This course will provide an overview of politics and society in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The first five weeks will focus on such questions as: What are the effects of the "colonial legacy" inherited by most countries in the "Third World?" Why have certain countries been able to maintain stable and effective government institutions while others have experienced revolutions, civil wars and rampant corruption? What are some of the obstacles to economic development? The second part of the course will focus on the experiences of several countries, including Brazil, India, Iran, and Nigeria. The last part of the course will attempt to locate politics and society in "Third World"countries within the context of larger global issues such as North-South relations, the recent waves of democratization and privatization, internationalenvironmental concerns, and the role of women in "Third World" development.

This course will provide an overview of politics and society in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The first five weeks will focus on such questions as: What are the effects of the "colonial legacy" inherited by most countries in the "Third World?" Why have certain countries been able to maintain stable and effective government institutions while others have experienced revolutions, civil wars and rampant corruption? What are some of the obstacles to economic development? The second part of the course will focus on the experiences of several countries, including Brazil, India, Iran, and Nigeria. The last part of the course will attempt to locate politics and society in "Third World"countries within the context of larger global issues such as North-South relations, the recent waves of democratization and privatization, internationalenvironmental concerns, and the role of women in "Third World" development.

Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: Race Development and American International Relations, Hegel and Marx, and Logic of the West.

This course intends to familiarize the student with the concept of "law", its use as a constitutive and regulative force in the international arena, and the expanding scope of international law through the inclusion of transnational law and human rights.

This seminar introduces students to the nation's trillion-dollar tax-exempt sector with a focus on religious nonprofit organizations including congregations and other so-called faith-based institutions. Among the topics it explores are new and old questions surrounding church-state relations, the role of relgion in American politics, empirical "faith factor" research, and attempts to estimate the social costs and benefits associated with diverse religious nonprofit organizations.

What we call "economics" was originally part of a larger science, the queen of the sciences: the study of politics. Constitutions, laws, governments, citizenship, war, peace, prosperity and poverty - all these were dimensions of an inquiry into what is necessary and useful to the good life of mankind. Indeed the English phase political economy translates two Greek words /oikos/ or " house" and /nomos / "law". In this course we will be concerned with texts in political economy from the early 18th century to the recent past. Our purpose is the interrogation of those along three dimensions: the constitutive intellectual parts of a science of profit and loss; the relation of such a science to moral questions; and finally the effects of economics as an ideology on the polit ical constitutions of our time. Originally optimistic, its foundations were challenged in the 19th century by reactionary pessimism and radical critique but in the last decade of the 20th century, the collapse of soviet communism seemed to confirm what neo-liberals had long proclaimed: the supremacy of market economies and the universal denominator of money, or exchange, value. The benefits of global markets were expected by some to dispel the very sources of conflict among peoples and states, and enthusiasts even proclaimed "the end of history". That brief period is now behind us and we confront a new pluralism of beliefs and opinion about what is "valuable" that challenges the central tenets of western political discourse.

This course will provide an overview of major figures and themes of modern political thought. We will focus on themes and questions pertinent to political theory in the modern era, particularly focusing on the relationship of the individual to community, society, and state. Although the emergence of the individual as a central moral, political, and conceptual category arguably began in earlier eras, it is in the seventeenth century that it takes firm hold in defining the state, political institutions, moral thinking, and social relations. The centrality of "the individual" has created difficulties, even paradoxes, for community and social relations, and political theorists have struggled to reconicle those throughout the modern era. We will consider the political forms that emerged out of those struggles, as well as the changed and distinctly "modern" conceptualizations of political theory such as freedom, responsibilty, justice, rights and obligations, as central categories for organizing moral and political life.

This course is an introduction to the major theories and issues in international politics. The goals of the course are to give students a broad familiarity with the field of international relations, and to help them develop the analytical skills necessary to think critically about international politics. The course is divided into four parts: 1) Concepts and Theories of International Relations; 2) War and Security; 3) The Global Economy; and 4) Emerging Issues in International Relations.

This academically based community service seminar will explore the ideas and theories, alliances and opposition that have shaped policy and organizing efforts addressed to the problems associated with urban poverty in the United States. There will be a special focus on the issues of increasing inequality, education, low wage work, health and nutrition, welfare reform and social security. Students will evaluate contemporary policy debates and programs in the light of selected case studies, readings, and their own experience working with community groups, institutions, and federal programs in West Philadelphia.

This course is intended to introduce students to the national institutions and political processes of American government. What are the historical and philosophical foundations of the American Republic? How does American public policy get made, who makes it, and who benefits? Is a constitutional fabric woven in 1787 good enough for today? How, if at all, should American government be changed, and why? What is politics and why bother to study it? If these sorts of questions interest you, then this course will be a congenial home. It is designed to explore such questions while teaching students the basics of American politics and government.