Instructor: Tom Atchison
Phone: 612-728-9421
3734 17th Ave. So. E-mail:
tomatchison@bigfoot.com
Mpls. MN 55407
Course Objectives:
1. To
learn something about a variety of approaches to politics -- including some
that are outside the 'mainstream' of U.S. political culture. This involves:
c. Learning something about how those
ideologies have been put into practice.
2. To
get better at analyzing and evaluating political systems and political issues.
a. Deepen understanding of important
political value terms like 'democracy', 'equality', 'liberty',
'community', 'stability', 'justice', etc.
b. Become more familiar with the way
various ideologies (or 'isms') may understand those values differently.
c. Practice defending and criticizing
political principles, institutions, policies, reforms, etc.
Competence Statement:
Can
explain and assess a variety of political perspectives; can articulate and
defend his/her own positions on political issues.
Texts:
Political
Ideologies: An Introduction (2nd edition) by Andrew Heywood
Political
Thought
edited by Michael Rosen and Jonathon Wolff
Other
readings will be photocopied and handed out in class.
I may order one more (inexpensive) book to
provoke our thinking about contemporary political issues in the latter part of
the semester.
Please bring the
assigned readings to class each week
Please keep copies of
all the work you hand in.
Class website: I maintain a simple website where I post
course handouts and information. The
URL is http://www.users.qwest.net/~ac15/
Coursework
Reading assignments
I expect you to find time (several hours) to
do the reading for each class and to come prepared to discuss it. Come to class ready to say what you found
interesting, what you found confusing, silly, or just plain wrong, what seemed
to you to be the most important claims made, and what arguments or
justifications were offered for those claims.
20 % of your grade will be earned by submitting brief (1/2 to 11/2 pages, typed, double-spaced ) responses to the readings for each class. These must be turned in at the beginning of the class period to be counted. (If you must miss class, send in your response paper by e-mail.) They can contain questions, objections, observations and/or reactions to the reading for that class. I will not grade these (or even return them consistently), but I will reject any that do not seem to be based on a reasonably conscientious reading of the assignment for that week. You can miss one of these and still earn an ‘A’ for this part of the course work, but missing more will be penalized on the following schedule: 90% completed = A; 80% = B; 70% = C; 60% = D; less than 60% = F. I will also notice and reward particularly perceptive or thoughtful response papers.
Class discussion
Most weeks we
will have guided small group discussion projects. The purpose of these projects is to open discussion and to focus
it on particular issues. They are also intended to be "mini-labs" in
which to practice the skills of careful reading and evaluation of
reasoning. The projects are done in
class in groups of 3-5 and take roughly 20-45 minutes to complete. Each group should keep notes on its
discussion, sign the notes and hand them in at the end of each class
session. Often groups will also report
orally on their discussions.
If you miss a
discussion project, you should get hold of the instructions, write out
responses to the questions on your own, and hand them in as soon as you can. 10% of your grade will be determined by the
number of discussion projects you complete satisfactorily (on the same schedule
as the response papers above.)
10% of your grade will also be determined
by my evaluation of the quality of your participation in class
discussions. Just showing up and paying
attention earns a C for this component; occasionally making helpful
contributions earns a B; regularly making helpful contributions earns an A. Helpful contributions include: asking
pertinent questions, answering questions asked by the instructor or by other
students, expressing your views about the texts or topics we are discussing,
responding (relevantly and respectfully) to the views expressed by others.
Take-home essay exams
Twice during the course (at about
the 5th and 10th weeks) you will be given a take-home essay exam. The exams will focus on the themes and
readings discussed during the preceding segment of the course. Each exam will involve writing 6-8 pages.
These exams must be word-processed or typewritten. Each will count for 20% of your grade.
Position
paper
A 5-10 page position paper will be
due at the end of the semester. This
assignment will ask you to develop and defend your own position on the
direction our national politics should take.
Detailed instructions will be handed out later. (Also 20% 0f your grade)
I try hard to base my evaluation of
your work on your understanding of the reading, the quality of your reasoning
and questioning, and the clarity and effectiveness of your expression of your
thoughts, not on whether I agree with your political ideas and
positions.
Time commitment outside of class
In
accordance with Metropolitan State University guidelines, I've designed this
course with the expectation that students will do 2-3 hours of course-related
work outside of class for every hour spent in class. In other words, you should expect to spend 6-9 hours a week
outside of class working on this course.
Needed reading and writing skills
Although
there are no prerequisites for this course, it is an upper-division
course. This means I assume you have
the following reading and writing skills, and assignments are made with this
expectation in mind:
Attendance
I
do not require attendance per se, but part of your grade is
determined by discussion projects and general class discussion. So, when you are in class, contribute to the
discussion and please be sure your name is on your small group's discussion
report and that the report gets turned in.
When you miss a class, get the instructions for the discussion project,
write out answers on your own and turn them in. I strongly advise regular attendance (and prompt completion of
missed discussion projects), because the material in this course is relatively
difficult and confusing, and few students are able to do well on the exams and
papers without the explanations and practice provided in class.
Rewriting
Students who are unhappy with the grade
they receive on any written work for this class may rewrite that paper or
exam. If you choose to rewrite an
assignment, turn in the original version along with your revised version and
mark or otherwise indicate which sections have been altered. I am very unlikely to raise a grade by more
than one letter grade.