News
Right-wing radicalism conference leads to a book
Jill Greenlee publishes in Political Psychology
Ira Shapiro to speak on "The Last Great Senate" on April 24th
Jolyon Howorth to speak on "The EU as a Global Power" on April 11th
Retired US Air Force officer to speak on counter-terrorism
Shai Feldman writes on the Middle East peace process in The National Interest
"Global Terrorism" course to host two special guest speakers
Daniel Kryder to offer Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS) "American Democracy: Ver 2.0" in Summer 2013
Mideast expert Aaron Miller keynoting student Israel conference
Jeffrey Lenowitz to join politics department faculty in January 2014
Shai Feldman writes on Israeli elections in Al Monitor
Mideast experts to discuss Israeli election prospects (video)
Anja Karnein (Ph.D. '04) publishes new book on reproductive rights
Sanford Levinson to speak about American constitutions on November 5
Michael Sandel '75 to speak at JustBooks event on October 31
Four new politics courses for Spring 2013
Bernard Yack to give keynote address at Harvard Graduate Conference in Political Theory
Jill Greenlee and Daniel Kryder to participate in forum on race and gender in 2012 campaign
Daniel Kryder discusses presidential debates with Boston Public Radio
Jytte Klausen to give briefing before U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
William Galston to give annual Gordon Center talk October 4
Dissertation Research Support Grants from the Research Circle on Democracy and Cultural Pluralism
Jytte Klausen writes on the Muhammad Film controversy in Foreign Affairs
Robert Art talks to Brandeis NOW about the joy of teaching first-years
Jytte Klausen featured speaker at Oslo conference on multiculturalism
Four new politics courses for Spring 2013
Oct. 30, 2012
The Politics Department is proud to offer the following new courses for Spring 2013. For a full list of department course offerings, consult the University Registrar course listings.
POL 135b The Politics of Islamic Resurgence.
Professor Eva Bellin
Tuesday/Thursday 3:30-4:50
This course studies the impact of Islamic resurgence on both international and intra-national politics. It explores competing explanations for Islamic resurgence (cultural, economic, and political), Islamic movements in comparative perspective (with special emphasis on the cases of Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Britain and France), the successes and failures of Islamic revolution, the ideological content of Islamic revival (and debates over its potential conflict with Western notions of democracy and gender equality), Islamic notions of jihad, terror in the name of Islam, the politics of cultural change, and Islam as a supranational movement.
POL 171b. National Intelligence: Theory, Practice, and Cinematic Imagination
Professor Steven Burg
Tuesday/Friday 12:30-1:50
This course is focused on understanding the basic challenge in developing useful “intelligence” in service of national policy making, the relationship between covert operations and intelligence (at least, to the extent it is possible for anyone outside these worlds to understand them), and ways in which films have shaped (or reflect) popular understanding of intelligence and covert operations. We will view and reflect on some of the “better” (artistically, and in terms of what we might learn from them) spy/espionage films.
POL 179a Seminar: China’s Global Rise: The Challenge for Democratic Order
Professor Ralph Thaxton
Tuesday/Thursday 3:30-4:50
This seminar will explore the implications of China’s global rise for the liberal global democratic order constructed by the United States in the aftermath of World War II. Among other questions, We will be especially interested in China’s economic penetration of Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the issue of how China’s growing involvement in the global economy is guided by an authoritarian work style that developed in the Maoist period of state formation.
POL 192b. Seminar: Topics in Law and Political Theory
"The American Constitution: Political Theory v. Political Practice”
Professor Daniel Kryder
Thursday 2:00-4:50
This course evaluates the American Constitutional system and current political practices by reconsidering the competing sets of democratic and republican values and theories that originally animated them. Under what circumstances do current practices fulfill or violate American “national” beliefs and values? Sample topics include: civic ideals and practices among elites and masses; patriotism in theory and expression; the limitation and expansion of democratic institutions. Students will investigate real world efforts to define and reform problems in the system while considering their historical and theoretical roots.