112 courses with the subject PSC, 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.
PSC 111Introduction to US Politics1.0
Course A broad overview of the operation and issues of central concern in the study of U.S. politics. Particular attention is paid to evaluating the U.S. governing system in relation to major theories of political power, such as elitism, pluralism, and populism. In examining these and other broad concepts there is a focus on the foundations, institutions, and linkage mechanisms (political parties, media, etc.) that play a critical role in U.S. politics. Depending on the instructor, topics covered often include: the founding period, U.S. political culture, civil rights and liberties, money and politics, campaigns and elections, the role of mass media, parties and interest groups, politics in the post 9/11 era, and public policies focusing on crime, foreign affairs, the environment, poverty, health care, and war. CC: SOCS, JSPE ISP: AMS or
Course An overview of 21st century dynamics that shape national politics in different regional settings, the behavior of states in the world arena, and how global actors impact each other. Depending on the instructor, topics to be explored could include war, terrorism, political economy, historical perspectives, cultural tensions, nation-building and development, imperialism, democracy, balance of power, human rights, emerging institutions, and the world's ecology. In all sections, attention will be paid to the development of political arguments, the critical use of concepts and theories, and strategies of making judgments about globalization and about the impact of international affairs on domestic politics and vice-versa. CC: SOCS, GCHF, GSPE ISP: REE and
Course This course examines key ideas and concepts, as well as "eternal" questions, in the history of western political thought. We will ask controversial questions such as: What is justice? Can we achieve democracy without eliminating poverty? What are the qualities of a good leader? Should we even have leaders? Can women be philosopher-kings? How does class struggle affect the participation of citizens? What are the qualities of a "good" citizen? These questions have been debated for over 2500 years. The debate continues in this course as we learn what the major thinkers said about these issues. CC: SOCS ISP: LAW
PSC 123Topics in Mathematical Political Science1.0
Course A mathematical treatment (not involving calculus or statistics) of escalation, political power, social choice, and international conflict. Cross-Listed: MTH 060 Prerequisite(s): No previous study of political science is necessary, but PSC 111 or PSC 112 would be relevant. CC: QMR, SOCS ISP: STS
Course This course will be offered every four years, in the fall term of U.S. presidential election years. The course will consist of an in-depth examination of the presidential election. Candidates, developments, and events of that year will be analyzed, as well as placed within their broader historical and conceptual contexts. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS
PSC 213Contemporary China: Politics, Economy and Society1.0
Course A survey course on the politics of the People's Republic of China, with an emphasis on state-society relations. After briefly introducing the Republican and state socialist eras, the heart of the course provides a historical and topical overview of the contemporary political and economic reforms in China. It explores topics in Chinese domestic politics, such as policy-making, center-local relations, inequality, rural transformation, industrialization, village elections, the rule of law and contentious politics, in addition to China's relationship with the outside world, including its integration into the international economy, the environment, energy and foreign policy. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: LCC, SOCS, GCHF, GSPE ISP: AIS
Course This course is designed to introduce students to the essential political history and political dynamics of contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa. By the end of the term, students will have developed an understanding of the process through which the states of contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa emerged; the types of political systems that have evolved in these states; ethnicity and ethnic conflict in Africa; inter and intra-state wars on the continent and their impact; the challenges of economic development and securing prosperity for Africa; and gender and politics, religion and politics, and the politics of terrorism in Africa. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. ISP:
Course What is the relationship between violence and politics? Is politics a continuation of violent struggle through other means? Or is there a fundamental difference between the two? What is the relationship between legal order and violence? What is the role of violence in resisting different forms oppression? Can the use of violence ever be morally justifiable? If so, when and why? This political theory course aims to inquire into these challenging questions by studying the theoretical debates on the relationship between violence and politics with a special emphasis on questions related to the relationship between legal order, constitution of the state, and the use of violence both in support of, and in opposition to, the existing order. During the course of the term, we will focus on debates surrounding difference forms of violence in embedded in our legal systems, look at examples of resistance movements, assess different arguments made in defense of nonviolent and violent methods of resistance, analyze different conceptions of civil disobedience, and grapple with the question of how representations of violence affect our judgments about its legitimacy and/or justification. CC: SOCS ISP: LAW
Course Where are all the women in the history of political thought? Some thinkers we explore throughout history include Mary Astell, Mary Wollstonecraft, Harriet Taylor Mill, and Emma Goldman. Their work will prepare us to discuss the political and social thought of three prominent women thinkers of the 20th century: Simone de Beauvoir, Iris Murdoch, and Hannah Arendt. We investigate questions concerning freedom and contingency, responsibility, the nature of self in relation to others, and the limits and scope of ethical action in the work of these theorists. Women political theorists often write novels, short stories, and autobiography/biography (rather than philosophical texts) to explore political and philosophical themes. Consequently, we will be reading novels and autobiography along with political philosophy to think about the relationship between philosophy, politics, and literature. We will also be interested in considering how living their lives as women might have influenced the way these philosophers viewed major political and intellectual issues of the day. CC: SOCS ISP: GSWS
Course This course will introduce students to the critical and constructive dimensions of African American political thought. We will assess the claims that Black Americans have made on the polity, how they define themselves, and how they have sought to redefine the basic terms of American public life. CC: SOCS, WAC ISP: AFR, AMS,
Course An introduction to the trends and patterns of ethnic conflicts in the contemporary world. Issues pertaining to the rise of nations; theories of ethnic mobilization; the attempt to build general, cross-national explanations; and current efforts to solve ethnic conflict. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AMS, REE
Course This year we have seen historic temperature records and heatwaves across the globe, the impacts of wildfires around the country and locally, and periods of drought and extreme storms in different areas. These have been attributed to or amplified by anthropogenic climate change, which is one of the biggest challenges facing society in the 21st century. This course examines why climate change is such a "wicked problem," and why it is so difficult to address effectively. The barriers to addressing climate change are not just technical and scientific, but also political and social. Thinking about a future where we as a society mitigate the worst impacts of climate change this century, and adapt to other impacts entails navigating different political systems around the world and balancing various geopolitical and economic interests. Through this course, we will examine how these factors shape or constrain efforts to address climate change in Western Europe, the United States, China, India, and other parts of the world. We will also examine how climate change is impacting human life and security in these countries and other parts of the world, and how it may amplify existing inequalities and other crises. ISP: ENS, STS
Course This course offers a working knowledge of Latin America's current politics, trends, and challenges. Years after democratization, regular elections are in place, and support for democracy in the region seems widespread. Still, as local traditions infuse the principles of liberal democracy, politics in Latin America reveal unique traits. Exploring the political as an interpretive endeavor, the course's readings, assignments, and class discussions will help to identify key political institutions, traditions, and cleavages, as well as forms of agency and leadership, both in specific countries and at the regional level. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: LCC, SOCS, GCHF, GSPE ISP: LAS
PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CQ: LCC, SOCS, GCHF, GSPE ISP: LAS
PSC 244The Politics of Extraction in the Americas1.0
Course As the shrinking of the Amazon keeps making headlines, extractive activities including large-scale mining, logging, and agriculture are rapidly transforming the landscape of the Americas. This class surveys main extractive activities across the hemisphere, their output and political impact. While feeding expanding markets, extractivism has been linked to land grabs, forced displacement, conflicts, state and paramilitary violence, lobbying, corruption, and coups d'état. In exploring trends and cases, we will review concepts, theories, and alternatives to extractivism, including women and indigenous-led traditions of protecting different forms of life and Earth itself. By taking this course, students will develop informed perspectives regarding which extractive activities may be essential, and whether (and how) they can be done sustainably, as part of the quest to secure a livable future. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 CC: SOCS, GSPE ISP: LAS
Course Leadership and politics in Latin America are often characterized as populist, but there is widespread disagreement as to what populism is. Claimed by no one, most of the time populism is blamed, disapprovingly, upon leaders and movements connoting demagoguery, manipulative appeals to people's emotions and disregard for formal institutions and rules. Interestingly, a similar characterization of populism has recently entered politics in countries such as France or the U.S. With a main focus on Latin America, extending the discussion outside the region, this course scrutinizes three different "populist moments," from the first half of the 20th century to the present. Major figures such as Peron or Vargas; neoliberal reformers from the 1990s, from Fujimori to Menem, and recent Latin American leaders, from Chávez, to Fernandez de Kirchner, plus a few salient cases from outside the region (e.g. Trump, Le Pen) will be examined in the class. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: SOCS ISP: LAS
PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CQ: SOCS ISP: LAS
PSC 246Asian Development: Industrialization Beyond the West1.0
Course How did some Asian countries become the first non-Western countries to achieve high-income status, near elimination of poverty, a highly educated and healthy population, leading edge technology and in some cases robust democracies and even admirably equal distributions of wealth? And how did they come to compete with the West, often on terms set by Western countries, despite the West's much earlier industrialization, and the vast geographic and cultural distances? Are answers to be found in politics and institutions? Culture? Resources and
PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CQ: SOCS, GSPE ISP: GSW, LAS
PSC 248The Politics of the New Europe1.0
Course A survey of contemporary European politics including topics such as the emerging European Union, the rise of right-wing movements, growing regional and sectional conflict, patterns of immigration, and debate about the very meaning of "Europe." Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: SOCS ISP: REE
Course This course will examine the interplay between military and political strategies that shaped the course of World War II, with special attention to the European Theater. It is designed to illustrate the nature of strategic thinking, its relationship to tactical thinking, and its real-world constraints. Special attention will be given to the British decision to continue fighting after the French surrender, the Battle of Britain, Hitler's decision to invade Russia, the allied decision to invade North Africa, and the planning for Normandy. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or PSC 113 or sophomore standing. CC: SOCS, WAC ISP: REE
PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CQ: SOCS ISP: AMS
PSC 263US Environmental Policy1
Course This course examines the emergence, development, and future directions of environmental policy within the United States. It covers early environmental policy achievements such as the Clean Air Act, the reasons for federal inaction on environmental policy since the 1990s, and new directions for policy action in the 21st century as society understands. ISP: ENS, STS
PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CQ: SOCS ISP: AMS
PSC 269Media and Politics1.0
Course Major trends in U.S. media, politics, and political communication. The focus is on media coverage of politics as well as effects of media on the public, across various types of media sources. These will include the traditional news media, partisan media sources, and social media. The larger context is the role of media in a democratic society. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: SOCS, WAC ISP: AMS
PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CQ: SOCS, WAC ISP: AMS
PSC 270CIA and the Art of Intelligence1.0
Course Provides an historical background to intelligence and espionage, and offers perspectives on present day secret intelligence operations of world powers in support of their national security objectives. Discussions on intelligence analysis, evaluation, human and technical intelligence, cryptography, counter-intelligence, moles, various
PSC 272The Environment, Energy, and US Politics1.0
Course Examination of how politics and policymaking affect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we live on. This course will explore key U.S. environmental issues and their scientific underpinnings as well as the connections between these issues and our collective use of natural resources. The course will review major pieces of federal environmental law in the United States and address the policy considerations, justifications, and regulatory frameworks underlying them, as well as the effectiveness of these laws in achieving a healthier environment. The course will also examine the respective roles of Congress, the executive agencies, and the courts in determining environmental policy. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS, ENS, STS
PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CQ: SOCS ISP: AMS, ENS, STS
PSC 273The Supreme Court and Judicial Politics1.0
Course An investigation of the judicial branch of government in the U.S. that focuses on the role of judges, the functioning of courts, and leading contemporary controversies in the judicial system. Among the primary concerns of this course are: the structure of the American Judiciary, judicial selection processes, how cases originate and move through the judicial system, how judges think about and reach decisions in the cases, and the role law plays in society. In exploring these topics many actual Supreme Court cases are dissected, focusing on such issues as: gay rights, pornography, rights of disabled citizens, the rights of those accused of crimes, and free speech over the Internet, to name only a few areas. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS, ENS,
Sophomore standing and permission of the instructor. These courses may not be taken as pass/fail. ISP: AMS
PSC 282Health Politics and Policy1.0
Course This course will examine the subject of health care policy in the American political system. Students will learn about the roles and functions of key actors, institutions, concepts, and principles as part of a broad overview of American health politics. From this foundation, we will develop a theoretical and practical framework to ground our analysis of current health policy issues and debates. Topics will include finance, insurance, Medicare/Medicaid, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare"), prescription drug regulation, private markets, the public interest, ethics, and the role of government. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: SOCS, WAC ISP: AMS, STS
PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CQ: SOCS, WAC ISP: AMS, STS
PSC 283Social Movements, the Environment and Society1.0
Course The role of extra-governmental actors in the formation of public policy with a focus on environmental issues. The origins and development of social movements and the differences and similarities among
Course In the latter half of the twentieth century, theorists working in the continental tradition have developed new approaches to modern political concerns about the power of the state, the possibility of democracy, the importance of language, media and rhetoric, and the connections between knowledge, ethics, religion and politics. Students in this course will grapple with some of the most important figures and theories at the leading edge of this tradition. While this course presumes no background in continental theory, students must be prepared to wrestle with difficult texts, ideas and thinkers. Authors may include: Agamben, Badiou, Butler, Cavarero, Cavell, Deleuze, Derrida, Fanon, Foucault, Ranciere, Zizek. CC: SOCS, WAC, WAC-R ISP: REE
PSC 342RChallenges to Democratization in Latin America1.0
Course (Not Offered this Academic Year) Democracies in Latin America confront a number of challenges, obstacles, and dilemmas that frequently put their continuity at risk. This course explores five thematic clusters. Social indicators on rights and inequality, political identities and citizenship, political and legal institutions, life and economic growth, and public safety, crime, and state violence. A preoccupation with some of the most urgent challenges faced by democracy in the region will also lead us to assess actual and potential alternatives. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: LAS
PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CQ: SOCS, GCHF, GSPE ISP: STS
PSC 347Comparative Left Politics1.0
Course A critical exploration of Marxian ideas and a comparative examination of how those ideas were, and are, translated into political practice. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: SOCS ISP:
PSC 111 or PSC 112 or PSC 113 or sophomore standing. CQ: SOCS ISP: REE
PSC 351Global Organized Crime1.0
Course This course will focus on the emergence of new transnational criminal networks in the age of globalization, and the sources and patterns of political corruption in a comparative perspective. Specific issues to be explored include: trafficking zones, weak states, economic underdevelopment, the western consumer demand for illegal commodities, international anti-corruption discourse, US drug policy, comparative analysis of mafia organizations, and how private money corrupts democracies. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or PSC 113 or sophomore standing. CC: SOCS ISP: REE
Course An examination of the tensions between developed and developing countries in the global political economy. First, the course traces the genealogy of thinkers on the issues of development, such as Smith, Marx, Keynes, modernization theory and development economics, as a way to understand the enduring debates within the field. Second, it examines historical transformations in the international economy, such as in trade, global finance and economic crises, in order to understand how the structures and opportunities for developing countries have transformed over time. Finally, although there is no focus on any single region of the world, the course touches upon the oil boom in the Middle East in the 1970s, the debt crises in Latin America and Africa in the 1980s, the rise of Japan and the East Asia tigers, the fall of the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc countries in the 1990s, the new giants of China and India, new forms of post-Fordist production, and the relationship between production and identity. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or PSC 113 or sophomore standing. CC: SOCS ISP: LAS, REE Term Abroad & Mini-Terms
Course This course uses the medium of film as a springboard to introduce and explore concepts in legal theory, American legal culture, and the exercise of public and private power through the legal system. Specific topics of discussion include law as morality, higher versus positive law, law and gender, and the heroic lawyer mythology. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: SOCS, WAC ISP: AMS, FLM, LAW
Course Are political protests dangerous or central to democratic politics? Can spontaneous protests ever create long lasting change? Or are they bound to dissipate? What are the acts of protest that are justifiable? Under what conditions? To address these questions, the course will cover a wide range of readings from foundational texts written by Martin Luther King, Mohandas Gandhi, Henri David Thoreau, John Rawls, Hannah Arendt, and Jürgen Habermas
