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Problems in Democratic Theory (468-0-1)

Instructors

Jacqueline Stevens
Scott Hall, Rm 304

Meeting Info

Scott Hall 212: Thurs 9:00AM - 11:50AM

Overview of class

The course will review long-standing problems and paradoxes of democratic thought in conversation with contemporary narratives of kleptocracy, exclusions, (mis)representations, rights and sovereign immunities, and unlawful state violence. Cases posing problems to democratic thought will include book bans, abortion and other health care access, institutions of higher education, as well as discrimination and violence based on dynamics of sex, religion, and intergenerational identities, e.g.,., race, nation, and ethnicity. Authors assigned will include, Plato, Karl Marx, W.E.B. Du Bois, Robert Dahl, and Hannah Arendt read in conversation with critics such as Joan Didion, Shulamith Firestone, Lisa Duggan, Samuel Moyn, and Lester Spence.

Registration Requirements

Graduate Seminar, undergraduates by permission may enroll

Learning Objectives

(1) to identify key conceptual puzzles of democratic theory; and, (2) to speak and write about contemporary political problems that reflect canonical challenges.

Teaching Method

The course will be conducted as a seminar. Students will be responsible for presentations, weekly writing submissions of 350 words, and a final paper.

Evaluation Method

The grade will reflect attendance and assessments of writing quality for assigned submissions.

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for Graduate Students.