POLITICAL THEORY TUTORIALS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

 

POLITICAL THEORY TUTORIALS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

Political theory is the study of political ideas and values like justice, power, and democracy that we use to describe, understand and assess political practices and institutions. Undergraduate education in political theory at Vanderbilt approaches this study in two ways: by introducing students to the historical tradition of political theory and by educating students in the debates of contemporary political theory. Many of our courses combine both perspectives so that students can, for example, learn about important concepts like justice or democracy as we have understood them historically and as we view them today. Faculty in our department work in both areas, and we strongly encourage our students to use political theory’s critical study of concepts and norms to reflect on political theory and practice as we find them in the world.

Political science is methodologically diverse and appropriates many methods originating in psychology, social research, and cognitive neuroscience. Approaches include positivism, interpretivism, rational choice theory, behavioralist, structuralism, post-structuralism, realism, institutionalism, and pluralism.

PART I INTRODUCTION 

1. Introduction to Political Theory

PART II CONTEMPORARY CURRENTS 

2. Justice After Rawls

3. Power After Foucault

4. Critical Theory Beyond Habermas

5. Feminist Theory and the Canon of Political Thought

6. After the Linguistic Turn: Post-structuralist and Liberal Pragmatist Political Theory

7. The Pluralist Imagination

PART III THE LEGACY OF THE PAST

8. Theory in History: Problems of Context and Narrative

9. The Political Theory of Classical Greece

10. Republican Visions

 

11. Modernity and Its Critics 

12. The History of Political Thought as Disciplinary Genre 

PART IV POLITICAL THEORY IN THE WORLD 

13. The Challenge of the European Union

14. East Asia and the West: The Impact of Confucianism on Anglo American Political Theory

15. In the Beginning, All the World was America: American Exceptionalism

16. Changing Interpretations of Modern and Contemporary Islamic Political Theory

PART V STATE AND PEOPLE

17. Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law

18. Emergency Powers

19. The People

20. Civil Society and the State

21. Democracy and the State

22. Democracy and Citizenship: Expanding Domains

 PART VI JUSTICE, EQUALITY, AND FREEDOM 

23. Impartiality

24. Justice, Luck, and Desert

25. Recognition and Redistribution

26. Equality and difference

27. Liberty, Equality, and Property

28. Historical Injustice

 

PART VII PLURALISM, MULTICULTURALISM, AND NATIONALISM 

29. Nationalism

30. Multiculturalism and its Critics

31. Identity, difference, Toleration

32. Moral Universalism and Cultural DiVerence

PART VIII CLAIMS IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT

33. Human Rights

34. From International to Global Justice?

35. Political Secularism

36. Multiculturalism and Post-colonial Theory

PART IX THE BODY POLITIC 

37. Politicizing the Body: Property, Contract, and Rights

38. New Ways of Thinking about Privacy

39. New Technologies, Justice, and the Body

40. Paranoia and Political Philosophy

PART X TESTING THE BOUNDARIES 

41. Political Theory and Cultural Studies

42. Political Theory and the Environment

43. Political Theory and Political Economy

44. Political Theory and Social Theory

PART XI OLD AND NEW

45. Then and Now: Participant-Observation in Political Theory

46. Exile and Re-entry: Political Theory Yesterday and Tomorrow

In keeping with requirements for the political science major (link) or minor (link), students may choose to focus on political theory as a specialty, but we also welcome students from other departments to take as many of our courses as they wish. Students who are interested in beginning a course of study in political theory should take PSCI 103: Justice, a class that introduces students to a major theme in historical and contemporary thought and to the ways of approaching political problems using theory. From there, students can select from a range of 200-level courses and we encourage students to take both lecture classes and small seminars.

 We offer a course sequence in the history of political thought, PSCI 202 and 203, meant to introduce students to political theory as a long tradition beginning with the ancients and continuing into the 20th century. Our particular teaching strengths in contemporary thought include human rights, political economy, feminist theory, and religion and politics. We recommend students pursue both fields of study, to gain a rich understanding of the depth and range of debates and questions that animate political theory and practice.

 Students should consult the Vanderbilt course catalog (link) for a complete list of courses, recognizing that some 200-level courses are offered only every other year.

 Political theory prepares undergraduates for a diverse array of graduate programs and career paths.