Undergraduate Courses
Study of liberalism, conservatism, socialism, communism, social democracy, nationalism, from their origins in the 18th century to the present. Prerequisite: POLS 101
Ontological, epistemological, and political-ideological underpinnings of the major approaches to social science. Relation of the social and human sciences to natural science. Prerequisite: POLS 101.
Comprehensive analysis of the genesis and historical evolution of selected political concepts and controversies. Selected political thinkers and the in-depth appraisal of their contribution to political thought. Prerequisite: POLS 101
Theoretical perspectives on the analysis of the state, the public sphere and the conceptualization of the public /private dichotomy. Prerequisite: POLS 101
Articulation of political power relations in the sphere of culture. Processes of ideological hegemony and political legitimacy. Autonomy of culture from politics and the economy. Cultural dimensions of globalization. Prerequisite: POLS 101
Study of gender in political discourse. The impact of gender on methodological and substantive issues of politics. Prerequisite: POLS 101
Theoretical exploration of the relationship between ethics and politics, discussion of major issues and dilemmas, with particular reference to Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche and modern theorists. Prerequisite: POLS 101
Discussion of the scope and the major themes of political philosophy, such as freedom, equality, truth, justice, the public good, rights and obligations. Prerequisite: POLS 101
Critical appraisal of modern and postmodern theories of ideology and discourse. Discussion of the contribution of contemporary debates in political thought to the theory and practice of discourse. Prerequisite: POLS 101
Theoretical overview of 20th century Marxist thought, particularly in its sociological, phenomenological, structural and postmodern variants. The evolution of Marxist theory from Gramsci, Lukács and the Frankfurt School to contemporary thinkers. Prerequisite: POLS 101
Contextual survey of the development of democratic theory since Hobbes, with special emphasis on contemporary problems.
Prerequisite: POLS 101
An overview of the different paradigmatic approaches to the study of politics and society such as positivism, phenomenology and hermeneutics, structuralism, and critical theory. Prerequisite: POLS 101
The central traits of modernity in the 19th and 20th centuries and their relation to politics. Turn-of the-century arts, society and culture and their effects on political values, perceptions and practices. A multi-dimensional appraisal of the critiques of modernity. Prerequisite: POLS 101
The politics of postmodernity from 1968 to our day. The discourse of postmodernity and its effects on political values, perceptions and political movements. A multi-dimensional appraisal of the critiques of postmodernity. Prerequisite: POLS 101
The aim of the course is to familiarize the students with especially the intellectual foundations of any type of authoritarianism and totalitarianism, which are anti-liberalism, anti-universalism and relativism and irrationalism.
This course aims to revisit some of the ever important and forever valid themes of political philosophy (such as freedom, equality, justice, democracy, the public good, political power, rights and obligations) while specifically focusing on social justice.
Advanced seminar on selected topics in political theory. Prerequisites: POLS 101, POLS 201, POLS 202