Political Science Department
Course Schedules and Seminar Descriptions

Course schedule information for Political Science, as well as all other William Paterson academic departments, is now available on-line from the Registrar's office. Click here to access course schedules. Since you will be leaving the Political Science Department pages to go to the course schedules, you will need to click the "Back" button on your browser a few times to return here.

Seminar Descriptions

Here we will try to post as they become available descriptions of all the seminars that we will be offering for the next few years.

• Fall 2007
• Latino Politics in the U.S.
  Prof. Martin Weinstein
  POL 480-01, TR 9:30-10:45

  This seminar will deal with the emerging economic, cultural and political clout of Latinos in the United States and the implications of these trends on U.S-Latin American relations.

• Energy Politics & Resource Wars
  Prof. Sheila Collins
  POL 480-60, Wednesdays 4:15-6:50 p.m.

  The 21st century is shaping up to be the century of energy politics and resource wars. The developmental aspirations of peoples long oppressed by centuries of Western colonialism, neocolonialism and, more recently, neoliberal globalization, are running up against environmental limits set by the West’s gluttonous use of the planet’s resources. Is this a win-lose situation, or can we frame policies that are win-win? Through particular case studies we will explore the contours and implications of these looming struggles over valuable resources--in particular, the way in which the politics of oil has shaped geopolitical conflicts and the already visible struggles over the control of water and biodiversity. Students will conduct in-depth research into a particular aspect of these contemporary resource wars and hopefully do some creative thinking about how we can shape a future so that all can prosper without destroying the earth.

• Spring 2008
• Race and Public Policy in America
  Prof. Wartyna Davis

  This course explores the development of public policy with regards to racial identity in the United States. First, the course confronts the socio-political motivations present in the development of racial identity in this country. The course then describes how race, as a variable, has been used to examine political behavior such as public opinion, voting and social movements. The third part of the course addresses multicultural arenas and explores the degree to which one finds cooperation or competition between racial and ethnic groups. The last part of the course will examine policy arenas in which racial minorities are stakeholders such as affirmative action, housing policy, and education policy.

• Prof. Maya Chadda
• Fall 2008
• The Politics of Religious Extremism
  Prof. Diana Judd POL 480

  This course will explore the nature of religious extremism and the causes of its apparent (and recent) rise both internationally and domestically. We will also explore such questions as: is religious extremism strictly a modern phenomenon? is extremism more endemic to some religions than others? what is the relationship between mainstream world religions and their extremist offshoots? is violence a necessary means to religious extremists' ends?

• Politics and the Arts
  Prof. Michael Thompson POL 480 Monday 6-8:30
  
  This course will explore the intimate connection between politics and artistic production.
  Throughout history, politics and art were expressions of the striving for human freedom and development. From the architecture and plays of Ancient Greece through the modern age, art and politics have been intertwined. We will examine the relationship between art and politics in order to gain a historical grasp of this sadly under-studied aspect of politics. In addition, we will consider the ways that art and culture play an important role in forming political sensibilities and also look at the ways art has been used for prpagandistic purposes. Everything from film, literature, painting, and architecture will be the objects of our investigation as well as the major thinkers who tried to link art and politics: Plato, Machiavelli, Milton, Schiller, Rousseau, Voltaire, Hegel, Marx, Jefferson, among many others.