- Summer 2020
Syllabus Description:
FOR ENROLLED STUDENTS:
Our first class was Thursday, July 23, from 9:10 - 11:50 am. Six classes this quarter are scheduled as live classes on Zoom and this was our first. Use the Zoom link right here in Canvas to join the upcoming live classes. The class schedule is in the Syllabus. The Syllabus is in Files.
If you missed the first class, please send me an email to touch base and to make sure that we have you on track.
See the emails that were sent to enrolled students for more information. (They were sent to your UW email accounts.)
See ANNOUNCEMENTS for more, important, information about our class!
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This course introduces you to belief systems that compete for people’s loyalties and energies, such as liberalism, conservatism, libertarianism, socialism, etc. The course should give you an opportunity to explore and define your own political ideology.
Our early focus will be the two principle ideologies of the United States: liberalism and conservatism. Other ideologies, and aspects of ideologies, such as capitalism, socialism, communism, fascism, feminism, black liberation, multiculturalism, liberation theology, Native American liberation, and religious fundamentalism, will also be examined and critically analyzed.
We will also compare and contrast ideology with partisanship. Using both lenses, we will examine and analyze current political issues and battles in the United States and elsewhere.
We will start with the concept of ideology, itself. After that, you will have an opportunity to become better acquainted with each of the ideologies and the kinds of political systems that are associated with them, as well as relevant terminology. We will also begin to assess how well each ideology has dealt with the social, economic, and political problems of the world, in the past and present. We will look at how new ideologies have emerged. Further, we will try to understand why and under what conditions people choose any ideology over others.
We will draw on a variety of sources: textbook readings, a political pamphlet, political tracts, transcripts, news articles, editorials, as well as lectures and materials prepared by the instructor and, perhaps, guest speakers. There will be ample opportunity for class discussion and problem solving. In short, this course should help you to think independently and critically, facilitating your participation in the political world around you, now and in the future. It also serves as a foundational class in Political Science.
A couple of short quizzes, two exams, and a 5-7 page essay are planned.
If B-Term classes are moved to all-online, there will also be credit/no credit discussion forums.
~Allison Jansen