Wikipedia:United States Education Program/Courses/Intro to Political Theory (Edward Erikson)/Course description

Course description
The following course seeks to investigate conceptions and practices of democracy through an engagement with historical and contemporary political thought. The course is an introduction to political theory and an invitation to engage in the ongoing discussion and debate that constitutes political theory. Students are encouraged to consider the texts selected for this course as part of the conversation that will play out in seminar. The conversation will not be limited to traditional texts, but will also take into consideration our own political practices and cultural consumption: film, videos, music, art, web etc. What we might call ‘theory by other means.’ How might we read these as texts alongside traditional political philosophy? How do they contribute to or problematize our understanding of democracy? Questions we’ll consider throughout the course include, but are not limited to: What is democracy? How are democracies founded? Is democracy the best form of governance? How do we confront the limitations of democracy? What counts as “democratic practice”? Where do democratic practices take place? How/where do we experience ourselves as democratic subjects? What distinguishes democratic subjectivity?

([ Click to return to your main course page and continue.])