Senior Seminar in Political Theory:
Politics, Representation, and Violence
PLSC 432
CRN: 13311
3pm—5:30 pm
Tuesdays
Arntzen Hall 421
Instructor: Dr. Vicki Hsueh
Office: Arntzen Hall 405
Telephone: x2649
Email: Vicki.Hsueh@wwu.edu
Office hours: Wednesdays, 1-3pm, Thursdays, 2-4pm
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This seminar is a thematic examination of political theory’s complex relationship to violence. We will consider not only how contemporary political theory can (and at times fails) to address and respond to violence, but also how political theory uses violence in order to create conceptions of law, personhood, and power. Our examination will be focused and sustained, engaging several important new works in depth.
GRADING SUMMARY
10% attendance
10% class discussion
10% class presentations
10% Blackboard blog posting by Monday at 9pm
25% shorter essay, 5-7 pages, with draft and peer review
35% longer essay, 10 pages, with draft, peer review, meeting with professor
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
This is a seminar-style writing proficiency course and it will be conducted primarily through discussion and a variety of writing exercises: Blackboard blog postings, in-class writings, and papers. At certain points, I will lecture to provide historical and conceptual background on the readings, but the main focus of the course will be your analysis of the materials. Thus, you must be prepared to discuss and write about the materials for each class meeting. You will need to:
--read the assigned readings before class
--bring relevant texts and notes to class
--be prepared to write about and discuss the texts in depth
To prepare for class participation it will be helpful for you to think about the following questions while doing the reading assignments: What are the arguments of the reading(s)? How do the readings relate to one another? What are the terms and assumptions the author employs? Do you agree or disagree with the arguments of the author and on what grounds? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments?
In addition, your other significant responsibility for the course will be papers: one shorter and one longer. The first paper will be 5-7 pages; the second paper will be 10 pages. Both papers will include drafts, peer evaluation, and meetings with me. This is a writing proficiency course and a substantial portion of your grade in the seminar will be based on your writing.
**Participation**
You will be expected to participate actively in this class. Your participation grade will combine:
1) attendance (10%)
2) class discussion—asking questions and responding to others (10%)
3) class presentations (10%)
4) blog posting on Blackboard (10%)
**Attendance**
You are allowed 2 excused absences (for a grade of 94%). After that point, absences will lower your grade by 5% each additional absence. If you fail to attend, you diminish the course not only yourself but for other members of the seminar. For this reason, basic attendance is a significant component of your grade.
Note: Attendance also includes appropriate behavior in the seminar room.
When members of the seminar arrive to class late, leave early, whisper, read the newspaper, and wander in and out of class, it is a distraction not only to me but to other members of the seminar. Excessive disruptive behavior will negatively affect your attendance and participation marks.
**Class Discussion**
A -- frequent participation in discussions with strong evidence of preparation with detail, focus, and thoughtfulness. Encourages others, moves discussion forward. Participates diligently in peer-review process.
B -- intermittent participation in discussion. Good evidence of preparation and attention to detail in the arguments. Good participation in peer-review process.
C -- infrequent or limited participation in discussion. Sporadic or limited evidence of prior preparation and reflection on assigned texts. Minimal peer-review feedback.
D -- little or no participation in classroom discussions. Minimal peer-review feedback.
F -- no participation in classroom discussions and/or disruptive behavior.
**Class presentation**
Once during the quarter, you will be expected to guide class discussion. On that day, I expect you to prepare thoughtful reading questions to guide and prompt class discussion.
**Writing Assignments**
All seminar participants are to post their response to readings on Blackboard by Monday at 9pm
Also, there are 2 essays (one 5-7 page paper, one 10 page paper). Paper topics will be distributed about two weeks before the due date. For each of these papers, you will need to prepare a draft, submit the draft for peer review, and also submit a final version of the paper. We will then discuss your paper in a separate meeting.
If you do not hand in a rough draft, your paper will be marked down 25%. The quality of your peer review also is a significant element of your participation grade.
LATE POLICY
Late assignments are graded down 10 points per business day.
Missed assignments receive a score of 0.
Valid excuses for re-taking tests or handing in materials late are those that include written documentation of hospitalization, emergency care, emergency travel, or other crises.
Retain hard copies of all work completed, as well as all work completed and returned, over the course of the semester.
GROUND RULES FOR SEMINAR CONDUCT
~basic courtesy to other class members
~no excessive walking in and out of class
~no late arrivals
~no side-talking during lecture
~ no cellphone use for texting or calls
~laptop use permitted, but can be restricted if disruptive
REQUIRED READING
Assigned articles available on the electronic materials section of WWU Library Course Reserves or on Course Links section of Blackboard.
BLACKBOARD
I will be using Blackboard in the course, mostly to send emails and to distribute reading questions. I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus when needed. All changes will be announced in class and on the course website on Blackboard. Questions and comments on the course and readings are welcomed in and out of class.
ETHICAL POLICY
I will adhere fully to the terms of the Academic Dishonesty Policy, and I expect that everyone in this course is completely cognizant of the University’s policy. Penalties for plagiarism include an “F” in the course. If you have ANY questions concerning plagiarism or related topics of ethical conduct in the class, please see me immediately.
REQUIRED TEXTS TO PURCHASE
Michael Ignatieff, Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry
Sharon Sliwinski, Human Rights in Camera
Colin Dayan, The Law is a White Dog
Online texts to print for class
**SCHEDULE OF READINGS**
Week 1—INTRODUCTION
3/27, Tuesday
--Introduction and overview of syllabus
Week 2—Making People, Making Law
4/3, Tuesday
--Colin Dayan, The Law is a White Dog, preface, and pp. 1-137.
--Guantanamo Bay http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/guantanamo-bay
--All seminar participants are to post their response to readings on Blackboard by Monday at 9pm
Week 3—Making People, Making Law
4/10, Tuesday
--Colin Dayan, The Law is a White Dog, pp. 139-252
--Film: Special Operating Procedures
--All seminar participants are to post their response to readings on Blackboard by Monday at 9pm
Week 4—Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?
-- Susan Moller Okin, Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women? available at
--Homi K. Bhabha, “Liberalism’s Sacred Cow,” www.bostonreview.net/BR22.5/bhabha.html
--Bonnie Honig, “Complicating Cultures”
--Katha Pollitt, “Whose Culture?”
www.bostonreview.net/BR23.5/Sunstein.html
www.bostonreview.net/BR22.5/okin2.html
--Katharine Viner, Feminism as Imperialism, The Guardian, Saturday, September 21, 2002 http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0923-07.htm
Week 5—Gender and Reproductive Rights – ON WWU COURSE RESERVES/ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
--Carol Gilligan, “In a Different Voice,” in Meyers, Feminist Social Thought
--Angela Davis, “Racism, Birth Control and Reproductive Rights”
--Sidney Callahan, “Moral Duty to the Unborn and Its Significance,” ERESERVE.
--Wendy Brown, “Reproductive Freedom and the Right to Privacy,” in Irene Diamond, ed., Families, Politics, and Public Policy, (New York: Longman, 1983): 322-38. On ERESERVE.
--Hille Haker , “Reproductive rights in the twenty-first century ”
Week 6—Rough Drafts
5/1, Tuesday
--writing discussion
--rough drafts due
--peer evaluations in class
Week 7—Sandison
5/8 Sandison Lecture
**5/10, THURSDAY – PAPER #1 DUE in my office/mailbox by 6pm**
--2nd paper topics distributed
Week 8— Reproductive Freedom
5/15, Tuesday
--Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, “The Body as Property: A Feminist Re-vision”
--Laura Mamo, Queering Reproduction: Achieving Pregnancy in the Age of Technoscience
--Sara Ruddick, “From Maternal Thinking to Peace Politics,”
--R. Petchesky, "Spiraling Discourses of Reproductive and Sexual Rights: A Post-Beijing Assessment of International Feminist Politics" from Cohen, Jones, Tronto, Women Transforming Politics
Week 9— Culture, Freedom, and Gender
5/22, Tuesday
--Minoo Moallem “Transnationalism, Feminism and Fundamentalism”, in Women, gender, religion: a reader, Elizabeth Anne Castelli, Rosamond C. Rodman
--Uma Narayan,”Cross-Cultural Connections, Border Crossings, and “Death by Culture” in Dislocating Cultures (1997), pp. 83-96.
--Saba Mahmood, “Feminism, democracy, and empire : Islam and the war of terror ”
Week 10—Power and Politics
5/29, Tuesday
--Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others
--Elaine Scarry, Chapter 1, “The Structure of Torture: The Conversion of Real Pain into the Fiction of Power,” in The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World, 1985, 27-59
--Sharon Sliwinski, “The Spectator of Human Rights,” in Human Rights in Camera, chapter 1
– rough draft due
--peer reviews
--student paper meetings after class
Week 11—Finals Week
**6/5, Tuesday – FINAL PAPER DUE IN MY OFFICE/MAILBOX by 6pm**
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