School of Arts and Sciences 2015-16
COURSE SYLLABUS
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Course Number POL 405 |
Course Title Political Ideologies |
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Fall Semester |
Spring
Semester XX |
Summer Semester |
Credit Hours |
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Name of Instructor William Miller |
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Meeting Day, Time, and Room Number |
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Final Exam Day, Time, and Room Number Wednesday, May 4, 6:30, St Joseph Hall, G105
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Office Hours, Location, Phone Tuesdays and Fridays 1:00-2:00pm, 3:30pm to
4:00pm; Wednesdays 3:00 to 4:00pm & by appointment. My office is Ireton G107, my telephone number is 703 284 1687, but always
email ahead of time! |
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E-mail and Web Site My email is wmiller@marymount.edu. Email is the
best way to reach me! All announcements and assignments are posted only on my
web site, www.millerpolitics.com, not on
Blackboard. |
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Course Description A
study of ideology as a particular form of political thought. The course
examines the origins of ideology, its distinguishing characteristics, and
various examples of ideology. Prerequisites: a grade of C or better in POL
210 or POL 211, and a grade of C or better in POL 250 or its equivalent, or
permission of instructor. (3) |
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UNIVERSITY STATEMENTS
ACADEMIC
INTEGRITY
By accepting this syllabus, you pledge to uphold the principles
of Academic Integrity expressed by the Marymount University Community. You
agree to observe these principles yourself and to defend them against abuse by
others. Items submitted for this course may be submitted to
TurnItIn.com for analysis.
STUDENT
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
For the benefit of current and future
students, work in this course may be used for educational critique,
demonstrations, samples, presentations, and verification. Outside of these uses, work shall not be
sold, copied, broadcast, or distributed for profit without student
consent.
ACCOMMODATIONS AND ACCESSIBILITY CONCERNS
Please address any special challenges or needs with the instructor at
the beginning of the semester. Students seeking accommodations for a disability
must complete the required steps for obtaining a Faculty Contact Sheet from the
Office of Student Access Services (SAS). Students are then responsible for
meeting with their instructors at the beginning of the semester to review and
sign the Faculty Contact Sheet and develop a specific plan for providing the
accommodations listed. Accommodations cannot be granted to students who fail
to follow this process. Appointments with the SAS director can be scheduled
through the Starfish "Success Network" tab in Blackboard. For more
information, check the SAS website, e-mail access@marymount.edu, or call 703-284-1538 to reach the SAS director or an academic support
coordinator.
EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION POLICY
When students are absent due to a
crisis situation or unexpected, serious illness and unable to contact their
individual instructors directly, the Division of Student Affairs can send out
an Emergency Notification. To initiate an Emergency Notification, students
should contact the Division of Student
Affairs 703-284-1615 or studentaffairs@marymount.edu. Emergency Notifications are NOT appropriate for
non-emergency situations (e.g. car problems, planned absences, minor illnesses,
or a past absence); are NOT a request or mandate to excuse an absence,
which is at the sole discretion of the instructor; and are NOT a
requirement for student absences. If a student contacts instructors about an
emergency situation directly, it is not necessary to involve the Division of
Student Affairs as arrangements are made to resolve the absence.
For non-emergency absences, students
should inform their instructors
directly.
ACCESS
TO STUDENT WORK
Copies of your work in this course, including copies of any
submitted papers and your portfolios, may be kept on
file for institutional research, assessment, and accreditation purposes. All
work used for these purposes will be submitted anonymously.
UNIVERSITY
POLICY ON WEATHER AND EMERGENCY CLOSINGS
Weather and Emergency closings are
announced on Marymount’s web site: www.marymount.edu,
through MUAlerts, area radio
stations, and TV stations. You may also call the Weather and Emergency Hotline at (703) 526-6888 for current status.
Unless otherwise advised by local media or by official bulletins listed above,
students are expected to report for class as near normal time as possible on
days when weather conditions are adverse. Decisions as to inclement closing or
delayed opening are not generally made before 6:00 AM and
by 3:00 PM for evening classes of the working day. Emergency closing
could occur at any time making MUAlerts
the most timely announcement mechanism. Students
are expected to attend class if the University is not officially closed. If
the University is closed, course content and
assignments will still be covered as directed by the course instructor. Please
look for communication from the course instructor (e.g., Blackboard) for
information on course work during periods in which the University is closed.
1.
BROAD PURPOSE OF COURSE
A study of
ideology as a particular form of political thought. The course examines the origins of ideology, its distinguishing
characteristics, and various examples of ideology. The focus this semester is
on contemporary (1900 to the present) ideologies— e.g., Nazism, Communism,
Positivism, and radical Islamicism—and their relationship to revolutionary and
terrorist activity.
2. COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon successful
completion of this course students will be expected to:
1. be able to describe the distinctive features of political
ideologies in contrast to other forms of political thought;
2. demonstrate familiarity with the
related concepts of "millennialism," "millenarianism,"
"gnosticism," “hermeticism,” "Marxism,"
"fascism," “Islamicism,” “Nazism,”
and "utopianism;"
3. demonstrate familiarity with the
basic outlines of several past and present political-religious movements;
4. demonstrate in writing a
detailed knowledge of the tenets, the genesis, and the historical impact of one
particular such movement as a result of the individual student's research;
5. be able to assess the nature of the ideological aspects
of the movement in light of the concepts and approaches discussed in the
course.
3. TEACHING METHOD
The class will consist of seminar discussions, including student
presentations. Reading assignments will be approximately 75 to 100 pages per
week.
4. GRADING POLICY
Friday, February 12, 2016, is the last day to withdraw from a class
without academic record.
Friday,
March 18, 2016, is the last day to withdraw from a class with a grade of W.
The final grade will consist of the following components:
· Mid-term
Essay Exam 30%
· Book/Article
Review (See guidelines on article and book reviews) 15%
· Research paper
(See guidelines on research papers) 25%
· Three class
presentations (depending on class size) and participation 30%
The class presentations, or seminar
papers, will be commentaries of about three pages (typed) on some aspect of
the readings assigned for an evening's class. One-third to one-half of each
paper summarizes the point to be focused on, and the rest of the paper offers
comments. Those not giving seminar papers will prepare one discussion question
on the assigned readings; the questions will be graded.
The usual scale of 90-100%=A, 80-89%=B, 70-79%=C, 60-69%=D,
and 59% and below=F will be used for all graded work.
5. CLASS SCHEDULE
Class One (1/13): Introduction to
the course; basic concepts; revolutionary and terroristic implications. Hoffman article.
Class Two (1/20): Eric Voegelin, New Science of Politics, ch. 1 & 2.
Class Three (1/27): Voegelin, New Science, ch. 3; “Science, Politics, and Gnosticism.”
Class Four (2/3): Socialism; Marxism: readings from primary sources
and Niemeyer.
Class Five (2/10): A. James Gregor, Marxism, Fascism, and Totalitarianism, ch.
1-3.
Class Six (2/17): Nazism: readings from Hitler and
Rauschning. REVIEW DUE.
Class Seven (2/24): Islamic radicalism: Barry Cooper, New Political Religions; Richard Hooker,
Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity.
Class Eight (3/2): Islamic radicalism: readings from primary
sources.
SPRING BREAK!
Class Nine (3/16): Islamic
radicalism: readings from primary sources.
Class Ten (3/23): EXAM.
Class Eleven (3/30): Student
topics.
Class Twelve (4/6): Student topics.
Class Thirteen (4/13): Student
topics.
Class Fourteen (4/27): Student topics. RESEARCH PAPER DUE
Class Fifteen (5/4): Student
presentations.
6. REQUIRED TEXT
The only books that you need at the beginning of the
semester are Eric Voegelin’s The New
Science of Politics and Science,
Politics, and Gnosticism, which can be bought separately, or, preferably,
in the collection Modernity Without
Restraint (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2000) ISBN
978-0826212450, which is available in the bookstore.
A FEW FURTHER RULES
For
the benefit of the class and your classmates, the following rules regarding
electronic devices also apply to this course:
1.
Turn your cell phones off during the class. If you are expecting an important
call, put your phone on “Vibrate,” sit near the door, and, when the call comes,
answer it outside the classroom.
2.
It follows from the foregoing rule, but it must be separately stated: no
talking and no texting on cell phones during class. If you do not follow this
rule, I will publicly ask you to leave the room for the remainder of the class
and will do my best to have you removed from the course for the rest of the
semester.
3.
No open lap-top or other computers are allowed in class without my prior
permission. Devices such as tablets, Ipads, Kindles, Kobos, and Nooks that
lie flat on the desk and on to which the readings can be loaded are permitted
if approved by me, but hard copies of the readings are better. You can mark
them up and take notes on them in class.
4. Be
sure to check your Marymount email address regularly! This is
Marymount’s and my principal way of contacting you with important information.
Perhaps you rely mostly on Yahoo, gmail, or some other provider, but check your
@marymount.edu mail daily to make sure you do not miss school information.
These
rules are necessary to foster a suitable learning environment in the classroom
during class. There are enough distractions with lawnmowers, snow blowers, air
conditioners, and other outside forces to combat during lectures and
discussions without these controllable distractions within the room.