political theory
PLSC 301: Political Justice
Professor Mayer
TTh 11:30am / LSC
Is it fair to redistribute income from the haves to the have-nots? Are preemptive military strikes wrong? Do white people owe reparations to the descendants of slaves? In this course we search for answers to these and other questions about what justice requires in the works of several important contemporary theorists. During the course of the semester we will explore three important bodies of theory: distributive justice (who should get what, and how much); restorative justice (what, if anything, we owe to the victims of injustice); and just war theory. This course is an option in the "Values across the Curriculum: Understanding and Promoting Justice" section of the core curriculum.
PLSC 306: Modern Political Thought--writing intensive
Professor Danford
MWF 11:30am / LSC
The Renaissance is often regarded as a time of the rediscovery of classical principles in a world which had lost sight of man's humanity, a world dominated by the convoluted theology of scholasticism and the dark ages. The earliest modern thinkers, however, understood themselves to be not so much recovering the understanding of the ancients as challenging that understanding in its most fundamental aspects. They attempted to establish a new kind of humanism, what Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has called "autonomous humanism," which proclaimed man above and apart from the rest of the natural order. The understanding introduced by these thinkers, and above all by Machiavelli and Francis Bacon, continues to dominate our lives and our minds in important respects. As this course will attempt to show, the new understanding was advanced as a self-conscious challenge to and rejection of the classical understanding of man, of the city, of God, of nature and the cosmos. The aim of the course is to help students to come to terms with this radical modern understanding, along with the powerful justification advanced in support of it. We will proceed by studying the writings of the great thinkers responsible for the modern revolution, and consider some of the responses of critical successors. This is a writing-intensive section.
PLSC 308: Contemporary Political Thought
Ms. Snyderwine
W 4:15pm / LSC
Why would a group, in order to achieve ‘justice’ or a more ‘ideal’ political order, legitimize the sacrifice of human rights or life itself? Compassion, tolerance, and protection of individual rights are casualties of tyrannical mass movements. The goals of the course are to compare the reflections of several contemporary philosophers on terrorism and genocide in order to evaluate the inherent moral challenges for democracies in countering terrorism.
PLSC 312: Feminist Theory
Ms. Replogle
M 7:00pm / LSC
This course provides an overview of the fundamental debates marking feminist theories today. Students will engage in a critical examination of influential works, using theory to understand concrete issues that mobilize concepts of sex, gender, race, and nation. Readings and discussions will focus on a series of themes and issues organized around the following general topics: (1) The role of women in traditional political thought and the emergence of modern feminist theories. (2) Considerations and contestations of identity. (3) A reexamination and a "rethinking" of basic political concepts and relationships and (4) global challenges.
PLSC 301: Political Justice
Professor Mayer
TTh 11:30am / LSC
Is it fair to redistribute income from the haves to the have-nots? Are preemptive military strikes wrong? Do white people owe reparations to the descendants of slaves? In this course we search for answers to these and other questions about what justice requires in the works of several important contemporary theorists. During the course of the semester we will explore three important bodies of theory: distributive justice (who should get what, and how much); restorative justice (what, if anything, we owe to the victims of injustice); and just war theory. This course is an option in the "Values across the Curriculum: Understanding and Promoting Justice" section of the core curriculum.
PLSC 306: Modern Political Thought--writing intensive
Professor Danford
MWF 11:30am / LSC
The Renaissance is often regarded as a time of the rediscovery of classical principles in a world which had lost sight of man's humanity, a world dominated by the convoluted theology of scholasticism and the dark ages. The earliest modern thinkers, however, understood themselves to be not so much recovering the understanding of the ancients as challenging that understanding in its most fundamental aspects. They attempted to establish a new kind of humanism, what Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has called "autonomous humanism," which proclaimed man above and apart from the rest of the natural order. The understanding introduced by these thinkers, and above all by Machiavelli and Francis Bacon, continues to dominate our lives and our minds in important respects. As this course will attempt to show, the new understanding was advanced as a self-conscious challenge to and rejection of the classical understanding of man, of the city, of God, of nature and the cosmos. The aim of the course is to help students to come to terms with this radical modern understanding, along with the powerful justification advanced in support of it. We will proceed by studying the writings of the great thinkers responsible for the modern revolution, and consider some of the responses of critical successors. This is a writing-intensive section.
PLSC 308: Contemporary Political Thought
Ms. Snyderwine
W 4:15pm / LSC
Why would a group, in order to achieve ‘justice’ or a more ‘ideal’ political order, legitimize the sacrifice of human rights or life itself? Compassion, tolerance, and protection of individual rights are casualties of tyrannical mass movements. The goals of the course are to compare the reflections of several contemporary philosophers on terrorism and genocide in order to evaluate the inherent moral challenges for democracies in countering terrorism.
PLSC 312: Feminist Theory
Ms. Replogle
M 7:00pm / LSC
This course provides an overview of the fundamental debates marking feminist theories today. Students will engage in a critical examination of influential works, using theory to understand concrete issues that mobilize concepts of sex, gender, race, and nation. Readings and discussions will focus on a series of themes and issues organized around the following general topics: (1) The role of women in traditional political thought and the emergence of modern feminist theories. (2) Considerations and contestations of identity. (3) A reexamination and a "rethinking" of basic political concepts and relationships and (4) global challenges.