Summer 2012 Courses
PLSC 101: American Politics
Professor Frendreis
MTWTh 10:25am / LSC
This course provides students with an overview of American politics, with special emphasis on national political institutions. Specific topics to be covered include the constitutional bases for the American political system, the major national political institutions, political processes, and selected areas of public policy. In addition to covering the major subjects of American politics, this summer we will include an examination of the 2012 presidential election. The class format will be a combination of lecture and discussion.
PLSC 300A: Paying for Cities
Professor Blackmond Larnell
MTWTh 12:20pm / LSC
Local governments are responsible for the provision of many services (i.e. fire and police, public transportation, ) as well as developing and maintaining a variety of public facilities (i.e. schools, libraries, roads, sewage and water systems ). How cities finance public facilities and services is a very dynamic and complex process. In this class, we will examine the theory of public finance at the local level. Topics of discussion will include the structure of local government, major sources of revenues (property taxes, user fees, impact fees, tax increment financing, special districts, etc.) and expenditures, the budgeting process, and the relationship between politics and budgeting.
Local governments have a single and overriding interest in attracting economic activity in the form of private investment and residents to grow their tax base and revenues. To improve their appeal, cities are constantly seeking to obtain an optimal balance between the their revenue generating capacity and service delivery demands. In other words, they want to offer the best bundle of municipal services and amenities at the lowest cost to residents and businesses. In an effort to improve their communities and upgrade their city’s economic status, local officials partake in economic development. Students will be introduced to economic development theory as well as the variety of traditional and innovative strategies cities use to grow their economies.
This class will examine public financing and economic development as practiced in the city of Chicago. This class will help students to develop their ability to understand, articulate, evaluate, and formulate opinions about important policy issues facing their communities.
PLSC 300D: The Arab Spring, Democratic Change, Islam, and U.S. Foreign Policy
Professor Schraeder
May 27 - June 16 / permission required
This course offers a unique experiential and interdisciplinary understanding of the Arab spring, democratic change, Islam and U.S. foreign policy by traveling for 22 days throughout Tunisia, an Arab country in North Africa. A special combination of site visits, lectures by group leader Professor Peter J. Schraeder, and guest presentations by renowned Tunisian scholars will focus on the politics of democratization in the Arab world, the role of women in Muslim societies, Arab perceptions of U.S. foreign policy, U.S. perceptions of Tunisia’s role in the global war on terrorism, the evolving nature of Islam in the Arab world, and the history of the Carthaginian, Roman, and French empires in North Africa. We will spend the first five days in Tunisia’s capital, Tunis, where, in addition to visiting sites throughout the city, you will take part in joint sessions with English-speaking Tunisian students from the University of Tunis and attend presentations at the U.S. Embassy. The vast majority of this 22-day trip, however, will be spent visiting sites of political, religious, historical, and social significance throughout all regions of Tunisia, ranging from the Great Mosque of Kairouan and the Roman Coliseum in El Jem, to an overnight camping experience in the Sahara Desert, complete with a camel trek, in Southern Tunisia.
PLSC 370: Political Science Internship Program
Professor Gitelson
June 4 - July 27 / permission required
The Chicago Internship is offered during the Summer “C” session. Students can take this internship for 3 or 6 academic credit hours. Placements are available in local congressional offices, local state legislative offices, and local aldermanic offices. In addition, there are internships available in county and local governmental offices, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), political campaigns, the State’s Attorney’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office. During the summer session, students can also participate in an internship in their hometown with permission of the instructor. Approval of the instructor is necessary in order to participate in this internship program. Contact Dr. Alan Gitelson if you would like to schedule an information meeting and/or receive application material. His email address is agitels@luc.edu. The application deadline is April 10, 2012.
PLSC 386: American Parties & Elections
Professor Gitelson
MW 6:00pm / LSC
This course will give an overview of the workings and non-workings of the American two-party system and the election and campaign process. In a lecture-seminar atmosphere we will explore and analyze parties and the election process in the context of the presidential and congressional 2012 elections. Topics covered will include campaigning, campaign financing, polling, the roles of interest groups and political action committees, the media, and other institutions as they have an impact on parties and elections in the United States.
PLSC 396: Directed Readings
permission required: Professor Mahler
A special readings course designed for students with particular topics in mind. Interested students should discuss the proposed topic with a faculty member prior to the beginning of the session.
PLSC 499: Directed Readings
permission required: Professor Schraeder
Directed reading for students in Graduate programs.
PLSC 102: International Politics
Professor Grigorescu
** online course **
This course introduces students to the major concepts and approaches in the study of international relations and globalization. It seeks to treat the subject in an analytical and theoretical manner. We will first discuss different approaches used in study of the field, as well as the assumptions and consequences involved in the use of such approaches. The course will rely on examples from different areas of the world and from different moments in history. In the second part of the course we will focus on specific issues that are of interest to the study of international relations and globalization such as military conflict, the global economy, the environment, and human rights.
The course will be taught entirely online. That implies that there is no “face-to-face” component. Most of the lectures, discussions and assignments will take place in asynchronous sessions. We will have one synchronous session per week, on Thursdays from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
PLSC 300D: International Human Rights
Professor Grigorescu
TWTh 3:35pm / LSC
This course will discuss the history of human rights emphasizing the development of three "generations" of rights in the post-World War II era. It will address some of the main questions in the literature regarding political, economic and group rights. Lastly, it considers the enforcement of international human rights looking at the roles of intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and international law mechanisms. It also addresses the ability of the United States and of other countries to affect human rights issues around the world. The course will involve a research paper on specific types of rights as well as on specific problems within a state.
PLSC 309: Socialism
Professor Mayer
TTh 6:00pm / LSC
What sorts of enterprises should the public own and manage? This is the question that socialists address, but their answers vary. While every socialist favors an extension of public ownership, socialists disagree among themselves about the scope, forms, pace, and organization of public enterprise. In this course we survey a range of socialist arguments, both classical and contemporary. We will chart the difference between marxian and nonmarxian brands of socialism and try to decide whether an extension of public ownership in our society would make things better or worse. This is a Political Theory course.
PLSC 324: Civil-Military Relations
Professor Williams
MTWTh 12:20pm / LSC
Civil-Military Relations will explore the nature of military professionalism and the relationship between the military and the civil society it is tasked to defend. The interactions are many and complex, involving issues as varied as personnel policies (such as recruitment, gender, sexual orientation), lobbying, and the role of the military in domestic law enforcement (drugs, civil disorder, etc.). The implications of various policy choices for civil liberties and military effectiveness will be considered, as well. The professor hopes for a wide range of opinions on these issues. The focus will be on non-U.S. militaries as well as the U.S. military.
PLSC 330: American & Modern War
Professor Williams
MTWTh 10:25am / LSC
This course will study U.S. political-military strategy and policy, and discuss its effectiveness to engage in a variety of conflicts across the conflict spectrum. In addition to current issues, we will discuss the historical evolution of U.S. military posture. The goal is not to arrive at particular conclusions, but rather to gain an understanding of the complexity of war and peace issues. This is not a "cut and dried" course for which there are definite answers, so there should be a wide range of informed disagreement as the class progresses.
PLSC 360: Western European Politics
Professor Mahler
July 2 - July 26 / Rome Campus
This course offers an introduction to political systems in four major Western European countries, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Germany. In addition, it will offer a brief introduction to the history and operation of the European Union, a regional organization that includes 27 European nations. Each country, as well as the European Union, will be examined according to a similar framework; in each case we will explore the context within which political operates, and then describe (1) the main inputs into politics, including public opinion, interest groups and political parties; (2) the executive, legislative and judicial institutions that process these inputs; and (3) the most important public policies that are formulated by the political system and how they affect the country’s social, economic and international environment.
Since this course is offered in Rome, a special effort will be made to incorporate field trips to Italian political institutions and relevant historical sites, as well as visits by diplomats and political leaders from Italy and, perhaps, U.S. diplomats stationed there. Details have yet to be worked out, but my hope is that we will have at least two or three such events throughout the course of the term, possibly more. I do not anticipate any costs beyond local public transportation.
PLSC 396: Directed Readings
permission required: Professor Mahler
A special readings course designed for students with particular topics in mind. Interested students should discuss the proposed topic with a faculty member prior to the beginning of the session.
PLSC 499: Directed Readings
permission required: Professor Schraeder
Directed reading for students in Graduate programs.