Political Thought (POL 30002)

Course Description: As an introduction to the practice and discipline of political theory, this course will cover a wide range of thinkers, issues, ideas, concepts and themes that are considered part of political theory. We will touch on many of the important questions that political theorists have addressed for centuries and we will examine a wide range of ideologies that frame the ways political theory is practiced. The scope and methods of political theory can be understood as a tradition of historical, normative, interpretive, and analytical thought whose concern, most broadly speaking, is the nature of collective human existence. This course will introduce you to this tradition of thought so that you may interact creatively with it. We will focus on Western political thought, but we will give attention to those thinkers and ideologies that are marginalized from the canon of western political theory. This course should give you a broad introduction to political thought, thinkers, and thinking which will prepare you for more in-depth classes in political theory and make you more interesting to talk with at parties.