Political Science

In this course, students read works on German democracy written in American perspective. Students alternate between theoretical texts and those which cover pivotal moments in German history: the revolution of 1848, the institution of democracy in the German Empire, its suspension under Hitler, and the fate of democracy in Germany divided. 

This course explores human rights as embedded in specific historical circumstances, and looks at their codification in international law as the product of heated political debates. The first part of the course examines the topic from a historical perspective. Students trace the genealogy of the concept paying particular attention to its continuity or discontinuity with respect to the notion of natural law, and focus on the birth of the “human rights regime.” The second part of the course involves the examination of specific case studies. In the third and final part of the course students look at critical readings of human rights as possibly an instrument for “Western hegemony,” or as inadequate in other ways.

This course addresses international issues regarding the foreign policies of France and the United States in the Middle East, a zone defined by international organizations as including North Africa and Iran but excluding Turkey, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The course includes an interactive dimension which allows students to refine their understanding of the actors and challenges of this subject and to sharpen their critical thinking skills with the reading of various selected texts, including academic works, autobiographies of the stakeholders, and press articles.

This course covers the complex relationships between Western, African, and South African Political Thought. Key ideas in these traditions of political theory are introduced and interactions between them explored. In particular, the course investigates the development of ideas concerning colonial rule and the nationalist responses to that rule, which together constitute a rich and complex literature. The themes address over the course include the Western enlightenment, colonial modernity, nationalism, and democracy.