Introduction to American Politics

Intro American Politics

In this course, students will gain familiarity with some of the major questions and theoretical frameworks in the American Politics subfield of political science and learn how to think theoretically and empirically about politics.

• MW 6:10 p.m.-7:25 p.m.
• Instructor: David McGrath
  Info
• 4 points

Introduction to American Politics Discus

Intro Am Pol Discussion

Discussion section

• W 4:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• W 5:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• W 12:10 p.m.-1 p.m.
• W 1:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• W 9:10 a.m.-10 a.m.
• W 10:10 a.m.-11 a.m.
• T 2:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
• T 3:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• F 2:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
• F 1:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Sydney C Cuneo
  Info
• 0 points

International Politics

Why do countries go to war? What conditions foster international cooperation? How do alliances between countries function? How are countries affected by global trade and investment, and in turn how does the political economy of individual countries shape international conflict and cooperation? How do ideas and culture (including both positive ideas like human rights and negative ideas like racism) affect international politics? What role do individuals and groups play in shaping international politics? What explains the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic? Why isn’t there significant cooperation on climate change, and can a new global cooperation emerge? What issues have garnered international attention, and how has that shaped the countries’ cooperation? What causes terrorism? Is the proliferation of nuclear (or cyber) weapons a threat to peace, and if so, how should the world response? Does UN peacekeeping work?

In this course we will begin to grapple with these questions. We will use theories developed by philosophers, political scientists and policy analysts, and we will examine the historical roots of today’s problems, in order to explain and predict the patterns of international politics and the possibilities for change. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to choose and develop their own theories to explain events.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the semester, students will accomplish the following:


Demonstrate broad factual and causal knowledge of important current and historical issues in international relations.

Apply contending theories from the political science literature and the policy world to analyze, compare, and evaluate events and trends in international relations.

Assess the value of competing theories in explaining events.

Synthesize facts and arguments across cases in order to reason critically and argue creatively, through both oral discussions in section and written essays.

• TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Jayme R Schlesinger
  Info
• 4 points

International Politics Discussion

Int'l Politics Discussion

Discussion section

• F 9:10 a.m.-10 a.m.
• F 10:10 a.m.-11 a.m.
• R 12:10 p.m.-1 p.m.
• W 12:10 p.m.-1 p.m.
• T 12:10 p.m.-1 p.m.
• T 1:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• F 10:10 a.m.-11 a.m.
• F 11:10 a.m.-noon
• W 4:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• W 5:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• R 2:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
• R 3:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• M 10:10 a.m.-11 a.m.
• M 11:10 a.m.-noon
• M 4:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• F 4:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• W 1:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• W 2:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
• Instructor: Dany L Niangar
  Info
• 0 points

WHAT WAS NAZISM?

How did political theory explain the rise of Nazism in Germany? What models did it develop to understand the structure of the Nazi state, politics and the economy? What can we learn from this for dealing with the crises of democracy and the emergence of authoritarian politics today? This course in political theory and the history of political thought will explore contemporary answers to these questions. It will explore the thought of crucial thinkers on the problems and pitfalls of modern parliamentary democracy such as Max Weber and Hans Kelsen, as well as some of the most influential theoretical voices associated with ideas of Fascism, Totalitarianism and Anti-Semitism such as Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Ernst Fraenkel and Hannah Arendt. 

The course will be structured around texts mainly from the 1920s to the 1960s which still have relevance for political theory today. A strong emphasis will be laid on originally German thinkers who fled to the US in the time of Nazi rule and who contributed decisively to American political science and its particular outlook in the post-war era.  

This course aims to contextualise the discussed texts within the intellectual world of their own time. Students with an interest in twentieth century political, intellectual and social history will, therefore, be particularly welcome. However, the questions raised in the set texts also demand a theoretical and creative engagement with questions of good democratic rule, the challenges of mass society and participation, political in- and exclusion, minority rights and the emergence of terror and authoritarian rule. Additionally there will be a midterm and a final exam which will examine both students’ understanding of the set texts as well as their own thinking on the political theoretical problems raised in this course.

• MW 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Clara Maier
  Info
• 3 points

Democracy and Technology

Athenian democracy could be direct because it was local; modern democracy is representative in part because citizens can no longer gather in a single assembly. And as the territorial size and number of citizens have grown, democracy has become unthinkable without modern technologies of transportation and communication. These technologies make it theoretically possible to maintain ongoing channels of equal, free communication between citizens and those who exercise political power in their name. This course is focused on examining how this dynamic has played out in practice, and in situating current technological controversies in historical and theoretical context.

A few of the questions we will be asking: How do modern technologies facilitate and bedevil democratic ideals of communication? Who controls the direction of technological change, and how could that power be distributed more democratically? Is capitalism destroying the democratic potential of the Internet? Was that potential always overblown?

The primary aim of the class is to give students the theoretical and historical tools to think critically about the relationship between technology and democracy in a way that takes neither our current democracy nor our current technology for granted. We will read and analyze a wide range of texts, but we will mainly be analyzing technology through the lens of democracy and democratic theory.

One of the key themes of the class will be the importance of educated, critical citizens for a democracy, and a secondary goal of the class is to think critically about the place of technology in our own intellectual lives.

• TR 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Xavier Flory
  Info
• 3 points

AMERICAN URBAN POLITICS

This course examines the pattern of political development in urban America, as the countrys population has grown in urbanized locations. It explores the process by which cities and suburbs are governed, how immigrants and migrants are incorporated, and how people of different races and ethnicities interact in urbanized settings as well as the institutional relations of cities and suburbs with other jurisdictions of government. The course focuses both on the historical as well the theoretical understandings of politics in urban areas.

• MW 6:10 p.m.-7:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Carlos Vargas-Ramos
  CULPA: 4 Info
• 3 points

AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL HISTOR

This Course is intended to look at key developments of American History through the prism of Supreme Court decisions and their aftermath.  In essence, this Course will address three questions: 1. How did the Supreme Court reflect, and affect, historic patterns of U.S. development, and how did it impact the legal and economic framework of the United States? 2. How did the Supreme Court respond to, or worsen, crises in U.S. history? 3. How did the perception of individual and collective rights and liberties, and of the function and role of Governments -- both Federal and State -- evolve over time?

• TR 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Robert L Tortoriello
  Info
• 4 points

AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY-DISC

AMERICAN CONST'L HISTORY-

This is the required discussion section for 
POLS UN3225.

• R 11:10 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Robert L Tortoriello
  Info
• 0 points

Comparative Ethnic Politics

This course will explore the politics of ethnicity and ethnic identity using the frameworks, methodologies, and approaches of the political science subfield of comparative politics. Ethnicity—and identity politics more broadly—is enormously important in understanding domestic politics in most countries around the world. While most people would acknowledge that they themselves have an ethnic identity, few would say that they purposefully chose that identity. Compared to other identity categories, ethnicity is assigned at birth without consent or consultation, and is generally thought to be beyond any one individual’s capacity to change it. Yet almost no one would say that this somewhat random assignment procedure makes ethnicity irrelevant. Not only are many people very eager to organize the political world around ethnic identities, but people also derive a sense of meaning and attachment to others as a result of their ethnicity. With the global rise in ethnonationalist populism in many places, this influence is becoming even more pronounced.

This class will explore how and why this specific type of identity has come to hold such enormous importance for the lives of so many people. At an individual level, we will ask where ethnic identities come from, and why ethnic identities at some times take on primary importance for an individual’s sense of self, while at others become less important than other identities such as religion, interest, class, social values, etc. At the group level, we will examine when ethnic identities become politicized, when ethnic communities organize politically into political parties or interest groups, and which groups get representation in the seats of political power and which do not. At the broadest societal level, we will examine how those ethnic identities influence regime type (whether democratic or authoritarian), political party systems, economic development, inequality, and stability.

While it will be helpful to have completed Introduction to Comparative Politics (POLS UN2501), it is not absolutely required to take this class. Please also note that this class is not the same as Ethnic Conflict (POLS UN 3622). While there will inevitably be some overlap between this class and that, this course focuses much more on domestic politics, ethnicity and non-violent democratic processes, and ethnicity in the politics of regime change.

1

• MW 8:40 a.m.-9:55 a.m.
• Instructor: Benjamin P McClelland
  Info
• 3 points

NEW/OLD FORMS OF POL PROTEST

This course will introduce the students to the important topic of political protest. Each week we will address different aspects of the phenomenon: from the determinant to the actors and strategies of protest. We will discuss how the forms of protest have changed and the current role of the internet in general and social media in particular. Finally, we will discuss the role of the state and state repression, in particular censorship in the dynamics of protest. Since this is a comparative politics course, we will cover a range of different countries, including the United States, as well as both democratic and authoritarian regimes.

• TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Chiara Superti
  CULPA: 3 Info
• 3 points

AUTOCRACY AND DEMOCRACY

With longstanding democracies in Europe and the US faltering, autocratic regimes in Russia and China consolidating, and hybrid regimes that mix elements of democracy and autocracy on the rise, scholars, policymakers, and citizens are re-evaluating the causes and consequences of different forms of government.  This course is designed to give students the tools to understand these trends in global politics. Among other topics, we will explore: How do democracies and autocracies differ in theory and in practice?  Why are some countries autocratic? Why are some democratic? What are the roots of democratic erosion?  How does economic inequality influence a country’s form of government? Is the current period of institutional foment different past periods of global instability?  This course will help students keep up with rapidly unfolding events, but is designed primarily to help them develop tools for interpreting and understanding the current condition of democracy and autocracy in the world.

• MW 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
• Instructor: Timothy M Frye
  CULPA: 8 Wikipedia h-index: 31 Info
• 3 points

NAT'L & CONTEMP WORLD POLITICS

The causes and consequences of nationalism. Nationalism as a cause of conflict in contemporary world politics. Strategies for mitigating nationalist and ethnic conflict.

• MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Jack L Snyder
  CULPA: 27 Info
• 3 points

AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

This course is concerned with what policy the American government should adopt toward several foreign policy issues in the next decade or so, using materials from contradictory viewpoints. Students will be required to state fairly alternative positions and to use policy analysis (goals, alternatives, consequences, and choice) to reach conclusions.

• TR 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Elizabeth N Saunders
  Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY-DISC

Corequisites: POLS UN3631 This is the required discussion section for POLS UN3631.

• M 1:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• M 3:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• M 2:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
• T 3:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• R 4:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• R 3:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Amita O Diarra
  Info
• 0 points

Business & Politics in Globalized World

Business & Politics Globa

Companies (or, as we’ll mostly refer to them, firms) play a number of important roles in both domestic and international politics; among other activities, they create jobs, engage in trade and in-vestment, create social responsibility programs, lobby governments, and create much of the world’s pollution. How should we think about firms as political actors? Why, when, and how do firms attempt to influence policymaking? And when do they succeed? In this course, we will study strategic collaboration, competition, and collusion between firms and governments in a range of settings and policy areas. To do so, we will draw on insights from international relations, economics, and business scholars, and we will frequently engage with current real-world examples of business-government relations. Topics will include (among others) lobbying, corporate social responsibility, taxation and tax avoidance, public-private governance, and corporate influence in foreign policy.

• MW 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Calvin N Thrall
  Info
• 3 points

RESEARCH DESIGN: DATA ANALYSIS

This course examines the basic methods data analysis and statistics that political scientists use in quantitative research that attempts to make causal inferences about how the political world works. The same methods apply to other kinds of problems about cause and effect relationships more generally. The course will provide students with extensive experience in analyzing data and in writing (and thus reading) research papers about testable theories and hypotheses. It will cover basic data analysis and statistical methods, from univariate and bivariate descriptive and inferential statistics through multivariate regression analysis. Computer applications will be emphasized. The course will focus largely on observational data used in cross-sectional statistical analysis, but it will consider issues of research design more broadly as well. It will assume that students have no mathematical background beyond high school algebra and no experience using computers for data analysis.

• MW 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Abdullah Aydogan
  h-index: 4 Info
• 3 points

Persuasion at scale: causal inference, m

Persuasion at Scale

By employing statistical and computational methods, including randomized controlled trials, natural experiments, and machine learning techniques, students will engage directly with real-world data to uncover the intricacies of persuasion across different sectors, including but not limited to quantifying the effects of partisan media, social media, and political campaigns. The course will also delve into the historical evolution of these persuasive techniques, providing students with a rich contextual background to better understand current trends and anticipate future developments.

This course fulfills the quantitative methods requirement for the Political Science major.

• MW 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
• 3 points

RESEARCH DESIGN: SCOPE AND METHODS

RESEARCH DESIGN: SCOPE&ME

This class aims to introduce students to the logic of social scientific inquiry and research design. Although it is a course in political science, our emphasis will be on the science part rather than the political part — we’ll be reading about interesting substantive topics, but only insofar as they can teach us something about ways we can do systematic research. This class will introduce students to a medley of different methods to conduct social scientific research.

• TR 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Caterina Chiopris
  Info
• 4 points

SCOPE AND METHODS - DISC

This is the required discussion section for
POLS UN3720.

• R 2:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
• W 10:10 a.m.-11 a.m.
• T 10:10 a.m.-11 a.m.
• R 1:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• R 6:10 p.m.-7 p.m.
• T 6:10 p.m.-7 p.m.
• W 2:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
• W 3:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Sally Eun Ji Son
  Info
• 0 points

Experimental Research

Randomized experimentation is an important methodology in political science. In this course, we will discuss the logic of experimentation, its strengths and weaknesses compared to other methodologies, and the ways in which experimentation has been -- and could be -- used to investigate political phenomena. Students will learn how to interpret, design, and execute experiments.

• TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Yamil R Velez
  CULPA: 1 h-index: 8 Info
• 4 points

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH-DISC

This is the required discussion section for POLS UN3768.

• W 9:10 a.m.-10 a.m.
• W 11:10 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Emma K Swanson
  Info
• 0 points

CHINA'S FOREIGN RELATIONS

This course will review and analyze the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It will examine Beijing's relations with the Soviet Union, the United States, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Third World during the Cold War, and will discuss Chinese foreign policy in light of the end of the Cold War, changes in the Chinese economy in the reform era, the post-Tiananmen legitimacy crisis in Beijing, and the continuing rise of Chinese power and influence in Asia and beyond.

This lecture course will analyze the causes and consequences of Beijing’s foreign policies from 1949 to the present.

Students must register for a mandatory discussion section.

• TR 8:40 a.m.-9:55 a.m.
• Instructor: Thomas J Christensen
  CULPA: 2 Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

CHINA'S FOREIGN RELATIONS-DISC

This is the required discussion section for 
POLS UN3871.

• M 9:10 a.m.-10 a.m.
• F 9:10 a.m.-10 a.m.
• F 4:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• F 3:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• T 11:10 a.m.-noon
• T 12:10 p.m.-1 p.m.
• T 2:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
• T 3:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Gilbert Lai
  Info
• 0 points

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH II

• Instructor: Andrew J Nathan
  CULPA: 44 Wikipedia h-index: 40 Info
• Instructor: Robert Y Shapiro
  CULPA: 4 Wikipedia Info
• Instructor: Robert L Amdur
  CULPA: 16 Info
• Instructor: Tamar Mitts
  h-index: 5 Info
• Instructor: Fredrick Harris
  Wikipedia Info
• Instructor: Jeffry A Frieden
  Info
• 1-6 points

SEMINAR IN POLITCAL THEORY

Conservatism 1789-1945

Seminar in Political Theory. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars

• T 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Daniel Luban
  Info
• 4 points

AMERICAN POLITICS SEMINAR

THE FIRST AMENDMENT

Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Seminar in American Politics Seminar. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars

• T 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Robert L Amdur
  CULPA: 16 Info
• 4 points

AMERICAN POLITICS SEMINAR

Polling and Democracy

Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Seminar in American Politics Seminar. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars

• T 8:10 a.m.-10 a.m.
• Instructor: Greg Bovitz
  Info
• 4 points

AMERICAN POLITICS SEMINAR

AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICS

Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Seminar in American Politics Seminar. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars

• T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Fredrick Harris
  Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

AMERICAN POLITICS SEMINAR

AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION

Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Seminar in American Politics Seminar. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars

• M 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Eunji Kim
  Info
• 4 points

AMERICAN POLITICS SEMINAR

TOPICS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Seminar in American Politics Seminar. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars

• W 10:10 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Lincoln A Mitchell
  Info
• 4 points

AMERICAN POLITICS SEMINAR

POLITICS OF POLICYMAKING

Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Seminar in American Politics Seminar. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars

• M 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Judith Russell
  CULPA: 49 Info
• 4 points

AMERICAN POLITICS SEMINAR

POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Seminar in American Politics Seminar. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars

• M 10:10 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Yamil R Velez
  CULPA: 1 h-index: 8 Info
• 4 points

COMPARATIVE POLITICS SEMINAR

VOTING WITHOUT BORDERS

Prerequisites: POLS V1501 or the equivalent, and the instructors permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Please see here for detailed seminar registration guidelines: http://polisci.columbia.edu/undergraduate-programs/seminar-registration-guidelines. Seminar in Comparative Politics. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list.

• T 8:10 a.m.-10 a.m.
• Instructor: Chiara Superti
  CULPA: 3 Info
• 4 points

COMPARATIVE POLITICS SEMINAR

Dev. Democracy Challenges

Prerequisites: POLS V1501 or the equivalent, and the instructors permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Please see here for detailed seminar registration guidelines: http://polisci.columbia.edu/undergraduate-programs/seminar-registration-guidelines. Seminar in Comparative Politics. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list.

• T 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Mark A Schneider
  Info
• 4 points

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS SEMINAR

COERCION AND WORLD POLITICS

Prerequisites: POLS UN2601 or the equivalent, and the instructor's permission. Seminar in International Politics. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list.

• R 10:10 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Sarah Daly
  Info
• 4 points

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS SEMINAR

SOLVING GLOBAL PROBLEMS

Prerequisites: POLS UN2601 or the equivalent, and the instructor's permission. Seminar in International Politics. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list.

• M 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Giulio M Gallarotti
  Info
• 4 points

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS SEMINAR

INTERNATIONAL LAW

Prerequisites: POLS UN2601 or the equivalent, and the instructor's permission. Seminar in International Politics. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list.

• W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Jean Krasno
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 4 points

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS SEMINAR

INT'L CRISES SINCE COLD WAR

Prerequisites: POLS UN2601 or the equivalent, and the instructor's permission. Seminar in International Politics. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list.

• M 8:10 a.m.-10 a.m.
• Instructor: Jeremiah S Pam
  Info
• 4 points

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS SEMINAR

ADVANCES IN IPE

Prerequisites: POLS UN2601 or the equivalent, and the instructor's permission. Seminar in International Politics. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list.

• M 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Davit Sahakyan
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 4 points

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS SEMINAR

FOREIGN ECONOMIC POLICY

Prerequisites: POLS UN2601 or the equivalent, and the instructor's permission. Seminar in International Politics. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list.

• W 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: David E Spiro
  CULPA: 1 h-index: 6 Info
• 4 points

HONORS SEMINAR

Prerequisites: admission to the departmental honors program. A two-term seminar for students writing the senior honors thesis.

• M 10:10 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Shigeo Hirano
  CULPA: 3 Info
• 4 points

MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT

Interpretations of civil society and the foundations of political order according to the two main traditions of political thought--contraction and Aristotelian. Readings include works by Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Montesquieu, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Saint-Simon, Tocqueville, Marx, and Mill.

• MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Nadia Urbinati
  CULPA: 29 Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT-DISC

• M 12:10 p.m.-1 p.m.
• Instructor: Rachel Finlayson
  Info
• 0 points

GREAT BOOKS ON RACE,POLIT,SOC

• R 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Fredrick Harris
  Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

Rationalizing the World: Am. Soc. Scienc

This course will cover the development of modern social science and its relation to American history and culture. The different strands of the course are indicated by its title, where “rationalizing” refers both to attempts to understand society through rational means and to the role of social science in providing a justification or rationale for existing social structures. 

Quantitative thinking and social science have become increasingly prominent in our society. But modern discussions of the political relevance of social science do not always account for the ups and downs of particular ideas. For example, Freudianism was huge in mid-century, both within psychology and in the culture at large, but has faded for both intellectual and economic reasons. The Keynesian revolution dominated economics from the 1930s through the 1960s but then was contested by later paradigms in response to the stagflation of the following decade. Trends in criminal justice policy have followed ideas from anthropology, psychology, and economics, and political theories of international relations have affected and been informed by developments in foreign policy. This course provides students with an opportunity to learn about these and other examples of the development and influence of theories in social science, and to form a larger connection between intellectual, social, and political history. 

It is common for students to learn about just one or maybe two social sciences and not to see the way that different social sciences fit together intellectually and how they compete for influence. There’s a tendency to think of any field of study as being a static set of truths as laid out in textbooks or else a steady march of progress. In contrast, this course presents a series of booms and crashes: unsustainable enthusiasms for new ideas followed by disillusionment and controversies that are often never fully resolved. Through readings, class discussion and activities, and final projects, students should learn to see social science as a process that proceeds both internally and with reference to society. 

By the end of the course, students should gain a broad understanding of the development of modern social science and its connection to American politics and society. They will read different sides of academic disputes involving figures from Margaret Mead to Milton Friedman and will gain a historically informed sense of how social science has been influenced by and has influence

• MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Andrew Gelman
  CULPA: 6 Wikipedia h-index: 112 Info
• 4 points

Rationaling the World: Discussion

Rationalizing the World D

Discussion section for POLS GU4280, Rationalizing the World: American Social Science

• 0 points

Rationaling the World: Discussion

Rationalizing the World D

Discussion section for POLS GU4280, Rationalizing the World: American Social Science

• 0 points

Political Economy of Latin America

Pol Econ Latin America

Comparative political economy is the study of the relations between economy and politics, and how these relations vary geographically and temporally. In this seminar we will examine the way in which the political context | domestic and international | a?ects the formulation of economic policies and their outcomes, and also the means by which economic conditions in uence the stability and quality of democratic regimes, with a particular focus on Latin American countries. Topics include representation, accountability, and democracy; competing views on inequality and the role of the state; the constraints of globalized financial markets; and the
dynamics of populism and clientelism. We will also consider pressing contemporary debates in the region, such as rising violence, democratic backsliding, far-right mobilization, and the challenges of development in the context of climate change. The course will be of interest to students curious about politics, economics, and international a?airs, as well as those seeking a deeper understanding of democracy and development, and the challenges facing societies in a globalized world.

• M 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Daniela Campello
  Info
• 3 points