This is a fun and engaging course that helps students
understand various central concepts of the Western tradition. It introduces
students to the leading texts, authors, and ideas of modern political theory in
the West, including the writings of Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Nietzsche, Simone de
Beauvoir, and Vandana Shiva.  Scholars
disagree over when exactly the “modern” era began, but we can safely say that
it follows the Middle Ages and is characterized by a long list of intertwining
themes.  Among these are the principles
of the Scientific Revolution, growing secularism, disbelief in the Divine Right
of Kings, individualism, egalitarianism, and the ideas behind the Age of
Revolution and Romanticism.  Such ideas
have had a profound effect on the contemporary world and provide the groundwork
for the American Revolution and American political thought.  Throughout the semester, we will read a wide
variety of texts that demonstrate the impact that the modern era has had on the
world today.  We will make connections between
the ideas that drive “modernity” and events that we see unfolding today in the
news.