69 courses with the subject POLI, 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.
POLI 140American Politics1
An analysis of the American political system and the structures and processes by which public policies are formulated and implemented. Attention is focused upon decision making in institutions of American national government, such as Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court, and upon political behavior—public opinion, voting, and other forms of political activity. Attention is also given to evaluation of selected public policies and contemporary issues, and questions of political change.
An examination of political systems across the world chosen to illustrate different types of political regimes, states, and societies. The political system is seen to include formal institutions of government, such as parliaments and bureaucracies; political parties and other forms of group life; those aspects of the history and social and economic structure of a society that are relevant to politics; and political beliefs, values, and ideologies. Special attention is given to the question of political change and development, whether through revolutionary or constitutional process. Comparative Politics: Analyzing Politics in the World . This course introduces how comparativists analyze politics within states in the world. Topics include state formation, democracy and dictatorship, political economy, social movements, revolution, ethnicity, and political culture. The course draws from both theoretical work and country and regional case studies that may include the US, Chile, China, India, Cuba, Great Britain, Iran, the Middle East, South Africa and East Asia. The course uses cases to analyze and compare basic concepts and patterns of the political process. Students should come away from the course with both an understanding of the diversity of the world’s political systems, as well as an appreciation of the questions and concepts that inform the work of political scientists. Samson Opondo. Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
An examination of major issues in international politics, including national and international security and production and distribution of wealth, along with selected global issues such as human rights, ethnic nationalism and ethnic conflict, migration and refugees, environmental degradation and protection, and the impact of developments in communication and information technologies. Attention is also given to the origins, evolution, and the future of the contemporary international system, as well as to competing theoretical perspectives on world politics. Arpitha Kodiveri, Himadeep Muppidi. Course Format: CLS
Theorizing happens every day and encompasses a wide variety of practices. Seeking to generate perplexity about ‘the given,’ conversations engage various modes of expression that haunt the present, shape possible futures, and allow us both to theorize the political and politicize the theoretical. Andrew Davison, Mallory Whiteduck. Course Format: CLS
This course emphasizes techniques for testing political science hypotheses via statistical analysis of quantitative data. The great majority of time is spent dealing with two major areas: 1) how empirical data are collected through survey research and other methods, and 2) how these data are then analyzed so as to confirm or disconfirm hypotheses about political thinking and behavior. Students learn how to use the SPSS statistical software package in order to perform their analyses. Richard Born. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 231Anishinabemowin: The Politics and Practice of a Native Language1
This Intensive experiments with fluidity between the theory and practice of Indigenous language revitalization. Our meeting model is a “language nest” or learning circle. In some meetings, we read, watch and discuss art and scholarship on the politics of Indigenous languages; in others, we practice elementary Anishinabemowin (Algonquin/Ojibwe language). The Intensive includes self-guided language study and group practice between meetings. Previous study of Native American and Indigenous history, literature or politics is required. This Intensive does not satisfy any formal language requirements. Mallory Whiteduck.
Permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: INT
POLI 232International Law and The Anthropocene1
The course examines the history of international law and its relationship to nature and the legal mechanisms that continue to shape extraction globally. We unpack the role of international law in responding to the challenges of the Anthropocene epoch. We explore the understanding of the Anthropocene epoch through the writings of scholars like Donna Haraway, Anna Tsing, and others who have conceptualized this epoch as the capitalocene and plantationocene. Students are exposed to areas of international investment law, human rights law, environment, and climate law to situate international law in the context of the climate crisis. Students delve into the connections between international law and the Anthropocene through the works of Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) scholars Usha Natarajan, Ntina Tzouvla, Julia Dehm, and Katharina Pistor among others. The course highlights alternative legal possibilities being devised by climate justice movements emerging from climate litigation to remaking international law to be able to contrast the colonial and extractive legacy of international law with the reparative legal frameworks being proposed for the future. Arpitha Kodiveri. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
Much of our exposure to politics and government comes from mediated sources. This course is designed to help students examine and understand the role media play in politics. Central topics include 1) historical and current conceptualizations of “media”; 2) the relationship between media, and electoral politics, citizens’ political knowledge, and policy-making; 3) the limitations and advantages of media sources and journalists; 4) the politics of race, class and gender in media. In addition to scholarly texts, we consult and analyze various forms of mass media, including print media, broadcast media, movies, and the internet. Taneisha Means. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
A study of domestic sources of US militarism and war-making. Themes include the role of violence in American development; Presidential War Powers and congressional deference; changing patterns of civil military relations and the military’s place in American democracy; the political economy of war and military industrial complex; the national security state (CIA, NSC, NSA). Sidney Plotkin. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
An examination of the policy consequences of power in the United States, including the role of the corporation as a policy making institution and the influence of citizens and social movements on public policy. The emphasis is on theories of power, relationships between economic and political power, and the impact of power on ideology and the structuring of policy alternatives, policy making, and policy implementation. Case studies may include policy areas such as health, environment, tobacco, technology, and mass media. Sidney Plotkin. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 239Civil Rights & Civil Liberties in the United States1
Civil Liberties refer to fundamental freedoms from government overreach, as guaranteed by the Constitution, itself defined in its Article VI as “the supreme Law of the Land.” Constitutional Law, and the degree of its granting of Civil Liberties, however, are far from straightforward and filled with ambiguity. What is the legal (and philosophical) basis for any given realm of Civil Liberties, especially concerning speech, expression, punishment, privacy, searches, due process, and bodily choice? To answer this question, this course assesses a wide range of Constitutional provisions pertaining to Civil Liberties in a range of scenarios, notably through examination and review of requisite court cases, congressional and state laws, and executive orders and actions. Maxwell Fuerderer.
100-level course in Political Science or permission of the instructor. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Fall
POLI 240The American Presidency1
An analysis of the American presidency, with emphasis on recent presidents. Topics include presidential nominations and elections; the nature and use of presidential power; the institutionalized presidency; policy making in the White House; the relationship between presidents and other key political factors, e.g., the Congress, the bureaucracy, the media, and public opinion; and the role of presidential personality and style. Richard Born. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
An analysis of the contemporary and evolving U.S. Congress, its organization, functions, and politics. Topics include congressional elections, redistricting, and representation; political polarization; the internal life and norms of the House and Senate; the structure of power in Congress; the current disarray afflicting the House Republican party; interest groups and lobbying; presidential-congressional relations; the congressional response to selected public problems; and political change and the future of Congress. Richard Born. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
This course examines the art of constitutional analysis through the prism of a multifaceted exploration of the central thematic concerns of the Critical Race Theory Movement, as it has developed in the legal academy. It engages an array of perspectives on constitutional interpretation. In so doing, we examine, among other things, a number of Supreme Court opinions that focus on the intersection of issues of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation. Maxwell Fuerderer. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
An examination of the nature and roles of public opinion and political parties in American politics, with emphasis on democratic means of political participation and influence in contemporary America. Special attention is paid to mass and elite political attitudes and behavior, techniques of public opinion polling, the impact of public opinion on policy making, recent national elections, campaign techniques and strategies, and the changing party system. Richard Born. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
POLI 245Courts, Judges and American Judicial Politics1
This course examines the central issues in Judicial Politics and the principal questions asked within the subfield. Among other topics, students will consider the role of the courts in the American political system, the structure of the federal and state judiciaries, the judicial selection process, the nature of decision-making, inter-branch relations and conflict within the judicial hierarchy, public opinion on the institution, and the social impact of courts. In the course, special emphasis is placed on exploring how and why U.S. courts are political institutions and American judges are political actors. Taneisha Means. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
This survey course examines the causal and remedial relationship of law to racial discrimination. Following a brief historical overview of the law’s engagement with race, the course considers the development of civil rights claims in a number of areas such as education, housing and employment. Competing visions of racial equality embedded in civil rights legislation, in case law and in legal discourse and theory will be evaluated as well as critiques of traditional models of anti-discrimination law. Throughout the class we will seek to assess how the legal system has accommodated racism and racial subordination as well as the extent to which racial progress is both enabled and delimited within the legal frame. Luke Harris. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as AFRS 247 ) This course relates to the meanings of various group experiences in American politics. It explicitly explores, for example, issues of race, class, gender, disability, and sexual orientation. Among other things, this course addresses the contributions of the Critical Legal Studies Movement, the Feminist Jurisprudence Movement, the Critical Race Movement, and Queer Studies to the legal academy. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 248Racial and Ethnic Group Politics in Popular Culture1
(Same as AFRS 248 ) Popular culture often affects and depicts public opinion on prominent social and political issues, and attitudes towards racial and ethnic groups. In this course, students think critically about the ways popular culture influences and reflects U.S. racial and ethnic group politics. Students consider how popular culture portrays and provides insights into government actions and policies toward various racial and ethnic groups, race relations and prospects for political coalitions, group responses to discrimination, and Americans’ perceptions and attitudes on a number of cultural, political, social and policy dimensions. Among the topics studied are the following: aspects of the political histories of various groups in the U.S., anti-miscegenation and anti-interracial relationship attitudes, 20th and 21st century race relations, immigration and citizenship, political resistance, mobilization, empowerment and participation, and racial group membership, identity and consciousness. These topics are examined throughout the semester by reading scholarly texts, and analyzing music videos, television shows, motion pictures, and documentaries. Taneisha Means. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
This course introduces a game theoretic approach used widely in the social and behavioral sciences. Politics often involves joint decision making by multiple players in interactive situations. Therefore this kind of reasoning is particularly fruitful for analyzing political phenomena. The course starts with a general discussion of rationality and proceeds to various model setups and solution concepts. The emphasis is on the application of these theoretical concepts to the real world. Class exercises and homework are designed to encourage students to analyze political events around us and the world. The main objective is the development of logical reasoning and not mathematical expression. Minimal amount of mathematics is used in the course. Fubing Su. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
This course examines continuities and transformations in both the study and practice of modern political and social movements. The course explores why movements emerge, how they develop, and what they accomplish. We study several dimensions of collective action, including their organization, leadership, ideology or programmatic content, and objectives. Our case studies are rich and diverse, spanning actors and geographic regions, yet we consciously draw comparisons across the cases concerning movements’ origins, the context of power relations and political positioning within society. We also seek to understand the sometimes powerful, sometimes subtle influences of social movements on the nature of socioeconomic, gender, racial, ethnic, national and transnational relations today. Katherine Hite. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as ASIA 254 ) This course offers a historical and thematic survey of Chinese politics, with an emphasis on the patterns and dynamics of political development and reforms since the Communist takeover in 1949. In the historical segment, we examine major political events leading up to the reform era, including China’s imperial political system, the collapse of dynasties, the civil war, the Communist Party’s rise to power, the land reform, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the initiation of the reform. The thematic part deals with some general issues of governance, economic reform, democratization, globalization and China’s relations with Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States. This course is designed to help students understand China’s contemporary issues from a historical perspective. For students who are interested in other regions of the world, China offers a rich comparative case on some important topics such as modernization, democratization, social movement, economic development, reform and rule of law. Fubing Su. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
(Same as ASIA 255 ) What does it mean to understand issues of governance and politics from the perspective of non-elite, or subaltern, groups? How do subalterns respond to, participate in, and/or resist the historically powerful forces of modernity, nationalism, religious mobilization, and politico-economic development in postcolonial spaces? What are the theoretical frameworks most appropriate for analyzing politics from the perspective of the subaltern? This course engages such questions by drawing on the flourishing field of subaltern studies in South Asia. While its primary focus is on materials from South Asia, particularly India, it also seeks to relate the findings from this area to broadly comparable issues in Latin America and Africa. Himadeep Muppidi. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 256Walking Poughkeepsie: Uncovering Poughkeepsie’s Symbolic Landscape and Imagining Otherwise1
This is a community engaged Intensive that will involve Vassar students and Poughkeepsie High School students highlighting sites and histories in the City of Poughkeepsie. Drawing from a range of written, visual, and oral sources, including projects like Jane’s Walks , and New York City’s Landmark Preservation Committee’s story maps , students will work together to mark Poughkeepsie in ways that encourage greater, more robust awareness of the city. Students will meet with local historians and learn how to uncover so-called “hidden histories,” as well as with community members and others who will share approaches and perspectives on places, people, and moments that are significant to Poughkeepsie both historically and in the here and now. Success in this Intensive will depend on students conducting independent/small group research, being flexible and creative, and honing in on particular areas and sites of the City. The final project will involve writing, multimedia forms, and project presentations. Possible field trips to NYC’s African Burial Ground, Pine Street Burial Ground (Kingston). Katherine Hite.
Permission of the instructor. One 3-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: INT
POLI 257Genre and the Postcolonial City1
(Same as AFRS 257 and URBS 257 ) This course explores the physical and imaginative dimensions of selected postcolonial cities. The theoretical texts, genres of expression and cultural contexts that the course engages address the dynamics of urban governance as well as aesthetic strategies and everyday practices that continue to reframe existing senses of reality in the postcolonial city. Through an engagement with literary, cinematic, architectural among other forms of urban mediation and production, the course examines the politics of migrancy, colonialism, gender, class and race as they come to bear on political identities, urban rhythms and the built environment. Case studies include: Johannesburg , Nairobi, Algiers and migrant enclaves in London and Paris. Samson Opondo. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
(Same as LALS 258 ) Drawing from political processes across several Latin American countries, this course focuses on conceptual debates regarding political representation and participation, political institutions, political culture, and political economy in the region. A major theme is inequality. The course examines historical-structural patterns, relationships among social, economic, and political conditions at the national, sub-national and regional levels, and important social and political actors and institutions. The course also examines the evolution of US roles in Latin America. Katherine Hite. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 259Settler Colonialism in a Comparative Perspective1
(Same as AFRS 259 ) This course examines the phenomenon of settler colonialism through a comparative study of the interactions between settler and ‘native’ / indigenous populations in different societies. It explores the patterns of settler migration and settlement and the dynamics of violence and local displacement in the colony through the tropes of racialization of space, colonial law, production/labor, racialized knowledge, aesthetics, health, gender, domesticity and sexuality. Attentive to historical injustices and the transformation of violence in ‘postcolonial’ and settler societies, the course interrogates the forms of belonging, memory, desire and nostalgia that arise from the unresolved status of settler and indigenous communities and the competing claims to, or unequal access to resources like land. Case studies are drawn primarily from Africa but also include examples from other regions. Samson Opondo. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
This course exposes students to the legal reality that engulfs human rights movements and actors. The course through conversations with human rights activists, human rights dissent in the form of text and art as well as landmark cases brings to life the everyday struggle for human rights on the ground and in context. Through the work of Sally Engle Merry, Upendra Baxi, Cesar Rodriguez-Garavito, and others the course speaks to the vernacularization of human rights in different contexts. It is from examining the granular detail of human rights in context that students are encouraged to engage with international human rights law and its future in times of multiple crises of inequality, rising populism, and climate change. The course introduces students to how human rights serve as a framing concept and vocabulary for injustices being experienced across different geographies and their associated limitations in these times of crisis. Arpitha Kodiveri. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
An inquiry into the causes of war and peace among states. Explanations at various levels—human, societal, governmental, international—are considered. The course aims at an understanding of those factors which lead individual states into conflict with one another as well as those which incline the broader international system toward stability or instability. Stephen Rock. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 262India, China and the State of Post-coloniality1
(Same as ASIA 262 ) As India and China integrate themselves deeply into the global economy, they raise issues of crucial importance to international politics. As nation-states that were shaped by an historical struggle against colonialism, how do they see their re-insertion into an international system still dominated by the West? What understandings of the nation and economy, of power and purpose, of politics and sovereignty, shape their efforts to join the global order? How should we re-think the nature of the state in the context? Are there radical and significant differences between colonial states, capitalist states and postcolonial ones? What are some of the implications for international politics of these differences? Drawing on contemporary debates in the fields of international relations and postcolonial theory, this course explores some of the changes underway in India and China and the implications of these changes for our current understandings of the international system. Himadeep Muppidi. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as ASIA 263 ) The study of world politics is marked by a rich debate between rationalist and critical approaches. While rationalist approaches typically encompass realist/neo-realist and liberal/neo-liberal theories, critical approaches include social constructivist, historical materialist, post-structural and post-colonial theories of world politics. This course is a focused examination of some of the more prominent critical theories of international relations. It aims to a) familiarize students with the core concepts and conceptual relations implicit in these theories and b) acquaint them with the ways in which these theories can be applied to generate fresh insights into the traditional concerns (such as war, anarchy, nationalism, sovereignty, global order, economic integration) and security dilemmas of world politics. Himadeep Muppidi. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
This course examines the formulation and execution of U.S. foreign policy. We consider factors ranging from America’s geostrategic position to its economy, ideology and culture, as well as governmental institutions and those who serve in them. The course also examines prominent issues in contemporary U.S. foreign policy. Such issues may include trade policy, non-proliferation and counter-proliferation, counter-terrorism, human rights, and immigration, in addition to policies with respect to particular countries (e.g., Russia, China, North Korea) and regions. Our primary purpose is to identify and assess the various options possessed by the United States for addressing these issues. Stephen Rock. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 267Transits of US Empire Transits through US Empire1
In Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto , Vine Deloria Jr. wrote: ”The Indian wars of the past should rightly be regarded as the first foreign wars of American history”. Beginning with Deloria’s statement, in this class, we will consider the politics of U.S. colonialism and empire, critically reflecting on the spatial and temporal lines that are often drawn between these processes. We will examine how historical and ongoing violence against indigenous nations and African-Americans, in particular, reverberates through U.S. “overseas” warfare (and vice versa), but will also consider how these reverberations have opened up spaces for different global affiliations and solidarities. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which law and geography are implicated in processes of U.S. colonialism and empire, considering the multiple and often-unstable ways in which legal and geographical practices make possible violent dispossessions (of land, labor and more). Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
Globalization is increasingly seen as a new and powerful force in world politics, but there is intense debate over what this new force is and what its effects are. This course introduces students to some of the more prominent ways of theorizing globalization and explaining the politics underlying the economic, social and cultural effects it generates. Himadeep Muppidi. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as ANST 271 ) This course studies the ways in which Native American visual culture asserts and affirms Indigenous political sovereignty. With a focus on visualities, including painting, printmaking, performance art, street art, film and television, we examine the multiple ways Native artists claim political power for themselves on and for their territories and nations. Leaning on Native American scholars such as Scott Richard Lyones and Michelle Rahaja, we examine Native American sovereignty as a ‘doing’ rather than a ‘being,’ as well as a process that can be defined artistically and kinesthetically. We consider the spectrum of “high” and “low” arts, looking at – for example – paintings that might hang in a national gallery and graffiti that might be tagged on an abandoned building. While it is tempting to consider this an “artwork of resistance” or “activist art,” in the case of Native American artists the attention paid to sovereignty is the resistance itself. In this course, we ask: How do Native American creative practices speak to sovereignty in ways that differ from what we might call traditional or standard forms of politics? And, how are Native American visual sovereignties tied to decolonial discourses? In addition to this being a co-taught class environment, we aim to offer a variety of perspectives by including guest speakers and visits. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 272Feminist Thought and Politics: Sex, Gender, Matter1
(Same as WFQS 272 ) Since its beginnings, feminism has radically transformed the very foundations of politics, forcing us to rethink values and ideals as fundamental as freedom and equality . It has challenged former understandings of fundamental political concepts like power , and the distinction between the private and public spheres, as well as the personal and the political . Feminist theory is also incredibly creative and prolific in terms of its production of new concepts (e.g., gender ). In this course we interrogate high-stakes questions such as: Are masculinity and femininity, men and women, heterosexual and homosexual, transsexual and cys-gender, the human and the nonhuman, contingent or universal categories? Are these categories empowering, alienating, both? Are racialized, sexed, gender, intersecting identities the necessary foundations for political action, or do they hinder the valuation of difference? What does feminist theory teach us about less apparently related issues like terrorism, colonialism, or environmental crisis? Claire Sagan. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
A detailed study of the philosophical underpinnings of various modes of interpreting politics: empiricism/positivism; interpretive/hermeneutic inquiry, critical theory, rational choice theory, realism, and discourse analysis. Aim is to understand the central concepts and goals of each approach, the kinds of explanations they seek to offer, and the views they posit regarding the relationship between politics and theory, on the one hand, and politics and the political analyst, on the other. Andrew Davison. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
Algonquin elder William Commanda said, “Indians are born into politics.” Ojibway/Métis comedian and media maker Ryan McMahon wrote about his grandfather’s words to him at a young age: “ Everything you do is political – you’re Anishinabe .” Native American and Indigenous peoples articulate their understanding of the self in relation to a political identity. This course introduces the schools of Indigenous political thought and considers the many ways politics play into the life of Indigenous peoples, ranging from theories of sovereignty to Indigenous international politics to major social movements. With readings in political theory, history, philosophy and literature, we explore the multiple perspectives of Indigenous communities and political organizations, Indigenous politicians and everyday folks on the rez. Mallory Whiteduck. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
This class offers a hermeneutical engagement with selected literature, film, and folk music associated with struggle against illegitimate power in contemporary Turkey/Türkiye. The concept, ‘struggle’ (uÄŸraÅŸma, in Turkish), comes from a dialogue between characters in YaÅŸar Kemal’s epic tale, Ä°nce Memed (Memed, My Hawk, 1955), as they converse about variously suffering and confronting ongoing forms of severe harm and violence. Class considerations about different possible forms of life meaningfully associated with ‘struggle’ initiates extensive conversation with other class materials about varied practices of ‘Anatolian’ political struggle in the context of poignantly persisting injustices, also of various kinds. A non-naïve, post-Orientalist approach to questions of power and interpretative encounter guides the study. Andrew Davison. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
The capitalism that Karl Marx critically analyzed continues to rule the earth and its population. However, dramatic shifts in production, finance, technology, politics, culture, indeed in the planetary environment itself, have reshaped capitalism, its operation and its impacts. This course will explore Marxist theories of 21st century global capitalism. We will pay particular attention to how emergent forces of gender, race and ecology have influenced contemporary Marxist theorists, as well as new approaches to the problematic character of class struggle and revolutionary potentials within a global capitalism led by the corporate rich of finance and information technology. Authors to be considered may include, among others, Wendy Brown, Nancy Fraser, Silvia Federici, Cedric Robinson, Immanuel Wallerstein, Giovanni Arrighi, Domenico Losurdo, William Connolly, and Bruno Latour. Sidney Plotkin. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
An examination of theories of the relationship between capitalism, politics and the state. Central concerns include tendencies toward fiscal crisis, war, and waste; the impact of capital on political power and the sabotage of democracy; ideology, class consciousness and the potential for resistance from below. Authors to be considered include, among others, Thorstein Veblen, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Franz Neurmann, C. Wright Mills, and Sheldon Wolin. Sidney Plotkin. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as ENST 278 and STS 278 ) In the current, urgent context of eco-catastrophe, the high-stakes question of how to rethink the human and the nonhuman arises (together, in relation with one another, entangled as they are, distinct as they might be…). Many theorists from myriad disciplines and multidisciplinary areas have taken on this question, some stressing the “intrinsic value” of the natural world, some proclaiming the end of nature, some critiquing the concept of Nature as so all-encompassing that it inevitably allows human claims to mastery of the nonhuman. Though this course cannot exhaustively survey all these approaches, we will explore some of the key contemporary debates (regarding mass extinction, Gaia theories, the oft-cited “Anthropocene”) pertaining to deep ecology, social and political ecology, de-growth theory, object-oriented ontology, speculative realism, environmental justice, posthumanism, ecofeminism, (feminist) new materialisms. Claire Sagan. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as STS 279 ) Drawing from decolonial ecologies, queer ecofeminisms, and other critical, ecosophical perspectives, this theory course engages the politics of ecology and technology insofar as these invite us to rethink temporalities. Both ecological urgency and the need to slow down crucially inform local and global environmental justice and ecosophy – with degrowth, convivial, radical democratic, postcapitalist communities reclaiming and designing new and old, sustainable modes of living. Meanwhile emergency and end-times discourses feed into authoritarian temptations and into the legitimization of technological hubris (e.g., nuclear energy or geoengineering as “solutions” to the climate wreckage; escapisms such as the colonization of outer space, A.I.-based survivalist fantasies, etc). Claire Sagan. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
POLI 280#bookstagram: The Politics of Reading in Public0.5
Are people reading less? Is reading in public a “performative” act? What is the role of social media communities in today’s experience of literacy? This Intensive explores the relationship between reading and social media, and considers the politics of reading in public. The content of the Intensive is co-created with students to include social media texts and current debates and questions about the habits and trends of today’s reading society. Mallory Whiteduck. Second six-week course. One 2-hour period. Course Format: INT
0.5 to 1 unit(s) Individual or group field projects or internships with prior approval of the adviser. Students are expected to do substantial directed reading in theoretical material specifically related to the field placement prior to or in conjunction with the field experience; to develop in consultation with a faculty supervisor a set of questions based on the theoretical reading to guide the field observations; to submit a written report relating the theoretical reading to the field observations or, in lieu of a report and at the option of the department, to take a final oral examination administered by two faculty members. No more than 1 unit of community-engaged learning (290) may be counted toward fulfilling the requirements of the minimum major. The Department. Special permission. Course Format: INT
0.5 to 1 unit(s) Independent work is normally based on a student’s desire to study with an instructor a specialized aspect of a course taken with that instructor. One unit normally entails substantial directed reading and/or the writing of a long paper and biweekly conferences with the instructor. In no case shall independent work satisfy the subfield distribution requirement. The department. Special permission. Course Format: OTH
This seminar is focused on U.S. congressional elections, with attention also devoted to interrelationships between voting for Congress and voting for president. The upcoming 2026 midterm elections are given special emphasis, particularly with regard to the question of whether the Democrats can regain control of the House, requiring just a 3 seat net gain. The Senate, however, is less likely to switch control. But recent events like Donald Trump’s declining job approval and successful recruitment of strong challengers to Republican incumbents have improved the outlook for the party. Among the themes to be studied in the context of 2026 and the recent past are the following: 1)whether Trump-induced middle-of-the-decade gerrymandering will give GOP an advantage in the midterms; 2) the increase in the numbers of congressional women and how the quality of their representation compares with that by men; 3) the growing reliance of candidates upon independent sources of campaign spending like Super PACs and dark money groups; 4) the consequences of political polarization for elections and the performance of Congress; and 5) how congressional representation of constituent interests bears upon reelection and vice versa. Richard Born. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
This seminar critically examines questions of constitutional theory and interpretation, as they relate to issues of civil liberties, civil rights, and powers of governmental institutions. The course discusses the background, concepts, and provisions of the Constitution, explores theories about how the Constitution can be interpreted, and analyzes how these interpretations are applied in practice. How do the Constitution’s provisions align with evolving norms and changes in society? How do its protections apply and extend to cases pertaining to discrimination based on factors such as class, age, race, ethnicity, sex, and gender? These concerns are addressed by focusing on various dimensions of constitutional theories, and court decisions. Some of the issues covered include standards of judicial review, the constitutional protection of groups as well as individuals, and a summary of decisions pertaining to questions addressing equal protection, anti-discrimination, privileges and immunities, and birthright citizenship, among others. Maxwell Fuerderer.
Permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Fall
POLI 346Seminar on the U.S. Courts and Legal System1
(Same as AFRS 346 ) This course is designed to promote and facilitate healthy discussion, debate, and dialogue about the U.S. legal system and the centrality of race, ethnicity, and politics in the system. Students start the course by examining the roots of the modern legal system. In part II of the course, students explore the legal processes and actors significant to the system, such as police officers, lawyers, jurors, and jurists. Special attention is given to investigating and discussing diversity within the legal system and the myriad factors influencing legal actors’ decisions. The course concludes with students exploring and researching some of the issues facing the courts and our criminal legal system, such as the criminalization of marginalized populations, mass imprisonment and e-carceration, crimmigration, the treatment of individuals detained and confined in local, state, and federal penal institutions, the politics of re-entry and life post-incarceration, and demands for justice, reform, and abolition. Taneisha Means.
Permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Fall
POLI 348Seminar in Democracy and Power in America1
An examination of tensions and adjustments between democratic ideals and the structures and practices of political and economic power in the United States.
Permission of the instructor, normally an intermediate-level course in American Politics. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 349U.S. Strategic Thinking in Global Affairs1
(Same as HIST 349 ) This seminar explores the concepts of U.S. strategic thinking, i.e., efforts to achieve large ends with limited means, as applied to global affairs. We examine a set of historical instances in which individuals, groups, and/or nations have attempted to harness U.S. political, military, diplomatic, economic, environmental, legal, amd scientific resources to advance national and global interests. Because U.S. strategic thinking requires the art of reconciling ends and means, we also examine how a range of people and groups with various leves of power balance what they think and want with the constraints that they face. Elizabeth Bradley, Robert Brigham. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 352Redemption and Diplomatic Imagination in Postcolonial Africa1
(Same as AFRS 352 ) This seminar explores the shifts and transformations in the discourse and practice of redemptive diplomacy in Africa. It introduces students to the cultural, philosophical and political dimensions of estrangement and the mediation practices that accompany the quest for recognition, meaning and material well-being in selected colonial and postcolonial societies. Through a critical treatment of the redemptive vision and diplomatic imaginaries summoned by missionaries, anti-colonial resistance movements and colonial era Pan-Africanists, the seminar interrogates the ‘idea of Africa’ produced by these discourses of redemption and their implications for diplomatic thought in Africa. The insights derived from the interrogation of foundational discourses on African redemption are used to map the transformation of identities, institutional forms, and the minute texture of everyday life in postcolonial Africa. The seminar also engages modern humanitarianism, diasporic religious movements, Non-Governmental Organizations and neoliberal or millennial capitalist networks that seek to save Africans from foreign forces of oppression or ‘themselves.’ Samson Opondo.
Permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Fall
POLI 353The Politics of Memory1
This seminar is a multidisciplinary exploration of the politics of memory, broadly understood as the relationships of atrocious political pasts to the present. The seminar draws from comparative politics, international relations, political theory, media studies, art history, psychoanalysis, journalism, and fiction to examine and analyze the significance of the many manifestations of memory for politics. Works and sites examined include testimonies, declassified government documents, memorials, museums, artwork, performance, and trials, from around the globe. The seminar may include site visits. Katherine Hite. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
The turmoil in the global economy has ignited a fierce debate about the proper role of government across the world. Does this mark the end of the free market ideology? Are governments going to take over more responsibilities in managing the economy and society? To engage these important questions, this course embarks on an intellectual journey to explore similar debates in the past and examine a variety of choices countries have made in different time periods and in different regions of the world. After a general discussion of some major analytical traditions in political economy, the course revisits scholarly exchanges over mercantilist policies in the 19 th century, Marxist and Polanyian critiques of capitalism, structuralist theories in the mid-20 th century, East Asian development in the 1980s, the socialist transition in the 1990s, and globalization in the 21 st century. The course concludes with some new insights from the reinvigorated research in institutionalism and the welfare state. Particular attention is paid to the variegated conceptualization of development and intellectual bases for the role of state and market. Fubing Su.
Permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 362Seminar in International Politics: Migration and Citizenship1
This seminar addresses the causes and consequences of movement from countries such as Jamaica, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Morocco, Syria, Afghanistan, China and Mexico to post-industrial countries in Europe, and the United States. The seminar first considers different reasons for why people move across state borders, such as the role of economic forces, the legacies of colonialism, and escape from violence. The seminar then engages in a comparative analysis of the politics of ‘difference’ in post-industrial countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and the U.S.; and asks why these politics have played out quite differently in each country. Comparisons include migrants, minorities and the politics of ‘difference’ in countries of the former Soviet Union. So as to compare the politics of ‘difference,’ readings consider government policies to, societal views on, and experiences of migrants, minorities, & refugees. Readings address specific subjects including education policy in regard to the (grand) children of migrants; policies towards religious minorities; diverse views on the implications of multiculturalism and assimilation for gender inequity; perceptions on the economic consequences of immigration for other workers; and the sources and impact of anti-immigrant and anti-refugee political movements historically and contemporarily.
Permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 363Decolonizing International Relations1
(Same as ASIA 363 ) Colonial frameworks are deeply constitutive of mainstream international relations. Issues of global security, economy, and politics continue to be analyzed through perspectives that either silence or are impervious to the voices and agencies of global majorities. This seminar challenges students to enter into, reconstruct, and critically evaluate the differently imagined worlds of ordinary, subaltern peoples and political groups. We draw upon postcolonial theories to explore alternatives to the historically dominant explanations of international relations. Himadeep Muppidi.
Permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 364Reparations, Justice, and the Environment1
This seminar engages with the use of reparations as a legal remedy for climate and environmental harm. Following Farhana Sultana’s analysis of climate coloniality, the seminar examines how climate injustice can be addressed through reparations. The course explores the intersection of these issues based on the works of Olufemi O Taiwo, Farhana Sultana, Amitav Ghosh, and Kasia Paprocki among others on climate justice and reparations. The seminar uses these key texts, court cases, and conversations with climate negotiators and youth climate activists to conceptualize the interrelationships between climate injustice and the legal claim for reparations. The course examines how reparations in law are understood and what possibilities it holds for remedying environmental and climate injustice with a focus on vulnerable geographies of the global south. Arpitha Kodiveri.
Permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Spring
POLI 365Policing from a Global Perspective1
In this seminar, we analyze policing from a global perspective. Employing a range of political theories, including liberalism, decolonial theory, and (neo)Marxist approaches, students will explore the promises and pitfalls for building safer and more equitable public security forces. What are the enduring legacies of imperial policing regimes across Anglophone, Francophone, and American states? Are police forces a distinctly domestic institution, or is there a global governance of policing? We start by analyzing the historical origins of policing, paying particular attention to the Anglophone and European Continental policing models. We then assess the role of global actors, including empires, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations in the major periods of police reform and change, including the 20th century professionalization movement, the War on Drugs, the War on Terror, the post-George Floyd moment, and recent militarized immigration enforcement. Some key case studies include French policing in pre-independence Algeria, US global police training during the Vietnam War and the Iraq War, and the 2020 EndSARS protests in Nigeria. Students gain an expanded understanding of policing as a multifaceted institution and practice with meaningful (though at times cyclical) variation across time and in different countries. The Department. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
This seminar is a writing intensive course where we explore how prominent thinkers/scholars of international relations have engaged the task of writing alternative worlds into the field of politics. Though located in the periphery, how have various thinkers imagined, articulated and taken up the challenge of crossing multiple colonial borders? While we read various authors, our focus is primarily on the act and practice of writing itself. We closely consider how those we read write, and we write and study each other’s works in order to collectively think through, critique and help ourselves imagine and write into existence variously silenced aspects of international relations. Himadeep Muppidi.
Permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 372New Materialism1
(Same as WFQS 372 ) This seminar is a non-exhaustive survey of a recent and prolific current in theory called “new materialism” and “the nonhuman turn.” Consisting mostly of feminist theorists, new materialists argue for the need to build upon, radicalize, and sometimes even break from the previous post-structuralist focus on discourse (the so-called “linguistic turn”). They argue that it is time to re-emphasize materiality, bodies, biology, evolution, ecologies, the nonhuman, the more-than-human, even the specter of the posthuman. This attempt is partly inspired by the rise of digital and surveillance capitalism resulting in the omnipresence of technology in our daily lives and in the production of “cyborg” (Donna Haraway) subjectivities or “dividuals” (Gilles Deleuze). New materialism has also emerged in response to the “intrusion of Gaia” (Isabelle Stengers) or what some have called the “Anthropocene,” or the “ecological crisis” (arguably more aptly described as “eco-catastrophe”). Claire Sagan.
Permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 374Seminar in Political Theory1
An examination of selected theorists and problems in contemporary political theory. Andrew Davison. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
POLI 376Ecological Catastrophe and Nietzsche’s Eternal Return1
(Same as ENST 376 and STS 376 ) This course explores several sorts of texts together, for thought experiments pertaining to our times of ecological catastrophe. We critically engage: 1) theories concerned with ecological collapse, extinction, catastrophism, and the oft-cited and ill-named Anthropocene 2) literature on Nietzsche within environmental political thought 3) literature on Nietzsche and gender 4) selected primary texts by Nietzsche. Examining the latter in close readings and in the context of our compromised ecological futures, we ask ourselves to what extent the Nietzschean concepts of “eternal return” and “will to power” may help us think in these troubled times: what would a feminist Nietzschean ecology look like? Claire Sagan. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
Sovereignty is a weighty concept, and it has dominated scholarship in Native American and Indigenous history, politics and even literature. Sovereignty brings to mind images of grandeur: Indigenous leaders making speeches on the political stage or academics theorizing in offices. But what if Indigenous sovereignty is also a grandparent and grandchild going for a walk in the bush? In this seminar, we interrogate theories of Indigenous sovereignty by putting them into conversation with the everyday: ordinary behavior, small things and the quotidian elements of Native American and Indigenous life. Grounded by core texts written by Indigenous political thinkers, we consider how a turn to the everyday can actually be radical. Mallory Whiteduck.
Permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Fall
POLI 378Strategic Thinking in Global Health1
(Same as STS 378 ) This course seeks to equip students with knowledge and skills to understand current global health challenges in their historical context. We begin with the emergence of international health and humanitarian efforts in the wake of World War I and track various conflicts in approaches in the post-World War II era. Students also develop the capacity to frame problems, understand root causes of problems, develop and analyze strategic alternatives, and communicate recommended strategies to a variety of audiences engaged in global health. Assignments include weekly reading and discussion, small group strategy brief presentations, and an individual paper on a relevant topic selected by the student and approved by the instructor. Elizabeth Bradley.
One unit of social science or one unit in Science, Technology, and Society and permission of the instructor. One 3-hour period. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Spring
POLI 387Political Theories1
Human, all-too-human, nonhuman, inhuman, posthuman, more-than-human, queer political ecologies are increasingly sites of theoretical and practical contestation in this heated Earth-historical moment. What some have called “societies of control” are shaken by multiple simultaneous ecological catastrophes, inciting us to (re)think the human, and to think beyond it (including to problematize transhumanist fantasies replete with A.I., space colonization and geoengineering). This seminar is inspired by the urgent need to pay attention to the (ecological, digital, hybrid) nonhuman, the inhuman (within and beyond certain economies of power, from neoliberal biopolitical regimes to the rise of eco- and fossil fascisms), as well as embodiment, materialities, and especially, temporalities. We will engage some of these questions through selected works from queer, feminist, decolonial, anti- and post-capitalist theories of science and technology studies (STS), critical new materialisms (particularly queer and feminist theory), critical environmental theory, in conversation with the performing arts, street art, science fiction, ecopoetics, and more. Claire Sagan.
Permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Fall
POLI 399Senior Independent Work
0.5 to 1 unit(s) Independent work is normally based on a student’s desire to study with an instructor a specialized aspect of a course taken with that instructor. Normally 1 unit entails substantial directed reading, the writing of a long paper, and biweekly conferences with the instructor. This course cannot be used to satisfy the requirement of 2 units of 300-level work in the major. In no case shall independent work satisfy the subfield distribution requirement. The department. Special permission. Course Format: OTH
