Undergraduate Seminars
Students majoring in political science must take two 4-point 3000-level seminars. At least one of the seminars taken must be in the student’s primary subfield.
Registration
Students may not pre-register for political science seminars. To register, students must join the seminar's wait list in SSOL. Students on the wait list will receive further instructions from the instructor or the department.
Instructors' preferred methods for admitting students to seminars vary. Some will correspond with students via the wait list function in SSOL. Some will give instructions in the course notes section of the Directory of Classes. Others may communicate with students individually. Still others may ask all interested students to come to the first class meeting for instructions.
The Undergraduate Program Coordinator can answer questions about seminar registration.
Seminars must be taken for a letter grade.
Fulfilling the seminar requirement
The following courses fulfill the seminar requirement. All seminars are offered for 4 points of credit.
- POLS UN3911x and UN3912y — Seminar in Political Theory
- POLS UN3921x and UN3922y — Seminar in American Politics
- POLS UN3951x and UN3952y — Seminar in Comparative Politics
- POLS UN3961x and UN3962y — Seminar in International Relations
Other seminars, including Barnard colloquia, may count for seminar credit only with the written permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies or the Undergraduate Advisers.
Fall 2018 Seminars
- Section
Section 001
Theory of the Corporation
This seminar-style, 4 credit interdisciplinary course seeks answers to two basic questions: (1) what is a corporation and, (2) given what it is, what kind of civil and political rights should it have in a liberal constitutional democracy? Should for-profit businesses receive the protection of First Amendment rights to speech and religion? Is the state permitted – or, indeed, obliged – to intervene with corporate internal affairs to protect individual rights? Or must it respect corporate self-determination as a protected property or associational right? What public purposes must a corporation serve, given its key role in generating the material conditions necessary for human liberty? Designed for upper level undergraduate students with some background in political theory, this class will also draw from approaches taken by both economists and legal scholars who have considered the problem of corporate moral and political standing. To answer these questions, students will first explore and critique the various theories of corporate personhood offered by lawyers, political theorists and economists over the past two centuries of American intellectual history. These theories purport to define the corporation’s standing as a moral and political agent. Marshaling the normative insights provided by contemporary liberal democratic political thought, students will then be challenged to set forth an account of the kinds of rights, if any, a corporation might claim given the nature of its ‘personhood.’ As part of this practical analysis, students will learn about the implications of corporate rights for its various stakeholders, including employee, customers, suppliers, creditors, and, indeed, taxpayers and surrounding community members.- Instructor
- Jackson
- Section
Section 002
Religion and Democracy
A major challenge to liberal, democratic constitutionalism in the 21st century is posed by controversies over the relation between religion and civil law, the regulatory state and the public sphere. This course will consider the meaning of political secularism and religious freedom, and ask what modes of separation and accommodation between religion and the state is constitutive of liberal constitutional democracy and what forms undermine it? Do certain forms of the accommodation of religion demanded in the name of religious freedom conflict with the principles of equality central to democratic constitutionalism and human rights? Is religion special and should religious organizations be granted exemptions from generally valid civil rights law including anti-discrimination law? How can we reconcile freedom of religion claims with human rights principles and/or with the democratically legitimate exercise of public power, when these conflict? What are the politics behind contemporary invocation of first amendment freedoms by the corporate religious? We will focus on the American case, tracing the political and constitutional developments pertaining to political secularism, anti-establishment, religious freedom and the regulation of religion, but we will also refer to European developments when relevant.- Instructor
- Cohen
- Section
Section 003
Reason and Politics
We lean heavily on the concepts of reason and rationality in justifying and criticizing political belief and conduct, but when we are pressed to explain what these notions mean, our understanding quickly reaches limits. What is reason? Are there special ways in which citizens and public officials should reason in public life? Is it realistic to expect people to exercise “public” forms of reason in a culturally diverse and politically polarized society that sometimes seems indifferent to truth and genuine argument? This course studies some influential recent answers to these questions from a variety of contemporary thinkers, including John Rawls, Jürgen Habermas, Onora O'Neill, Christine Korsgaard, Seyla Benhabib, and Gerald Guas.- Instructor
- MacInnis
- Section
Section 001
Bill of Rights
This seminar is an investigation of the nature and importance of the federal Bill of Rights and state bills of rights in the American federal and state constitutional systems. Common readings, class discussions, and student seminar papers consider the social, political, and legal significance of the Bill of Rights and the broader language of rights in historical and contemporary American discourse and analysis. The first part of the seminar is devoted to: a) discussion of common, required readings, including constitutional case law and analyses by political scientists, historians, and legal scholars, that address a variety of rights issues from the period of the nation’s founding through the present, and b) discussion of students’ research interests and strategies for gathering, organizing, and analyzing data for their own seminar papers. The second part of the seminar is devoted to students’ presentations, in class, of their own research on particular rights issues related to the Bill of Rights, the Fourteenth Amendment, state bills of rights, rights-related legislation, and rights-related legal campaigns and battles.- Instructor
- Zebrowski
- Section
Section 002
Media and U.S. Politics
This seminar will examine the central role of mass communication (traditional media) and mass self-communication (internet/social media) in American politics and policy-making with special attention to the role of news, social, and entertainment media in presidential and other elections. While the primary focus is on the American setting, students will also look at the global context as it relates to media structures, ownership, freedom of expression/press, etc.- Instructor
- Nacos
- Section
Section 003
Equality and the Law
- Instructor
- Amdur
- Section
Section 004
The Politics of Income Inequality
This seminar considers the problem of income inequality and directs readings and research on the political causes and consequences of changes in income distribution in the US over the last three decades. There will be substantial reading—at least a book or the equivalent in scholarly papers each week—and the expectation of student engagement and discussion is high. The course focuses on politics and selected public policies affecting the distribution of income and the accumulation of wealth in the US. It is designed to help students think analytically about widening income disparity and how the logic of the political economy has structured patterns of great political and economic inequalities. Among the policies we may consider are: taxation, campaign finance reform, voting, the minimum wage and Earned Income Tax Credits, and financial sector reform.- Instructor
- Russell
- Section
Section 005
Bureaucratic Politics
This course is a comprehensive, high-level introduction to bureaucracies in American politics. The course is organized along two themes. First, it emphasizes tools that will be helpful for thinking about bureaucracies, as well as for studying institutions in general. Second, it proceeds from the "inside out," beginning with personnel and ending with the bureaucracy's external environment. The course will expose students to a wide range of American political agencies, activities and possibilities for reform.- Instructor
- Ting
- Section
Section 006
Cities, Government and Politics
Cities are subject to currents in the global economy, declines in intergovernmental resources, and partisan gridlock in national government and state capitals. The intersection of these forces has pushed policies downward, forcing city leaders to press the boundaries of economic limits by positioning cities as laboratories of innovation and change. To promote growth and competitiveness, city leaders are forming diverse public/private partnerships, and navigating transnational relationships. However, with these strategies, there exist major fault lines and political conflicts surrounding the unevenness of growth, and its effects on economic, social, and racial conditions. This course analyzes cities, city leaders, and the policies of innovation and growth giving specific attention to the autonomous intersection of economic and political forces shaping the policies and politics in American cities. We seek to understand: how and why growth strategies are advanced, and the questions surrounding who benefits and who loses?- Instructor
- Bushell
- Section
Section 007
Topics in American Democracy
This seminar will explore questions of American democracy from various perspectives and be an advanced seminar in American politics. The major theme of the course will be the evolution and challenges of American democracy. Topics will include historical events such as the founding and crafting of the constitution or the Civil War, institutional questions issues like elections, legislatures and federalism, as well as thematic questions such as the interaction of democracy with race and identity or other divisions within the polity.- Instructor
- Mitchell
- Section
Section 008
Sexuality and Citizenship
For much of the 20th century, the American political system excluded lesbians and gay men from full citizenship. This course seeks to understand the political and social forces shaping the transformation of these sex nonconformists from a pariah group into a viable social movement and eventually into a powerful constituency within the Democratic Party. Special emphasis will be placed on the state’s role in defining lesbian and gay identities, the ways in which gender and racial diversity have shaped the LGB movement, and the role that partisan electoral strategies played in ushering sexuality to the center of American political conflict.- Instructor
- Phillips
- Section
Section 001
Comparative Political Economy
- Instructor
- Mares
- Section
Section 002
State-Making in South Asia: Institutions, Identities and Interests
South Asia, made up of eight countries, is an interesting enigma. It is a flashpoint of global terrorism with two nuclear power countries hostile to each other. It is home to the largest democracy with enduring ethnic conflicts plaguing its very diverse population. It has the fastest growing major economy and some of the poorest people of the world. In this course we will look at specific aspects of the interaction of the state, society and market in South Asia with an aim to evaluate (a) how comparative social science illuminates South Asia and (b) how analysis of specific cases in South Asia contributes to general theorizing about politics.The readings are designed to include diverse research traditions examining various challenges to the state-making enterprise in South Asia, ranging from corruption, weak institutions and infrastructure deficit to vast inequalities and armed insurgencies. This course will (a) introduce you to social science tools in analyzing complex political issues (b) help you develop deep knowledge of the region (c) design and critique policies based on the readings (d) apply comparative analysis in writing your own research papers.- Instructor
- Sen
- Section
Section 001
The Cold War
This seminar will allow students to do in-depth research on the political history of the Cold War. This is not an introduction to the Cold War; students are expected to know the basic history and arguments as a prerequisite. We will cross-walk theories and analytical approaches from political science with historical accounts of the events and evolution of the Cold War, asking both how we can explain this history and how it confirms or disconfirms more general arguments.- Instructor
- Jervis
- Section
Section 002
Human Rights and Migration
- Instructor
- Putnam
- Section
Section 003
The Politics of Trade, Aid and Investment
- Instructor
- Carnegie
- Section
Section 004
Topics in International Politics
Contemporary developments in international politics are giving rise to many new challenges to international security. Understanding some of these may require revisiting and renewing some standard theories that have a long track record in literature on international relations: deterrence and bargaining theories, the balance of power, power transitions, and the effect of economic interdependence on war and peace. Other challenges—rising populism and nativism—may require borrowing insights from other fields or rummaging in the attic of semi-forgotten social theories. Some trends—the declining quality of public discourse in established democracies—may require fresh thinking entirely.- Instructor
- Snyder
- Section
Section 005
Inequality Within and Between Nations
Inequality within developed nations is at historic highs, while the income disparity between nations has become diminished. We will explore the reasons for these two trends, the linkages between them, and possible consequences. Will anti-globalization and populist movements, a result of domestic inequality, spell the end of globalizing equality?- Instructor
- Spiro