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.
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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 2017 Seminars
- Section
Section 001
Tocqueville's Democracy
- Instructor
- Elster
- Section
Section 002
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 003
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 004
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 005
Equality and the Law
- Instructor
- Amdur
- Section
Section 007
The Politics of Income Inequality
This seminar is designed to give students an organized opportunity to examine the dramatic changes in income distribution in the U.S. over the last three decades. It will concentrate on the causes and consequences of widening income disparity, and on how politics has structured economic patterns of great inequalities. It was politics that brought about the establishment of governmental institutions that elevated the condition and prospects of the American middle class; it is politics that shaped and do shape the function of the economy, and it is politics that shape the distribution of income and wealth today which have been disadvantageous for the American middle class. Students will finish the semester with a respectable understanding of current arguments, evidence, and explanations surrounding income inequality—and why it is considered to be a rising ‘crisis’ in the American case. The claim of rising ‘income inequality’ today raises fundamental questions about who benefits from the politics of inequality and redistribution and how. This new course focuses on politics and selected public policies affecting the distribution of income and the accumulation of wealth in the U.S. Among those policies considered are: campaign finance reform, voting access, the minimum wage, Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC), college student loans, corporate pay, assisted family leave, the (failed) Family Assistance Plan, job training programs and unemployment insurance.- Instructor
- Russell
- Section
Section 011
Bureaucratic Politics
- Instructor
- Ting
- Section
Section 013
The Modern Political Campaign
- Instructor
- Perez
- Section
Section 014
Issues on Race and Ethnicity in American Politics
- Instructor
- Vargas-Ramos
- Section
Section 015
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 016
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 001
Comparative Government and Institutions
This course provides a systematic analysis of democratic systems focusing on their executive branch. It examines the political determinants and policy consequences of governments and institutions across advanced industrialized countries. We will start with the basic classification of constitutional regimes into parliamentary, presidential and semi-presidential systems. We will then examine how the executive comes to power and remains in power, which requires a close study of the dynamics of executive-legislative relations as well as electoral institutions. Finally, we will examine the role played by different institutions in determining political outcomes, such as representation, accountability, and redistribution.- Instructor
- Mutlu-Eren
- 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
National Security Policy
- Instructor
- Betts
- Section
Section 002
Contemporary Diplomacy
This seminar focuses on diplomacy in the modern era and examines major diplomatic events since the end of the Cold War. International relations theory and empirical developments frame our approach to the study of contemporary diplomacy, including analyzing the complex role of diplomacy as an instrument of statecraft as well as the evolution of diplomatic strategies and methods. Students examine how states manage and shape external relations through diplomacy, either alone or in combination with other instruments, and study the conditions under which diplomatic statecraft has had positive, negative or no impact on various foreign policies and international outcomes. We critically assess and analyze the practice and role of diplomacy amid a range of post- Cold War cases including the reunification of Germany, the Dayton Accords, Israeli-Palestinian relations since the Oslo Accords, coercive diplomacy against Iraq and Iran, the Good Friday Agreement, diplomacy in the fight against terrorism, the international environmental agenda, and international dynamics in the cyber domain.- Instructor
- Murphy
- Section
Section 003
International Law
- Instructor
- Krasno
- Section
Section 005
Inequality Within and Between Nations
- Instructor
- Spiro
- Section
Section 006
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 007
Political Violence
This seminar will address the causes and consequences of political violence. It will examine issues surrounding identity, economic factors, armed and criminal groups, civilian casualties, terrorism and state violence. It will present debates on international military intervention and counter-terrorism strategy. Empirical material will include case studies on the Islamic State, Syria, Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Rwanda, Georgia, Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina.- Instructor
- Kirschke
- Section
Section 008
North Korea and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Past, Present and Future
The course will examine the history of North Korea's acquisition of weapons of mass destruction and its implications for the future of U.S. foreign and security policy, both global and in Northeast Asia. The examination will focus not only on Pyongyang's effort to build nuclear, chemical and biological weapons as well as ballistic missiles but place that effort in the context of North Korean security policy and particularly its relationship with the United States since the Korean War. The seminar will also examine how Pyongyang's emergence as a small nuclear power is effecting U.S. alliances with South Korea and Japan, its relationship with China and the global and regional nuclear non-proliferation regime. Finally, the class will discuss potential options for the United States and its allies in dealing with this growing problem.- Instructor
- Wit