POLS 150 - Contemporary World Issues (5 credits)
Topics will include currently relevant issues such as the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism
and American defense policy, the debate between free market and socialist economic
theories, globalization and the role of oil and energy technologies, the rise of China
and its relations with other Asian countries and the US, the ongoing crises in Africa,
nuclear proliferation and other weapons of mass destruction. Immigration and demographics
will be covered. The role of the United Nations and international law are examined
within the framework of evolving ideas about national sovereignty. We will maintain
some flexibility to prioritize emergent issues as the quarter develops.
POLS& 202 - American Government (5 credits)
This This course explores the structure and dynamics of American national government.
The course provides a broad-based introduction to the ideas and institutions that
have shaped politics in the contemporary United States. Special areas of focus will
include: the Constitution and the debates of the founding era, the institutions of
modern American government, and the political behavior of the American mass public.
The course will draw inspirationally on documents from America’s Revolutionary and
Civil War periods as well as on key historical and contemporary Supreme Court opinions,
Congressional laws, and Presidential policy papers. This course will also analyze
how the dynamics of regional and global forces have impacted on domestic politics
and American government, informing the shaping of its attitudes and policies to the
rest of the world.