This course explores the relationship between political institutions and economic development, covering key theoretical issues as well as recent empirical evidence. Topics include corruption, democracy, dictatorship, and war. Discusses not just what we know on these topics, but how we know it, covering how to craft a good empirical study or field experiment and how to discriminate between reliable and unreliable evidence.
MITx Online Version
This course is part of the Micromaster’s Program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy through MITx Online. The course is entirely free to audit, though learners have the option to pay a fee, which is based on the learner's ability to pay, to take the proctored exam, and earn a course certificate. To access the course, create an MITx Online account and enroll in the course 14.750x Political Economy and Economic Development.

This graduate reading seminar explores the role of religious groups, institutions, and ideas in politics using social science theories. It is open to advanced undergraduate students with permission of the instructor.

Dr Lucy Sargisson defines a political concept in 60 seconds for those with a spare minute to learn something new. This videocast focuses on War as a political concept.

Warning: video does contain bloopers and out takes.

May 2010

Suitable for Undergraduate study and Community education

Dr Lucy Sargisson, School of Politics and International Relations

Dr Lucy Sargisson is an Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Nottingham. She is an active member of the profession, serving on the Steering Group of the Utopian Studies Society, and the Steering Group of the Political Studies Association's 'Politics of Property' Specialist Group. She is a member of the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice at Nottingham, and of CONCEPT, Nottingham's new Political Theory Centre.

Dr Lucy Sargisson is involved in two long-term projects, all of which involve the study of utopias and utopianism. The first is a book project 'Fools' Gold? Utopia in the Twenty-First Century' (for Palgrave Macmillan), where she considers a number of different aspects of utopian thought and activity in our time, as manifested in architecture, theory, fiction and social experimentation. The book addresses such themes as religious fundamentalism, the environment, poverty and politics. The second is a long-term research project on property and utopian alternatives to private property.

Dr Lucy Sargisson defines a political concept in 60 seconds for those with a spare minute to learn something new. This videocast focuses on War as a political concept.

Warning: video does contain bloopers and out takes.

May 2010

Suitable for Undergraduate study and Community education

Dr Lucy Sargisson, School of Politics and International Relations

Dr Lucy Sargisson is an Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Nottingham. She is an active member of the profession, serving on the Steering Group of the Utopian Studies Society, and the Steering Group of the Political Studies Association's 'Politics of Property' Specialist Group. She is a member of the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice at Nottingham, and of CONCEPT, Nottingham's new Political Theory Centre.

Dr Lucy Sargisson is involved in two long-term projects, all of which involve the study of utopias and utopianism. The first is a book project 'Fools' Gold? Utopia in the Twenty-First Century' (for Palgrave Macmillan), where she considers a number of different aspects of utopian thought and activity in our time, as manifested in architecture, theory, fiction and social experimentation. The book addresses such themes as religious fundamentalism, the environment, poverty and politics. The second is a long-term research project on property and utopian alternatives to private property.

Serial Storytelling examines the ways the passing and unfolding of time structures narratives in a range of media. From Rembrandt's lifetime of self-portraits to The Wire, Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers to contemporary journalism and reportage, we will focus on the relationships between popular culture and art, the problems of evaluation and audience, and the ways these works function within their social context.

This course will examine public opinion and assess its place in the American political system. The course will emphasize both how citizens' thinking about politics is shaped and the role of public opinion in political campaigns, elections, and government.

This table shows the attitudes of U.S. citizens' willingness to give up civil liberties to curb terrorism from 1996-2007. It has been consistent that the majority of respondents consistently responded against giving up civil liberties with the exception of 2001-2002 which is probably correlated with the 9/11 incident.

The wars in Iraq and Syria have changed the course of international relations in the 21st century. During these conflicts, hundreds of thousands have died and millions have been displaced. After 13 years, these conflicts continue with no end in sight. The central question of this course is: How do political science theories and methods help us understand the course of these wars? In this course, you will answer this question by integrating three elements: theory, data/description, and application of theory to data/description. The primary goal of this course is to bolster students' skills in using various social science methods to explain important variations in violent conflict.

This course is a graduate reading seminar, in which historical and contemporary studies are used to explore the interaction of technology with social and political values. Emphasis is on how technological devices, structures, and systems influence the organization of society and the behavior of its members. Examples are drawn from the technologies of war, transportation, communication, production, and reproduction.

Sounds of War, by Susanna Hast, is a book on the aesthetics of war experience in Chechnya. It includes theory on, and stories of, compassion, dance, children’s agency and love. It is not simply a book to be read, but to be listened to. The chapters begin with the author’s own songs expressing research findings and methodology in musical form. Susanna Hast is Academy of Finland postdoctoral researcher with a project “Bodies in War, Bodies in Dance” (2017–2020) at the Theatre Academy Helsinki, University of the Arts. She does artistic research on emotions, embodiment and war and teaches dance for immigrant and asylum-seeking women in Finland.

This graduate seminar introduces an emerging research program within International Relations on territorial conflict. While scholars have recognized that territory has been one of the most frequent issues over which states go to war, territorial conflicts have only recently become the subject of systematic study. This course will examine why territorial conflicts arise in the first place, why some of these conflicts escalate to high levels of violence and why other territorial disputes reach settlement, thereby reducing the likelihood of war. Readings in the course draw upon political geography and history as well as qualitative and quantitative approaches to political science.

This is a complete course on Texas State government, developed by Austin Community College.

This collection uses primary sources to explore Tim O'Brien's novel, The Things They Carried. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

International Relations scholars have traditionally expressed little direct interest in addressing time and temporality. Yet, assumptions about temporality are at the core of many theories of world politics and time is a crucial component of the human condition and our social reality. Today, a small but emerging strand of literature has emerged to meet questions concerning time and temporality and its relationship to International Relations head on. This edited collection provides a platform to continue this work. The chapters in this book address subjects such as identity, terrorism, war, gender relations, global ethics and governance in order to demonstrate how focusing on the temporal aspects of such phenomena can enhance our understanding of the world.

"Tragedy" is a name originally applied to a particular kind of dramatic art and subsequently to other literary forms; it has also been applied to particular events, often implying thereby a particular view of life. Throughout the history of Western literature it has sustained this double reference. Uniquely and insistently, the realm of the tragic encompasses both literature and life.
Through careful, critical reading of literary texts, this subject will examine three aspects of the tragic experience:    

the scapegoat
the tragic hero
the ethical crisis

These aspects of the tragic will be pursued in readings that range in the reference of their materials from the warfare of the ancient world to the experience of the modern extermination camps.

How do you teach world current events? From history textbooks? From the internet? From watching the news? The 21st Century World: Crises and Solutions, aims to remedy a scarcity of comprehensive analysis of world events. It recollects the recent past, analyzes the factors that destabilize and threaten human life, and examines sustainable and fair solutions. The chapters are organized in four parts: sustainability, demographics, literacy, and freedoms. Coverage includes the sustainability of land and water use, poverty-induced issues such as health, hunger, and homelessness, the global economy, population distribution and location, migrations and refugees, education and information and issues of violence that find outlets in oppression, protests, war, and terrorism.

 U.S. History is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of most introductory courses. The text provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience). U.S. History covers key forces that form the American experience, with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender.Senior Contributing AuthorsP. Scott Corbett, Ventura CollegeVolker Janssen, California State University, FullertonJohn M. Lund, Keene State CollegeTodd Pfannestiel, Clarion UniversityPaul Vickery, Oral Roberts UniversitySylvie Waskiewicz