The Department of Political Science is so pleased to be able to offer an array of special topics courses for students with a variety of interests.  All of these sections are available to students past the freshman year – without restriction – and offer students the opportunity to have a small-class experience at a big university.  Students may repeat special topics classes for upto six hours of credit.

PS 300: Ethnicity, Religion, and the Nation State: Identity Politics in Comparative Perspective. This special topics seminar offers a thorough introduction to the concept of identity in political psychology, political economics, and political science. Students will be introduced to a number of different approaches to the study of identity and identity politics including primordialism, constructivism, social psychology, and political economy. These broader conceptions will then be applied to the discussion of different identities — ethnic, religious, and national — including how they are defined, measured, and observed. In the final weeks of the course, we will turn our attention to empirical analysis of the politics of identity, considering identity first as the outcome of political processes, then as a key independent variable in explanations of conflict, voting, and the provision of public goods. (CRN: 56253) Meets MW 2-3:20.

PS 300: Comparative Political Institutions.  Taught by Professor Jose Cheibub – who many students know from PS 240 – this new advanced hours class surveys political institutions in different areas of the world. It will focus on core institutions of democratic politics: form of government, electoral systems, and political parties. The goal is to survey variation in the way democracies are organized in different areas of the world, paying attention to the distinction between established, “old” democracies, and recent, “new” democracies. Additionally the course will examine theories about the consequences of democratic institutions and about their origins. In particular, the course will draw attention to the importance of knowing how institutions come about in order to understand whether and how they matter for important economic, social and political outcomes. (CRN: 56255) Meets MW 11:00-12:20.
PS 300: Separation of Powers.  Is Congress less productive during times of divided government? Why do some presidential nominees sail through confirmation, while others take years to be confirmed? Do Supreme Court judges pay attention to the preferences of the President and Congress when deciding cases? In this course, we will explore these and other questions as we consider how the checks and balances built into the US Constitution affect the interactions between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches.  (CRN: 56259) Meets MW 9:30-10:30

PS 300: Government and Politics of East Asia. This course provides a comparative analysis of the political and economic development of East Asia, particularly in Japan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan. The politics of East Asia will be examined through different approaches, including historical, statist, agential, cultural, and institutional accounts. (CRN: 56250) Meets MW 11:00-12:20

PS 300: Citizenship and Diversity. How should education for democratic citizenship proceed in a society as individually and culturally diverse as ours? In this course, we will examine this relation between citizenship and diversity by focusing on the two reigning political ideals of Liberalism: liberty and equality. We will consider the balance (and tension) between the state’s attempts to educate good democratic citizens and a citizen’s right to live her life however she sees fit. We will consider a variety of topics that influence citizenship education including: racial integration and segregation, religious freedom and diversity, private vs public education, political apathy among voters, and patriotism, to name a few. This course will take a multidisciplinary approach by considering texts from political theory, philosophy, education, survey data from government programs on citizenship, empirical work in the social sciences, and legal case studies. (CRN: 59400) Meets 12:30-1:50.

And, look at these other great courses in political science!

PS 301: The US Constitution I  Newly revamped by Professor Alicia Uribe, this courses analyzes issues related to judicial interpretation of the constitution; the separation of governmental powers; federalism; checks and balances among the three branches of the national government; and the jurisdiction of federal courts. (CRN: 30635) Meets MW 12:30-1:50

PS 302: The U.S. Constitution II.  Covering perennial questions of rights and liberties, this class analyzes issues involved in free speech, freedom of religion, rights of the criminally accused, and government’s responsibility to protect persons from discrimination based on race or sexual preference. Pays special attention to the role of law and judges. (CRN: 64932) Meets MW 3:30-4:50

PS 353: Gov & Pol of Latin America.  Taught by Professor Demarys Canache, this course examines the origin and development of Latin American political institutions.  (CRN 43855) Meets TR 9:30-10:50

PS 371: Classical Political Theory.  Taught by new-to-campus Professor  Ben Miller, this course surveys the origins and development of political thought in ancient Greek society, with a focus on central texts by Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle. The three primary concepts of classical political thought — power, legitimacy, and justice — have remained central in contemporary political theory. We will also explore three concepts that stand front and center in politics today, but were less important for the ancients: freedom, equality, and law. Finally, we will consider other crucial issues for the ancients that are somewhat neglected in mainstream contemporary theory, such as citizenship, education, civic friendship, and piety. We will be looking at a variety of texts, some of which are self-consciously theoretical (Plato and Aristotle), while others are historical, satirical, and legal (Thucydides, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Demosthenes, etc). (CRN: 43840) Meets MW 9:30-10:50

PS 373: Democratic Theory.  Taught by perennial favorite, Professor Steven Seitz, this course Examines theories of the nature and conditions of democracy; compares and analyzes contemporary democratic institutions. (CRN: 30642)

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Joseph Hinchliffe, PhD
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Political Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign