Program Advisor: Pamela Leach, Ph.D. (web page)
Assistant Professor, Political Studies

Political Studies at CMU addresses power and inequalities among people, communities, and states. You will examine obstacles to fostering God’s Kingdom on earth and explore how the state, other institutions, roles and relationships, technologies, bodies of knowledge, and practices of culture and citizenship facilitate or compromise the goals of justice, peace, and human dignity. A close study of the classic texts, concepts, methodologies, and assumptions of Political Studies provides a basis for further inquiry.

With this foundation, critical insights and alternative approaches from within and beyond the discipline can be fruitfully assessed. Political Studies prepares you for careers, leadership, advocacy, and management in such fields as research, social work, law, business, public administration, international development, foreign affairs, community organizing, and journalism.

At CMU, you can study Political Studies as a four-year major (minimum 48 credit hours), a three-year major (minimum 30 credit hours), or a minor (minimum 18 credit hours) within the Bachelor of Arts degree.

Click here for information about the requirements of this program (PDF). For specific questions about this program, contact the Program Advisor.

Find below a list of all the courses CMU offers in the field of Political Studies. The introductory course is offered each year. Other courses are offered in a rotation so that you will have opportunity to take all the courses required by your major or minor over the years of your studies at CMU.

To complete this major, students are encouraged to include courses from various other subject fields. For information on the courses you can use for majors in Political Studies, see the additional notes on the major in the degree program descriptions.

Courses

The following section contains a complete list of courses for its curriculum. For current course listings please see the Course Description section of our website.

POLS-1000/3 Democracy and Dissent: An introductory study of democratic politics and institutions, political ideas, electoral systems and political culture. The lens of dissent is used to trace the emergence of democracy and its liberal development. Issues to be explored include: the roles of opposition, questions of accountability, the meaning and practice of justice, the evolving implications of citizenship, the crisis of the state under globalization, and the contemporary idea of democracy without dissent.

POLS-1010/3 Global Politics: An introduction to the fields of International Relations and Comparative Politics with particular emphasis on current global issues. Topics include globalization, American domination, terrorism and security, the changing nature of states, international law and justice, the politics of the environmental crisis, political development, human migration, and the dilemmas of democratization. Active participation in debates, simulation games, and media studies contribute to critical skills that provide insight behind the “political veil.”

HIST/POLS-2100/3 History of the United States from 1607 [CPN] (Formerly: 61.210/3): A study of the development of the United States of America from its colonial origins to its emergence, four centuries later, as a global superpower. Attention will be given to political, economic, social, and intellectual developments from Jamestown to 9/11.

HIST/POLS-2110/3 The Fifties and Sixties—North America Cold, Cool and Radical [CPN] (Formerly: 61.211/3): An examination of the post-World War II decades of North America in its political, economic, social, and intellectual contexts. Individuals that may be studied include Elvis Presley, Lester Pearson, Ronald Reagan, Tommy Douglas, Martin Luther King Jr., Betty Friedan, Marshall McLuhan, Rachel Carson, Charles Manson, and Pierre Trudeau. Topics may include social revolutions (Quiet Revolution, Civil Rights), politics (Cold War, Great Society, Medicare), body and
technology (‘The Pill’, vaccines, organ transplants), youth protest (Beat, Berkeley), and consumer culture.

POLS-2120/3 Peace and Conflict in World Politics [WP] (Formerly: 31.210/3): A study of large-scale violence, including conventional warfare and “low intensity” warfare (e.g. liberation movements, counter-insurgencies and terrorism). Consideration is given to the political economy of such violence, including the arms industry and resource wars. What is the role of politics in perpetuating militarism, violence and in enabling peace? How are conflicts politically mediated through diplomacy, international law, NGO’s, international organizations, etc.? We consider the relation of violence to underdevelopment, environmental degradation, and human rights violations.

POLS-2200/3 Human Rights and Dignity [WP] [CPS] (Formerly: 31.220/3): Human rights claim to protect the interests and dignity of people. How do governments, the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, religious groups, corporations, and activists help or impede this process? What is the political and moral place of individuals, communities, law, and justice in the current global reality? Changing and cross-cultural understandings of rights are considered.

POLS-2300/3 Canadian Political Issues [CPN] (Formerly: 31.230/3): This thematic course builds upon concepts and knowledge of the Canadian political system acquired in “Introduction to Political Studies.” Examples of themes include: aboriginal people, law, and politics; conscientious objection in Canada; the politics of immigration; community politics; gender and politics; the Church and state in Canada; media and politics; and regional/ cultural politics. Prerequisite: POLS-1000/3.

POLS-2400/3 Comparative Politics of Development—Africa [CPS] (Formerly: 31.240/3): With Africa as our lens, the course invites a comparative study of how development is informed by the practices and institutions of governance, and by asymmetries of power and resources. The focus is on change in African regimes and their historical response to poverty, civil society’s role in social ordering, and on cultures of governance and public policy in a globalizing context. Themes include: democratization and social movements; civil and regional conflicts; international aid and intervention; refugees; colonialism and post-colonialism; race, ethnicity, religion, class and gender; health and HIV/AIDS; and environmental crises and politics.

POLS/SOCI/PHIL-2600/3 Social and Political Philosophy [PTM] (Formerly: 31/42/62.260/3): What is human nature? Should society be organized to reflect this? What is justice? Are states coercive by nature? How does property inform politics? What is ethical citizenship? These questions are explored through a survey of Western political thinkers including Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, de Gouges, Burke, Wollstonecraft, Mill, and Marx, and by examining their contemporary legacy.

POLS-2950/3 Topics in Political Studies (Formerly: 31.295/3): The content of this course will vary from year to year, depending on the needs of students and the interests and availability of instructors.

COMM/POLS/SOCI-3000/3 Politics, Society and Mass Media [CPN] (Formerly: 43/31/42.206/3): This course examines the relationship between the mass communications media and the political and social processes in which they operate, investigating the state of research on mass media, the role of media in creating and shaping political awareness, and in influencing human behaviour and values. Examples of topics which may be covered are: media ownership and organization patterns, media in the electoral process, the media in developing nations, the media and globalization, propaganda, media freedom and public opinion. Prerequisite: 30 credit hours of university-level studies, including six credit hours in social science.

BTS/POLS/INTG-3260/3 Plato’s Republic and Paul’s Romans in Dialogue [PTM]: Plato’s Republic and Paul’s Romans are both discourses on the concept of “justice,” encompassing the body politic, the just individual within it, and the entire cosmos. Following an overview of Platonism and Paulinism within their respective Greek and Judeo-Christian traditions, this course will consist of a close reading consecutively of the Republic and Romans, and will conclude with a comparison and dialogue between these two classics and the traditions they represent. Prerequisite: 30 credit hours of university-level studies, including 6 credit hours in Biblical and Theological Studies.

POLS-3500/3 Gender and Politics [GIP] (Formerly: 31.350/3): Examines the public exclusion of women and their emergence as political actors. By looking at the roles of women and men, we will consider how the construction of gender informs citizenship. What do feminist critiques reveal about the theory and practice of politics? What roles do market, culture, race and class play? Ethical questions raised by identity politics are emphasized. We will consider how communities and institutions might become more just and more inclusive. Prerequisite: 30 credit hours of university-level
study, including 6 credit hours at the 1000-or 2000-level in political studies.

POLS-3600/3 Topics in Political Theory [PTM] (Formerly: 31.360/3): An engagement with classical and contemporary texts on a single theme. Examples of such themes include: justice; minority rights; human nature; political responsibility; alternatives to force; feminist political theory; citizenship and non-citizenship; postmodern political thought; political utopias; race theories and political identities; liberalism and its critics; Canadian political thought; science and politics. Prerequisite: 30 credit hours of university-level study, including 6 credit hours at the 1000-or 2000-level in political studies or philosophy.

POLS-3950/3 Topics in Political Studies (Formerly: 31.395/3): The content of this course will vary from year to year, depending on the needs of students and the interests and availability of instructors. Prerequisite: 30 credit hours of university-level study, including 6 credit hours at the 1000-or 2000-level in political studies.

POLS-4800/6 Senior Thesis (Formerly: 31.480/6): The Senior Thesis is both a deepening and a demonstration of the expertise acquired within the major. The thesis subject should be selected and approved in the spring of a student’s third year, with a detailed proposal and timelines to be presented in September. The thesis must be submitted no later than the end of March of the final year. Normally available only to students in a four-year Political Studies major during the last 30 credit hours of their programs.

POLS-4940/3 Independent Study in Political Studies (Formerly: 31.494/3): A study in a specific area of Political Studies under the direction of a faculty member. This course may be designed to qualify as an area course. Prerequisites: POLS-1000/3, POLS-1010/3, an additional nine credit hours in Political Studies, and a minimum of 60 credit hours of university-level studies.

POLS-4950/3 Topics in Political Studies (Formerly: 31.495/3): The content of this course will vary from year to year, depending on the needs of students and the interests and availability of instructors. Prerequisite: 30 credit hours of university-level study, including 6 credit hours at the 1000-or 2000-level in political studies.