The Enlightenment and Its Legacy
The Enlightenment, the 18-century cultural and intellectual movement in the West, has had a lasting influence on our present values and political thought. Reason, freedom, skepticism, critical thought, progress - and even democracy - are values and commitments we have inherited from this era. In order to specify the thought of this period (as well as debates and disagreements), we will first read various authors of the Enlightenment, including Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, and Wollstonecraft. In the second part of the course we will turn to the legacy of the Enlightenment. We will consider the doubts and critiques that have arisen. For example, Nietzsche and Freud (and psychoanalysis) have questioned the primacy of reason in both individual and collective action; Adorno and Foucault have questioned the ethics of political rationalism; and recent feminists have noted the paradoxes of the Enlightenment's rather narrow and implicitly gendered view of equality and citizenship. Do such criticisms alter our view of the basic tenets of Enlightenment thought? Or, on the contrary, might we read them as continuing the "spirit of critique" inaugurated by the thought of the 18th century?
Politics, Power, and Society
The nature and dimensions of power in society. Theoretical and empirical material dealing with national power structures of the contemporary United States and with power in local communities. Topics: the iron law of oligarchy, theoretical and empirical considerations of democracy, totalitarianism, mass society theories, voting and political participation, the political and social dynamics of advanced and developing societies, and the political role of intellectuals. Considers selected models for political analysis.
African American History Since 1865
The purpose of this course is to explore and probe the experience of African-Americans since the Civil War, emphasizing black life and culture paying particular attention to gender relations, everyday life, race and racism, significant individuals, key events, and relevant institutions.
Approaches to Asian/Pacific American Experience
This interdisciplinary course provides a general introduction to the themes of Asian/Pacific/American Studies through class discussions, guest speakers, and visits to community organizations in addition to traditional class methods. Emphasizing historical perspectives, it explores concepts of home and community, as well as Asian and American in the context of Asian/Pacific/American experiences. Issues covered may include: diaspora and migration, colonialism, orientalism, labor, family/community formations, national and international law/policy vis-à-vis A/P/As, intersections of sex/gender/race, education, popular culture and representation, activism, pan/ethnic identities, and electoral politics.
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