Whether America begins with the Puritans and the Mayflower Compact, or with the Declaration of Independence and the Revolution, it is founded in resistance to empire. In the generations between, Americans have desired, dreaded and debated empire. This course will focus on empire and imperialism in American political thought. We will read primary texts addressing empire: from the departure and dissent of the Puritans, and Burke's Speech on Conciliation with the Colonies, to twentieth and twenty-first century debates over America's role in the world. These texts will include political pamphlets and speeches, poetry, novels, policy papers and film.

Whether America begins with the Puritans and the Mayflower Compact, or with the Declaration of Independence and the Revolution, it is founded in resistance to empire. In the generations between, Americans have desired, dreaded and debated empire. This course will focus on empire and imperialism in American political thought. We will read primary texts addressing empire: from the departure and dissent of the Puritans, and Burke's Speech on Conciliation with the Colonies, to twentieth and twenty-first century debates over America's role in the world. These texts will include political pamphlets and speeches, poetry, novels, policy papers and film.

This course is intended as a general introduction to political theory since 1900, examining prominent theorists of politics including Max Weber, Hannah Arendt, Carl Schmitt, Isaiah Berlin, Jurgen Habermas, John Rawls, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida. Our theme for the Fall 2012 course will be: The Disenchantment of the World? Topics include: the nature of the the political and the concern, particular to the last century, that politics is itself under attack; the spread of liberal democracy across the globe and a critical appraisal of the moral meaning of this regime; contemporary theories of social justice; and an exploration of various issues pertaining to violence and the politics of security.

This course is intended as a general introduction to political theory since 1900, examining prominent theorists of politics including Max Weber, Hannah Arendt, Carl Schmitt, Isaiah Berlin, Jurgen Habermas, John Rawls, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida. Our theme for the Fall 2012 course will be: The Disenchantment of the World? Topics include: the nature of the the political and the concern, particular to the last century, that politics is itself under attack; the spread of liberal democracy across the globe and a critical appraisal of the moral meaning of this regime; contemporary theories of social justice; and an exploration of various issues pertaining to violence and the politics of security.

This course is intended as a general introduction to political theory since 1900, examining prominent theorists of politics including Max Weber, Hannah Arendt, Carl Schmitt, Isaiah Berlin, Jurgen Habermas, John Rawls, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida. Our theme for the Fall 2012 course will be: The Disenchantment of the World? Topics include: the nature of the the political and the concern, particular to the last century, that politics is itself under attack; the spread of liberal democracy across the globe and a critical appraisal of the moral meaning of this regime; contemporary theories of social justice; and an exploration of various issues pertaining to violence and the politics of security.

This course is intended as a general introduction to political theory since 1900, examining prominent theorists of politics including Max Weber, Hannah Arendt, Carl Schmitt, Isaiah Berlin, Jurgen Habermas, John Rawls, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida. Our theme for the Fall 2012 course will be: The Disenchantment of the World? Topics include: the nature of the the political and the concern, particular to the last century, that politics is itself under attack; the spread of liberal democracy across the globe and a critical appraisal of the moral meaning of this regime; contemporary theories of social justice; and an exploration of various issues pertaining to violence and the politics of security.

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.

Through reading texts of Plato (Socrates), Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas, the student encounters a range of political ideas deeply challenging to--and possibly corrosive of--today's dominant democratic liberalism. Can classical and medieval thinking offer insight into modern impasses in political morality? Is such ancient thinking plausible, useful, or dangerous?

Through reading texts of Plato (Socrates), Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas, the student encounters a range of political ideas deeply challenging to--and possibly corrosive of--today's dominant democratic liberalism. Can classical and medieval thinking offer insight into modern impasses in political morality? Is such ancient thinking plausible, useful, or dangerous?

Through reading texts of Plato (Socrates), Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas, the student encounters a range of political ideas deeply challenging to--and possibly corrosive of--today's dominant democratic liberalism. Can classical and medieval thinking offer insight into modern impasses in political morality? Is such ancient thinking plausible, useful, or dangerous?