Political Thought Minor

This course will look at the origins of the American political system from the end of the Seven Years' War through the Louisiana Purchase and Marbury vs. Madison, with a focusing on government under the Articles of Confederation, the Constitutional Convention, ratification controversies, the first political party system, and Jeffersonian vs. Hamiltonian approaches to government. Offered alternate years.

The development of judicial interpretation of the U.S. Constitution from 1789 to the present will be examined in this course with an emphasis on the political, social, cultural, and economic context for key Supreme Court decisions. The case study method will be used to introduce students to legal reasoning, including controversial court decisions involving race, religion, gender, and limits of government authority.

This course will explore the aspect of statecraft in international relations known as “grand strategy” from a theoretical and historical perspective. This course traces how statesmen have or have not marshalled and coordinated the political, diplomatic, military, material, cultural, and moral resources available to a state, to achieve, or fail to achieve long-term objectives in the international environment during war and peace.

This course will analyze the nuances and trace the development of Western political thought from classical Greece to 17th century northern Europe with attention given to the questions facing every generation concerning the nature of political association and the good society. Students will become familiar with each major political thinker, the context in which they wrote, and influence upon the history of ideas.

This course will analyze the nuances and trace the development of Western political thought from the early Enlightenment (17th century) to the present with attention given to the questions facing every generation concerning the nature of political association and the good society. Students will become familiar with each major political thinker, the context in which they wrote, and their influence upon the history of ideas.

The role of religion in American public life will be examined in this course with an emphasis on the interpretation and impact of the First Amendment and the concept of "separation of church and state" on religious and political life in the United States. Offered alternate years.