Spring 2021 | POL 3235W Section 001: Democracy and Citizenship (51479)
- Instructor(s)
- Alexander Provan (TA)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Credits:
- 3 Credits
- Grading Basis:
- Student Option
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- Completely Online
- Class Attributes:
- UMNTC Liberal Education RequirementOnline Course
- Times and Locations:
- Regular Academic Session01/19/2021 - 05/03/2021Tue, Thu 04:00PM - 05:15PMOff CampusUMN REMOTE
- Enrollment Status:
- Closed (55 of 55 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- This course considers the nature of contemporary democracy and the role that members of the political community do, can, and should play. While approaches in teaching the class vary, students can expect to read historical and contemporary texts, see films and videos, to approach questions about the nature of democracy, justifications for democracy, and challenges faced by contemporary democracy. Topics will include such questions as the role of civil society in democratic life, deliberative democracy, as well as questions about how members of political communities can best participate in democratic life. Students will write a longer essay that allows them to demonstrate their capacities to understand and explain complex ideas and to make a theoretically compelling argument, using appropriate supporting evidence. prereq: Suggested prerequisite 1201
- Class Notes:
- This course is completely online in a synchronous format. The course will meet online at the scheduled times. http://classinfo.umn.edu/?tranv004+POL3235W+Spring2021
- Class Description:
- Citizenship is often assumed; it is a status one might hold by virtue of one's place of birth. But for many it signals the endpoint of a long and often difficult journey - the moment when one is formally recognized as being part of a liberal democratic nation-state. While debates about paths to citizenship are common, the concept itself tends to receive less critical scrutiny. And upon closer inspection, citizenship is far from a fixed point on the political landscape. It is merely one way to conceptualize our public relationships - what it means to be part of a community - across time and place. Rather than examine citizenship as an unchanging status that one possesses or acquires, in this course we will treat it as a site of contestation and struggle - of political movement(s). We do so not merely to gain a better understanding of the theory and practice of citizenship across the globe, but to reflect together on our own public relationships here and now.After examining some common conceptions of citizenship in Western liberal democracies - the individual as legal rights-bearer and/or participant in the political process - we turn to efforts to (re)imagine public relationships in India during the struggle for swaraj (Independence), paying careful attention to how the (post-) colonial context shapes debates about citizenship and its alternatives. We then explore the public relationships that emerged during the American Freedom Movement, scrutinizing how race structures conceptions of citizenship and its alternatives in the United States. Finally, we look to present-day Minneapolis to think together about our own public relationships and what they require of us.
- Who Should Take This Class?:
- Any student is welcome to take this course, whether a political science major or not. The questions we deal with are issues affecting all students, and we will work to connect contemporary issues with theoretical and historical texts in a way that is both rigorous enough to engage majors while being accessible to those without a background in political science.
- Learning Objectives:
Identify, define, and explain competing models of citizenship in liberal democracies
Compare and contrast claims of political actors defending/criticizing models of citizenship
Critically evaluate normative arguments advanced by political actors defending/criticizing models of citizenship
Construct and clearly communicate a normative argument about a current event involving citizenship (broadly construed)
Acquire skills for effective citizenship and life-long learning
- Grading:
15%: Short paper 1
20%: Short paper 2
10%: Public Narrative
25%: Revised and extended paper
15%: In-class participation (exit tickets)
15%: Out-of-class participation (reading responses)
- Exam Format:
- No final exam
- Workload:
- approximatley 40 pages of reading per class
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/51479/1213
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 26 October 2020
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