Course Description
Political issues affecting Europe, with a focus upon France. Topics may include political violence, migration, the development of extremist/nationalist groups, and international institutions' impacts upon domestic politics.
Athena Title
Politics Mod European State
Non-Traditional Format
This course will only be taught in Paris as a study abroad course.
Prerequisite
GEOG 1101 or INTL 1100 or INTL 1100H or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered summer semester every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The class will be organized around both a lecture and a discussion component. Students will be expected to participate in discussions, prepare brief writing assignments, and work through the theoretical issues presented in lecture and in the readings. Students will use the city as an active learning environment, visiting various sites in Paris as appropriate. Students will learn to articulate and reflect upon the functioning of the modern state and how it addresses various political, cultural, and economic issues. This course meets the following General Education Abilities by accomplishing the specific learning objectives listed below: Communicate effectively through writing. This is met by students writing a term paper and/ or other writing pieces which involves interpreting, analyzing, assessing, and comparing and contrasting the content of written materials on related topics from multiple disciplines. Communicate effectively through speech. This is met by oral presentations, discussion leading, and classroom participation. Critical Thinking (Engaging in complex thought, analysis, and reasoning): Critical Thinking is central to the learning objectives of this class, and is developed through lecture, classroom discussion, and visiting sites in Paris. France is the birthplace of modern democracy and rationalism, and so students are in the perfect location to discuss what "democracy" means, how it evolves, and its different varieties. In these discussions, students shall consider the political institutions, cultures, and economics that underpin democratic nations. Moral Reasoning (Ethics): is an important element of this course, as it considers the ethics of the exercise of political power and conflicts between more democratic and more authoritarian forms of governance. Moral reasoning is developed through lectures, writing assignments, classroom discussion, and visiting sites in Paris.
Topical Outline
1. The origins and consequences of political institutions 2. European nation building 3. French nation building and identity 4. From Absolutism to Democracy: the French experience 5. The impact of the French Revolution on modern Europe and the world 6. France in WWI and WWII 7. De-colonization and its effects on France 8. Building a new Europe - France the European unification project 9. Terrorism in France - then and now 10. Immigration and welfare state in France