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Course Listing for POLITICAL SCIENCE - Fall 2025 (ALL: 09/02/2025 - 12/17/2025)
Class
No.		 Course ID Title Credits Type Instructor(s) Days:Times Location Permission
Required		 Dist Qtr
2751 POLS-102-01 American Natl Govt 1.00 LEC Sklaroff, Miranda TR: 10:50AM-12:05PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 25 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course is not open to seniors.
  NOTE: 13 seats reserved for First Year students, 9 seats for sophomores, and 3 seats for Juniors who have declared a POLS Major. No Seniors unless by Permission of Instructor.
  How do the institutions of American national government shape our politics and policies? This introductory course examines the nation’s founding documents (including the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Federalist Papers), the goals they sought to achieve, and the institutional framework they established (including Congress, the Presidency, and the courts). It then evaluates the extent to which these institutions achieve their intended aims of representing interests and producing public goods, taking into account the role of parties, interests groups, and the media. Throughout the course, we will attend to the relevance of race, class, religion, and gender.
2752 POLS-102-02 American Natl Govt 1.00 LEC Sklaroff, Miranda TR: 1:30PM-2:45PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 25 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course is not open to seniors.
  NOTE: 13 seats reserved for First Year students, 9 seats for sophomores, and 3 seats for Juniors who have declared a POLS Major. No Seniors unless by Permission of Instructor.
  How do the institutions of American national government shape our politics and policies? This introductory course examines the nation’s founding documents (including the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Federalist Papers), the goals they sought to achieve, and the institutional framework they established (including Congress, the Presidency, and the courts). It then evaluates the extent to which these institutions achieve their intended aims of representing interests and producing public goods, taking into account the role of parties, interests groups, and the media. Throughout the course, we will attend to the relevance of race, class, religion, and gender.
2753 POLS-103-01 Intro Compar Politics 1.00 LEC Flom, Hernan MW: 2:55PM-4:10PM TBA GLB5  
  Enrollment limited to 25 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course is not open to seniors.
  NOTE: 13 seats reserved for First Year students, 9 seats for sophomores, and 3 seats for Juniors who have declared a POLS Major. No Seniors unless by Permission of Instructor.
  This course introduces the study of comparative politics which is a subfield of political science. More specifically, it introduces many of the key concepts and theoretical approaches that have been adopted in comparative politics and surveys the political institutions and politics of select foreign countries. Students of comparative politics primarily focus on the political processes and institutions within countries (whereas students of international relations primarily, but not exclusively, study interactions among countries). Inspired by current world events and puzzles, comparativists investigate such major questions as: Why are some countries or regions more democratic than others? How do different countries organize their politics, i.e., how and why do their political party systems, electoral rules, governmental institutions, etc. differ?
2754 POLS-104-01 Intro Intl Relations 1.00 LEC Flibbert, Andrew TR: 10:50AM-12:05PM TBA GLB5  
  Enrollment limited to 25 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course is not open to seniors.
  NOTE: 13 seats reserved for First Year students, 9 seats for sophomores, and 3 seats for Juniors who have declared a POLS Major. No Seniors unless by Permission of Instructor.
  This course offers an introduction to international relations (IR), addressing fundamental questions in the fields of international security, international political economy, and international law & organization. We learn about the leading theoretical perspectives in political science-Realism, Liberalism, and Constructivism-as well as a range of alternatives rooted in domestic politics, political psychology, postmodernism, Marxism, and feminism. The course serves as a foundational introduction to the IR subfield, with equal emphasis on substantive issues and theoretical concerns.
3060 POLS-104-02 Intro Intl Relations 1.00 LEC Flibbert, Andrew TR: 9:25AM-10:40AM TBA GLB5  
  Enrollment limited to 25 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course is not open to seniors.
  NOTE: 13 seats reserved for First Year students, 9 seats for sophomores, and 3 seats for Juniors who have declared a POLS Major. No Seniors unless by Permission of Instructor.
  This course offers an introduction to international relations (IR), addressing fundamental questions in the fields of international security, international political economy, and international law & organization. We learn about the leading theoretical perspectives in political science-Realism, Liberalism, and Constructivism-as well as a range of alternatives rooted in domestic politics, political psychology, postmodernism, Marxism, and feminism. The course serves as a foundational introduction to the IR subfield, with equal emphasis on substantive issues and theoretical concerns.
2757 POLS-219-01 History of Pol Thought I 1.00 LEC Smith, Gregory TR: 10:50AM-12:05PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 40 Waitlist available: N Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  Also cross-referenced with CLASSICS
  NOTE: No Seniors unless by Instructor Permission.
  NOTE: 15 seats reserved for first-year students.
  This course provides the historical background to the development of Western political thought from Greek antiquity to the end of the Middle Ages. Readings from primary sources (Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, etc.) will help the students to comprehend the foundations of Western political philosophy and the continuity of tradition.
3310 POLS-238-01 Prisons and Justice in America 1.00 LEC Terwiel, Anna MW: 1:30PM-2:45PM TBA SOIP  
  Enrollment limited to 25 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This political theory course examines prisons and justice in the US. We will pursue two large questions: How did the prison come to exemplify criminal justice? And how does mass incarceration affect our understanding of the US as a liberal democracy? We will examine the theoretical underpinnings of the prison in rights discourse; the prison’s productive role in shaping conceptions of freedom and citizenship; and its relation to racism, biopower, and neoliberalism. We will also consider alternative visions of criminal justice: abolition democracy and restorative and transformative justice. Readings will include work by John Locke, Alexis de Tocqueville, Michel Foucault, Angela Davis, Michelle Alexander, Philip Pettit, and Andrew Dilts.
2760 POLS-242-01 Pol Sci Research Methods 1.00 LEC Flom, Hernan MW: 10:00AM-11:15AM TBA NUM  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  Why do people participate in politics? Which government policies best serve the public good? What prevents wars between nations? Political scientists employ a toolbox of research methods to investigate these and other fundamental questions. By learning the strengths and weaknesses of various qualitative and quantitative methods, students in this course will identify how best to answer the political questions about which they feel most passionate. They will apply these practical skills in assignments that ask them observe, analyze, and report on political phenomena. Research skills will include field observation, interviewing, comparative case studies, and data analysis using statistical software. No previous statistical or programming experience is necessary. NOTE: Students may not earn credit for PBPL 220 and POLS 242.
3057 POLS-242-02 Pol Sci Research Methods 1.00 LEC Williamson, Abigail TR: 10:50AM-12:05PM TBA NUM  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  Why do people participate in politics? Which government policies best serve the public good? What prevents wars between nations? Political scientists employ a toolbox of research methods to investigate these and other fundamental questions. By learning the strengths and weaknesses of various qualitative and quantitative methods, students in this course will identify how best to answer the political questions about which they feel most passionate. They will apply these practical skills in assignments that ask them observe, analyze, and report on political phenomena. Research skills will include field observation, interviewing, comparative case studies, and data analysis using statistical software. No previous statistical or programming experience is necessary. NOTE: Students may not earn credit for PBPL 220 and POLS 242.
2963 POLS-247-01 Global Inequalities 1.00 LEC Fernandez Milmanda, Belen TR: 9:25AM-10:40AM TBA GLB5  
  Enrollment limited to 25 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
    Cross-listing: INTS-247-01
  This course studies inequality in the contemporary world, its different types (wealth, income, gender, racial), its causes and consequences. We will look at inequality both in developing and developed countries as well as inequality in the world system. We will systematically analyze the economic, social and political transformations that have led to an increase in income inequality in the developed world in the last two decades, as well as the processes that have made possible a reduction of inequality in some regions of the developing world.
3223 POLS-257-01 Politics of Violence 1.00 LEC Flom, Hernan MW: 1:30PM-2:45PM TBA GLB5  
  Enrollment limited to 25 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This survey course in comparative political analysis will examine how state and non-state actors use violence to assert (or challenge) authority, impose order or ignite conflict-or both at the same time. The course will focus on how and why violence emerges, examining phenomena such as civil wars, revolutions, contentious politics and criminal governance. This course is part of the two-course foundational sequence in comparative politics (POLS 257 and POLS 258). Students may choose to take one or both courses in the comparative politics sequence and in whichever order.
2761 POLS-258-01 How Democracy Works 1.00 LEC Matsuzaki, Reo TR: 10:50AM-12:05PM TBA GLB5  
  Enrollment limited to 25 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  NOTE: Students who have taken POLS 256 or POLS 320 may not enroll in this course.
  NOTE: Seniors may not enroll in this course.
  How do democratic countries function across the globe and how does the United States compare to its peers? What are the causes and consequences of these differences and what does the future of democracy hold? This course will examine these and other questions on the state of democracy in the world by examining the social and institutional foundations of democratic regimes; legacies of colonialism; ethnic politics and conflict; political contestation and violence; and the causes of democratic deconsolidation and collapse. This course is part of the two-course foundational sequence in comparative politics (POLS 257 and POLS 258). Students may choose to take one or both courses in the sequence and in whichever order. Note: Students who have taken POLS 256 or POLS 320 may not enroll in this course.
3065 POLS-300-01 Principles and Practice 1.00 SEM Lukens, David M: 6:30PM-9:00PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 6 Waitlist available: N Mode of Instruction: In Person  
    Cross-listing: PBPL-300-01, PBPL-800-01
  This course will focus on both micro- and macro-level elements of the public policy process, from problem identification through post-implementation evaluation. In addition to core theoretical text-based discussion, students will be exposed to models of research and reporting used in the various fields of public policy. Students will apply their learning through case-study analysis. They will be required to complete an independent research project through which they will examine a particular area of policy (e.g., healthcare, education, housing, etc.) and to analyze a specific program through one or more of the lenses discussed in class.
2935 POLS-311-01 Polarization and Policy-Making 1.00 SEM Dudas, Mary MW: 11:30AM-12:45PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course will examine the interaction between policy and polarization. We will first survey the contours and history of polarization in America with a focus on the development of the national political parties. We will then examine the interaction of policy making and polarization at the national and state levels: how does polarization affect policy making at the national and state levels; how does policy affect polarization; why have some states become more polarized than others; and how does that polarization affect policy making at the state level? Finally, we will assess the relationship between policy making and polarization at the national and state levels using the case studies of health care and abortion.
3311 POLS-316-01 Civil Liberties 1.00 SEM McMahon, Kevin MW: 1:30PM-2:45PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  An analysis and evaluation of US Supreme Court decisions (and related materials) dealing principally with freedom of expression; the right to privacy; freedom of religion; and, liberty and security.
3409 POLS-317-01 Amer Political Thought 1.00 SEM Dudas, Mary MW: 2:55PM-4:10PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course surveys American political thought from the colonial era to the present with a focus on how Americans have told and contested the story of America. We rely on primary source material ranging from political pamphlets and novels to architecture, art, and music to examine the diffusion of debates about American democracy into popular culture where subordinated groups have debated and contested the meaning of America. We explore the essentially contested nature of American identity to place broader contemporary debates about justice, liberty, equality, rights, democracy, nationalism, liberalism, and republicanism in a historical context.
1882 POLS-318-01 Statebuilding 1.00 SEM Matsuzaki, Reo T: 1:30PM-4:10PM TBA GLB5  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  NOTE: 6 seats reserved for Sophomores, 6 seats reserved for Juniors, and 7 seats reserved for Seniors
  Strong governmental institutions are necessary for providing security, protecting human rights, and advancing material wellbeing. This insight provided the moral justification for the various statebuilding missions the United States and its allies undertook across the globe in the last three decades. However, these efforts to build strong and democratic states have largely ended in failure and suffering. Is statebuiding through foreign intervention and occupation even feasible? If so, is it ethically justifiable? This course examines these and other questions surrounding statebuilding in three parts. First, we examine the factors that led to the development and adoption of the modern state in Europe and elsewhere. Second, we turn our attention to the imposition of modern state institutions onto the rest of the world under colonialism, and the outcomes and legacies of colonial statebuilding in Africa and Asia. Finally, we will discuss the strategic and normative rationales undergirding US and UN-led statebuilding campaigns in the contemporary period.
3432 POLS-325-01 American Presidency 1.00 SEM Greenberg, Jack MW: 11:30AM-12:45PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 12 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
    Cross-listing: PBPL-325-01
  An explanation of the institutional and political evolution of the presidency with an emphasis on the nature of presidential power in domestic and foreign affairs. Attention is also given to institutional conflicts with Congress and the courts. The nature of presidential leadership and personality is also explored.
3433 POLS-325-02 American Presidency 1.00 SEM Greenberg, Jack MW: 2:55PM-4:10PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 12 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
    Cross-listing: PBPL-325-02
  An explanation of the institutional and political evolution of the presidency with an emphasis on the nature of presidential power in domestic and foreign affairs. Attention is also given to institutional conflicts with Congress and the courts. The nature of presidential leadership and personality is also explored.
3225 POLS-327-01 International Law 1.00 SEM Hamidi, Sidra TR: 9:25AM-10:40AM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  What is the impact of international law on international politics? Can the law constrain state behavior? Starting from the landmark Lotusprinciple, which established that sovereign states are allowed to conduct any behavior that is not explicitly prohibited by international law, to the contemporary legal challenges surrounding war crimes and genocide, this course explores how the international legal system works. We will begin with a foundational discussion of treaties and customary international law along with jurisdiction and compliance issues and then cover two arbiters of international law: the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. We will then move to specific legal regimes that govern warmaking, nuclear weapons, the oceans, the environment, trade, and human rights.
2734 POLS-328-01 American Conservatism 1.00 SEM Dudas, Mary MW: 1:30PM-2:45PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course examines two interrelated questions: What is conservatism as an ideology and how was the American conservative movement built? To answer these questions, we will examine the American conservative movement as an organized movement and as a set of ideological debates and commitments. We will first survey the origins of conservatism as an ideology before turning to the development of the different ideological strands of American conservativism The course then explores the building of the modern American conservative movement: postwar Goldwater Movement Conservativism, the New Right, and the contemporary conservative movement. The course will focus on the building of the conservative movement through its engagement with the Republican Party as well as the family as the site of cultural and economic intervention.
3410 POLS-329-01 The Politics of China 1.00 SEM Thompson-Brusstar, Michael MW: 2:55PM-4:10PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  Chinese politics shapes the world within --and outside-- its borders. This course will provide an overview of politics in the People's Republic since its founding in 1949, with a special focus on the developments since Mao Zedong's death in 1978 and the policy challenges that confront China's current administration. Key topics will include: how the Chinese bureaucracy works; China's economic growth; the role of political elites; the making of Chinese foreign policy; legal reforms; the role of civil society organizations; and the politics of human rights. By reading original documents, consulting translated memoirs, and through in-class simulations, students will develop a hands-on understanding of power, politics, and development in the People's Republic.
3226 POLS-330-01 US-China Relations 1.00 SEM Thompson-Brusstar, Michael MW: 1:30PM-2:45PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  China's rise to global power status makes the relationship between the U.S. and China one of the most vital and complex bilateral relationships in the world. China may pose significant challenges to American power and interests, but many global challenges require US-China cooperation. This course will use both a historical and a contemporary perspective to see why this is the case and to examine how the relationship may be managed going forward. Key topics will include: US-China economic relations; people-to-people relations; the Taiwan question; regional security; climate change; the Belt and Road Initiative; and what China's rise means for global human rights. The course invites students to think about US-China relations from multiple perspectives and to form educated views of this critical international relationship.
3428 POLS-339-01 Contemp&Postmod Thought 1.00 LEC Smith, Gregory TR: 1:30PM-2:45PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 25 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  Also cross-referenced with PHIL
  Prerequisite: C- or better in Political Science 105, 219 or 220.
  This course will deal with philosophical developments of moral and political significance in the 20th century. Using the writings of selected authors, such as Heidegger, Sartre, Gadamer, Marcuse, Strauss, Foucault, and Habermas, it will focus on various modern movements of thought: existentialism, critical theory, neo-Marxism, hermeneutics, feminism, deconstructionism, and postmodernism. Readings will be from primary sources.
2943 POLS-381-01 Global Nuclear Politics 1.00 SEM Hamidi, Sidra TR: 1:30PM-2:45PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  Nuclear politics dominates headlines in contemporary international relations. From the growing threat of nuclear weapons proliferation to controversies over the safety of nuclear power plants, the conflict over nuclear energy and weaponry continues to be a major site of conflict in global politics. What are the political consequences of the development of nuclear technology? How is nuclear technology governed? This course will explore early history in the Manhattan Project, nuclear use in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with contemporary case studies like North Korea and Iran. We will also explore nuclear accidents at the Chernobyl and Fukushima power plants.
3411 POLS-384-01 Democracy on Stage 1.00 SEM Litvin, Boris MW: 11:30AM-12:45PM TBA SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course investigates the relationship between stagecraft, representation, and collective agency in democratic life. Insofar as democracy aspires to maintain vibrant public conversations, this course considers how citizens are shaped by communal performances of myths, stories, and other manifestations of theater. How does theater cultivate democratic practices-and how might it perpetuate marginalization? Is there something theatrical at the core of democratic belonging? Investigating these questions, we turn to ancient Greek dramas, then place them into conversation with modern political theoretic debates about art and politics, and then consider recent transformations in stagecraft, focusing especially on social media and populism.
1440 POLS-399-01 Independent Study 1.00 - 2.00 IND TBA TBA TBA Y SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 15 Waitlist available: N Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  Submission of the special registration form, available in the Registrar’s Office, and the approval of the instructor and chairperson are required for enrollment.
2762 POLS-406-01 Sr Sem: Why Political Phil? 1.00 SEM Smith, Gregory W: 1:30PM-4:10PM TBA WEB  
  Enrollment limited to 15 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course is open only to senior Political Science majors.
  This seminar will be devoted to a close reading of a major political philosopher in the Western tradition.
2764 POLS-415-01 Sr Sem: War, Peace & Strategy 1.00 SEM Flibbert, Andrew W: 1:30PM-4:10PM TBA WEB  
  Enrollment limited to 15 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course is open only to senior Political Science majors.
  This seminar explores the problem of war in international relations, including its nature, forms, strategy, causes, prevention, and ethics. Is international politics bound to remain inherently conflictual in a world of sovereign states, or is war becoming obsolete in an era of institutional innovation and normative change? To address this and related questions, we read and engage a wide range of classic and contemporary texts from political science and beyond. Special attention is devoted to the strategic logic that connects the use of military force with political objectives, hopes, and fears.
2731 POLS-419-01 Sr Sem: Money & Politics 1.00 SEM Fernandez Milmanda, Belen TR: 10:50AM-12:05PM TBA WEB  
  Enrollment limited to 15 Waitlist available: Y Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course is open only to senior Political Science majors.
  NOTE: Students who have taken POLS/INTS 352 may not enroll in this course.
  This course studies the interrelationships between politics and economics from a comparative perspective. Topics include: the relationship between political institutions and economic development, inequality and political stability, business power, the politics of economic reforms, and corruption. We will look at both developed and developing countries, with an emphasis on understanding why they choose (or end up with) the policies and institutions that they have, even when in some cases these policies and institutions might hamper economic development and political stability.
1786 POLS-425-01 Research Assistantship 1.00 IND TBA TBA TBA  
  Enrollment limited to 19 Waitlist available: N Mode of Instruction: In Person  
1441 POLS-466-01 Teaching Assistant 0.50 - 1.00 IND TBA TBA TBA Y  
  Enrollment limited to 15 Waitlist available: N Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  Submission of the special registration form, available online, and the approval of the instructor are required for enrollment. Guidelines are available in the College Bulletin. (0.5 - 1 course credit)
1442 POLS-490-01 Research Assistant 0.25 - 1.00 IND TBA TBA TBA Y SOC  
  Enrollment limited to 15 Waitlist available: N Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to undertake substantial research work with a faculty member. Students need to complete a special registration form, available online, and have it signed by the supervising instructor.
2538 POLS-496-01 Senior Thesis Colloquium 1.00 SEM McMahon, Kevin MW: 10:00AM-11:15AM TBA Y WEB  
  Enrollment limited to 15 Waitlist available: N Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  This course is open only to senior Political Science majors.
  NOTE: This course is open only to senior Political Science majors.
  This is a required colloquium for senior political science majors writing theses. The class will proceed in part through course readings about research methods and aims, and in part through offering students the opportunity to present and discuss their thesis projects. All students will be required to write a (non-introductory draft) chapter by semester's end.
3324 THDN-345-01 Theater for Social Change 1.00 STU Simmons Jr, Godfrey MW: 1:30PM-2:45PM TBA ARIP  
  Enrollment limited to 14 Waitlist available: N Mode of Instruction: In Person  
  Also cross-referenced with EDUC, HRST, POLS, SOCL
  The course introduces documentary-based ensemble theatre making and performance as a mode of participatory action research for initiating social change. During the semester students will engage in the process of making and performing an original work of theatre that investigates real circumstances, examines existing perceptions, identifies critical issues, and generates a public forum for social dialogue. The course work will focus on techniques based on the work of Augusto Boal and other methodologies. It will include individual research to explore ethical questions and diverse perspectives regarding freedoms and limitations of academic and personal expression in the context of maintaining responsibility and well-being within a multicultural society.