POL 3010 American Political Thought
James Baldwin famously wrote that “American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.” This course attempts to help students more fully understand the United States, its history, and its politics through surveying the theoretical and philosophical development of the American system from the early 17th century to the present. Students will encounter American political thinking in its varied forms, engaging with revolutionary pamphlets, oratory, slave narratives, political sermons, philosophical treatises, prison writings, legal documents, music, poetry, and visual art. Topics include the idea of the American Founding, the formation of political culture, American constitutional development, popular sovereignty and theories of representation, race and national identity, inequality and political economy, and the place of religion in public life. Students will learn to analyze current political ideas and phenomena in light of U.S. political history and ideas.
Course Types
Society; Advanced Studies