Liberty and Consent in American Political Thought

elective courses
proseminars

This course is a research seminar in American Political Thought (as well as the intellectual history of American political ideas)focusing on the theme of liberty and consent. The course will vary on the various authors that are taken up for examination each time the course will be offered. This course will focus on Paine, Locke, Montesquieu, and Tocqueville all of who had a significant influence in shaping the direction of American Political Thought. The course teaches students to tackle the key texts and address the scope of the secondary scholarship on those texts.

This course is a research seminar in American Political Thought (as well as the intellectual history of American political ideas)focusing on the theme of liberty and consent. This course will focus on Paine, Locke, Montesquieu, and Tocqueville all of who had a significant influence in shaping the direction of American Political Thought. The authors and the various texts are chosen to be included for examination for this class were chosen for their key role in shaping American political thought and/or American political ideas--especially in looking at the question regarding liberty and consent. The course teaches students to tackle the key texts and address the scope of the secondary scholarship on those texts.

The week to week reading and expectations will follow the direction the course will take in examining the particular theme(s), author(s), and/or texts in American political thought/American political ideas chosen for the specific term. At the start of the course a more detailed week by week reading list.

Declaration of Independence

Paine Common Sense

Locke The Second Treatise on Government

Montesquieu The Spirit of the Laws

Tocqueveille Democracy in Amercia

Through the course, the instructor will supplement assigned Key texts with relevant and significant secondary literature addressing the Texts in Question. Also, students will be expected to scope out and discover and read the key secondary scholarship on the chosen texts.

On the completion of the course, the students will be able to:

1. Apply the various methods and interpretative approaches that are common in the study of American political thought, as well as for the history of political ideas. [KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND COMPETENCES ]

2. Compare and contrast the various secondary scholarship addressing the selected authors and learn how to assess the relative value and usefulness of those scholar contributions to understanding the various text or issue under investigation [SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE]

3. Design and execute a research project. [SKILLS AND COMPETENCES]

4. Come to realize the proper approaches to craft research and how to effectively present it to a variety of audiences. [SKILLS AND COMPETENCES]

1: Short Assignments and quizzes 20% of the overall grade for the course

2: Literature Review 30% of the overall grade for the course. 8-10 page review of the secondary literature on the topic, author, or work was taken up for the main research paper for the course.

3: Semester Research paper 40% of the overall grade for the course. 20-25 pages.

4: Presentation of Research 10% of the overall grade for the course A 10-15 minute presentation of the student's research paper.

(0 to 6 scale) excellent, >5.6, Very good 5.0 to 5.59, Better than Good, 4.5 to 4.99, Good, 4.0 to 4.49, Satisfactory, 3.5 to 3.99; Sufficient, 3.0-3.49. failure, <3.0