at a moment of great endings: the exhaustion of modernity, the self-undermining of rationalism, the self-overcoming of morality–in short, stunningly, the “death of God.” He regarded these endings as an unprecedented disaster for humanity but also as an unprecedented opportunity, and he pointed the way to a new ideal and a new culture that would be life-affirming and life-enhancing. This course will center on close study of Beyond Good and Evil, perhaps Nietzsche’s most beautiful book and probably his most political one. Selections from some of his other books will also be assigned. Offered: Winter 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry Tags: CL: 200 level PHIL Interdisciplinary 2 PHIL Value Theory 1 POSI Elective Faculty: Laurence Cooper
POSC 260“A Savage Made to Inhabit Cities”: The Political Philosophy of Rousseau6
In this course we will study what Rousseau considered his greatest and best book: Emile. Emile is a philosophic novel. It uses a thought experiment–the rearing of a child from infancy to adulthood–to explore human nature and the human condition, including their political dimensions. Among Emile's themes are natural goodness and the origins of evil; self-love and sociability; the differences and relations between the sexes; citizenship; and the principles of political right. The book also addresses the question of how one might live naturally and happily amid an unnatural and unhappy civilization. Not offered in 2025-26 Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry Tags: CL: 200 level POSI Elective
Democracy is in trouble worldwide. The most visible indicators are the rise of explicitly anti-democratic leaders and anti-liberal parties that employ populism and exploit ethnic and ideological polarization to acquire power. Democratic norms and institutions have eroded across the globe. Structures that undergirded the positive-sum linkage between industrialization, the rise of labor unions, and democratic parties in much of the West have been transformed in ways that undermine democracy. This course will analyze these and related trends that demonstrate that liberal democracy is suffering a global crisis. Instruction will cover cases across time and from all regions of the world.
To feel secure and accepted by society are essential human needs. However, even a cursory look at the 20th century shows how often and unexpectedly the lives of individuals were profoundly disrupted and crushed by the forces of nature and history. Security and social acceptance are fragile gifts of history. If so, what freedom and meaning, if at all, are to be found in living a displaced life, against and through the destructive tidal waves of history? The course tries to answer this question through an engagement with the memoirs and writings of Stefan Zweig, Edward Said, Norman Manea, Mikhail Bulgakov, Karl Ove Knausgaard, and James Baldwin. Offered: Winter 2026 Credits: 6 Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry Tags: CL: 200 level POSI Elective Faculty: Mihaela Czobor-Lupp
This course will explore the United States Constitution and the legal doctrines that have emerged from it, using them as lenses through which to understand the history—and shape the future—of this country. Using prominent Supreme Court opinions as teaching tools and loci of debate (including cases on the Court’s recent and current docket), this course will explore the different kind of theoretical approaches with which to make Constitutional arguments and interpret the Constitution. It is one of two paired courses (the other being POSC 272) that complement each other. Both courses will address the structure and functioning of the United States government, and will explore in greater depth the historic Constitutional “trends” towards greater equality and more liberty (albeit slowly, haltingly, and with steps both forward and backward). This course will focus in particular on how matters of racial justice have been a Constitutional issue from the very beginning of the nation—and very much remain unfinished legal work. In exploring matters of personal liberty, this course will focus in particular on First Amendment freedom of religion. Finally, in examining governmental structures, this course will emphasize federalism and the distribution of power between the national and state governments, including the rise of a nationwide economic system and the modern administrative state. The course will require close reading of judicial opinions and other texts, and learning how to construct arguments using logic and precedent. A special feature of this course will be detailed examination and intra-class mock debate of the cases the Supreme Court will hear this fall challenging raced-based affirmative action programs at private and public universities. Offered: Fall 2025 Liberal Arts Requirements: SI, Social Inquiry Tags: AMST Democracy Activism AMST Survey 2 CL: 200 level POSI Elective PPOL Other Comparative AMST Race Ethnicity Indigeneity Faculty: Steven Poskanzer
This course will explore the United States Constitution and the legal doctrines that have emerged from it, using them as lenses through which to understand the history—and shape the future—of this country. Using prominent Supreme Court opinions as teaching tools and loci of debate (including cases on the Court’s recent and current docket), this course will explore the different kind of theoretical approaches with which to make Constitutional arguments and interpret the Constitution. It is one of two paired courses (the other being POSC 271) that complement each other. Both courses will address the structure and functioning of the United States government, and will explore in greater depth the historic Constitutional “trends” towards greater equality and more liberty (albeit slowly, haltingly, and with steps both forward and backward). This course will focus in particular on how gender equality is very much unfinished Constitutional work on our way towards a “more perfect union.” This topic will include an examination of the Court’s recent controversial decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In exploring matters of personal liberty, this course will focus in particular on First Amendment freedom of speech and other fundamental rights protected under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. Finally, in examining governmental structures, this course will
This class examines the decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants known as “The Troubles.” We will investigate the causes of violence in this region and explore the different phases of the conflict, including initial mobilization of peaceful protestors, radicalization into violent resistance, and de-escalation. We will also consider the international dimensions of the conflict and how groups forged transnational ties with diaspora groups and separatist movements around the world. Finally, we will explore the consequences of this conflict on present-day Northern Ireland’s politics and identify lessons from the peace process for other societies in conflict. Offered: Spring 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry Tags: CL: 200 level EUST Country Specific POSI Elective EUST Transnational
POSC 288Politics and Public Policy in Washington, D.C., Program: Global Politics & Pub6
Policy in Washington DC Students will participate in a seminar centered around meetings with experts in areas of global politics and policy. Over the course of the term they will collaborate in groups to produce a presentation exploring the political dimensions of public policy with a focus on how problem identification, institutional capacity, and stakeholder interests combine to shape policy options. Not offered in 2025-26 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry program AND student has completed any of the following course(s): STAT 120 or any other STATs course with a grade of C- or better. Tags: ACE Theoretical CL: 200 level POSI Elective PPOL Other Comparative
Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Politics and Public Policy in Washington, D.C.
POSC 289Politics and Public Policy in Washington, D.C., Program: Politics & Public3
Policy in Washington DC Students will participate in a seminar centered around meetings with experts in areas of U.S. politics and policy. Over the course of the term they will collaborate in groups to produce a presentation exploring the political dimensions of public policy with a focus on how problem identification, institutional capacity, and stakeholder interests combine to shape policy options. Not offered in 2025-26 – 6 Liberal Arts Requirements: IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies SI, Social Inquiry
POSC 293Politics and Public Policy in Washington, D.C., Program: Practical Experience6
in DC All students will intern at an office in Washington or participate in some form of sustained civic engagement activity with instructor approval. In the past students have worked for legislators, executive agencies, interest groups and media outlets. Part of this experience involves keeping a weekly journal and writing a reflective summary paper. Not offered in 2025-26 Liberal Arts Requirements: No Exploration program AND student has completed any of the following course(s): STAT 120 or any other STATs course with a grade of C- or better. Tags: ACE Applied
Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Politics and Public Policy in Washington, D.C.
POSC 294Directed Research in Political Science1
Students work on a research project related to a faculty member's research interests, and directed by that faculty member. Student activities vary according to the field and stage of the project. The long-run goal of these projects normally includes dissemination to a scholarly community beyond Carleton. The faculty member will meet regularly with the student and actively direct the work of the student, who will submit an end-of-term product, typically a paper or presentation. Offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026 Grading: S/CR/NC – 6 Liberal Arts Requirements: No Exploration Tags: CL: Faculty Research
POSC 296Central and Eastern European Politics Program: Challenges to the Nation-State6
in Eastern and Central Europe: Immigrants and Minorities How do democracies react when confronted with massive bodies of immigrants? Do the problems that Eastern and Central European countries face in dealing with immigrants reflect deeper challenges to their capacity of thinking of the nation along inclusionary lines? We will explore the legal and political issues that EU countries and their societies, particularly, in Eastern and Central Europe, face when confronted with a migration crisis. Then we will look at Roma’s history of exploitation and injustice in Eastern and Central Europe. The course will include visits with community groups and NGOs, as well as encounters with minority rights activists. Offered: Spring 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry Tags: CCST Encounters CL: 200 level POSI Elective Faculty: Mihaela Czobor-Lupp
Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Central and Eastern Europe program.
POSC 302Subordinated Politics and Intergroup Relations6
How do social and political groups interact? How do we understand these interactions in relation to power? This course will introduce the basic approaches and debates in the study of prejudice, racial attitudes, and intergroup relations. We will focus on three main questions. First, how do we understand and study prejudice and racism as they relate to U.S. politics? Second, how do group identities, stereotyping, and other factors help us understand the legitimation of discrimination, group hierarchy, and social domination? Third, what are the political and social challenges associated with reducing prejudice? Offered: Spring 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies SI, Social Inquiry Tags: AFST Social Inquiry AMST Democracy Activism AMST Space and Place CL: 300 level POSI Elective AMST Race Ethnicity Indigeneity EDUC 2 Social
POSC 304Media and Electoral Politics: 2024 United States Elections6
Our analysis of media influences on politics will draw from three fields of study: political psychology, political behavior and participation, and public opinion. Students will conduct a study of the effects of campaign ads and news using our multi-year data set of content analyzed election ads and news. We study a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods to learn how political communication affects U.S. elections. Students enrolled in the POSC 304 version will conduct more extensive analysis of data for their seminar papers. Not offered in 2025-26 Liberal Arts Requirements: IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social
The rural-urban divide is a prominent fixture of partisan and political conflict in the United States. It is a source of profound social, cultural, and economic differences in how people think about the world and a major driver of political polarization. Yet, few people understand how fundamental geographic space is to understanding American politics today. This course is a research seminar designed to explore the yawning perceptual gap between how rural and urban Americans think about their communities and their politics. The course addresses critical questions related to partisan polarization, race and ethnicity, political and economic inequality, and the quality of representation. Offered: Winter 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2 Tags: AMST Democracy Activism AMST Space and Place CL: 300 level POSI Elective AMST Race Ethnicity Indigeneity Faculty: Ryan Dawkins
This seminar will explore pressing legal and policy issues facing American colleges and universities. The course will address the ways core academic values (e.g., academic freedom; the creation and maintenance of a community based on shared values) fit or conflict with legal rules and political dynamics that operate beyond the academy. Likely topics include how college admissions are shaped by legal principles, with particular emphasis on debates over affirmative action; on-campus speech; faculty tenure; intellectual property; student rights and student discipline (including discipline for sexual assault); and college and university relations with the outside world. Offered: Fall 2025 Credits: 6 Liberal Arts Requirements: SI, Social Inquiry Tags: CL: 300 level POSI Elective PPOL Education Policy Faculty: Steven Poskanzer
POSC 324Rebels and Risk Takers: Women and War In the Middle East6
How are women (and gender more broadly) shaping and shaped by war and conflict in the Middle East? Far from the trope of the subjugated, veiled, and abused Middle Eastern woman, women in the Middle East are active social and political agents. In wars and conflicts in the Middle East region, women have, for example, been combatants, soldiers, activists, spies, homemakers, writers, and political leaders. This course surveys conflicts involving Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Iraq–along with Western powers like the U.S., UK, and Australia–through the wartime experiences of women. Offered: Winter 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry Tags: CL: 300 level GWSS Elective MEST Supporting Group 1 POSI Elective Faculty: Summer Forester
Why do countries go to war? What conditions promote a lasting peace? These may well be the two most important and enduring questions in international politics. The course combines an exploration of various theoretical approaches to war and peace—including rational, psychological and structural models—with an empirical analysis of the onset, escalation, and resolution of conflict. We investigate changing patterns in the frequency of global violence and identify where it occurs more (and less) often and assess whether there is an overall trend toward a more peaceful world. Offered: Winter 2026 Credits: 6 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry Tags: CL: 300 level POSI Elective Faculty: Greg Marfleet
POSC 335Navigating Environmental Complexity–Challenges to Democratic Governance6
and Political Communication How can we design democratic institutions to deal with environmental and social problems? Are there universal approaches to solving political problems in physically and socially diverse communities? Do people come up with different institutional ways to address shared problems because of environmental or cultural differences? Our seminar considers current thinking about complex social-ecological systems and how we communicate and work collectively to address the problems of local and global commons. Not offered in 2025-26 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry Tags: CL: 300 level ENTS Society, Culture and Policy ENTS Topical Seminar PPOL Environmental Policy & Sustainability
POSC 352Political Theory of Alexis de Tocqueville6
This course will be devoted to close study of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, which has plausibly been described as the best book ever written about democracy and the best book every written about America. Tocqueville uncovers the myriad ways in which equality, including especially the passion for equality, determines the character and the possibilities of modern humanity. Tocqueville thereby provides a political education that is also an education toward self-knowledge. Offered: Spring 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2 Tags: CL: 300 level FFST Social Science FREN Pertinent POSI Elective EUST
This course will examine the role that social movements play in political life. The first part of the course will critically review the major theories that have been developed to explain how social movements form, operate and seek to influence politics at both the domestic and international levels. In the second part of the course, these theoretical approaches will be used to explore a number of case studies involving social
This research seminar examines the contemporary institutions, processes, and challenges of modern capitalism in advanced and developing countries. The course begins with a review of key thinkers on modern capitalism: Marx, Weber, Schumpeter, Hayek, Polanyi, Offe, Tilly, and Piketty. It then proceeds to an analysis of the sweeping debate concerning inequality and democracy. Student work in this course focuses on the research and composition of a 20-25-page original work on a topic relevant to the questions covered in the seminar. Intense course participation, including classroom discussion and periodic debates, is required. Majors may develop their comps based on this seminar. Offered: Fall 2025 Credits: 6 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2 Tags: CL: 300 level POSI Elective PPOL Economic Policy Making & Development Faculty: Alfred Montero
POSC 372Mansions and Shantytowns: Politics of The Spaces We Live in6
This course explores theories about spaces/places and investigates the impact of our physical environment on a broad range of social and political issues. We will look at how parks, monuments, residential communities, and other features of our cities and towns are made, who makes them, and in turn, their effects on our daily lives. Students will engage with important contemporary issues such as residential segregation, public space management, protest policing, etc. Most of the course will focus on urban politics, with a brief foray into rural issues. The goal of this course is to encourage students to think about everyday environmental features in a more systematic and theoretic manner and design social scientific inquiries into spatial issues. Not offered in 2025-26 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry Tags: ACE Theoretical CL: 300 level POSI Elective
Students work on a research project related to a faculty member's research interests, and directed by that faculty member. Student activities vary according to the field and stage of the project. The long-run goal of these projects normally includes dissemination to a scholarly community beyond Carleton. The faculty member will meet regularly with the student and actively direct the work of the student, who will submit an end-of-term product, typically a paper or presentation. Offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026 – 6 Liberal Arts Requirements: No Exploration Tags: CL: Faculty Research POSI Elective Faculty: Barbara Allen · Summer Forester
The comprehensive exercise is a substantial (approximately 25-30 page) research paper on a topic within American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Political Theory, and Public Policy. The student should have completed a 300-level POSC course. The usual comps process starts with a research paper from an already-completed advanced seminar, which is revised or used as an anchor to write the senior thesis, with approval and guidance from the instructor, who becomes the comps adviser. The students must also prepare a poster based on their comps paper for presentation in a group forum. Offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026 Grading: S/NC Priority. Faculty: Mihaela Czobor-Lupp · Summer Forester · Steven Poskanzer · Ryan Dawkins · Laurence Cooper · Greg Marfleet · Dev Gupta · Christina Farhart · Barbara Allen ·
