AMER0058: American Political Thought

This advanced undergraduate seminar will give students a solid foundation in the classics of political thought in the United States from the Pre-Revolutionary period to the present. The readings will expose students to a range of recurring themes in American political thinking, and explore how liberalism, race, religion, and capitalism each relate to, and have shaped, democracy in a distinctive way in the United States. It will also expose students to a range of voices: the syllabus places the arguments of African American and Native American thinkers in dialogue with traditionally ‘canonical’ texts. (This module can be linked to the dissertation for students writing a compulsory final year undergraduate dissertation, and will include a set of dissertation writing workshops.)

Assessment:

5000-word take-home examination