College Bulletin 2014-2015 
    
    Sep 27, 2024  
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College Bulletin 2014-2015 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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Physics
  

  • PHYS 024. The Earth’s Climate and Global Warming

    A study of the complex interplay of factors influencing conditions on the surface of the Earth. Basic concepts from geology, oceanography, and atmospheric science lead to an examination of how the Earth’s climate has varied in the past, what changes are occurring now, and what the future may hold. Besides environmental effects, the economic, political, and ethical implications of global warming are explored, including possible ways to reduce climate change.
    Natural sciences and engineering practicum.
    Includes one laboratory every other week.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/physics-astronomy
    Physics and Astronomy 


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  • PHYS 027. The Dark Universe

    This course introduces non-science students to our modern understanding of cosmology. In the short span of 40 years, modern cosmology has transformed from a purely theoretical field to one overflowing with increasingly precise data. As a result, our picture of how the universe came into being and how it evolves in time has come into near-perfect focus: it seems as though, after thousands of years of thought, we may be on the cusp of understanding the physical nature of our ultimate origin. Although correct in certain respects, this sense of understanding may not be as founded as we might hope. We will critically explore the theoretical motivation and observational evidence that supports our modern cosmological model. We will also discuss the social and philosophical implications of humanity’s attempts to understand and order the cosmos.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/physics-astronomy
    Physics and Astronomy 


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  • PHYS 029. Seminar on Gender and (Physical) Science

    This seminar will take a multifaceted approach to the question: “What are the connections between a person’s gender, race, or class and their practice of science?” The history of science, the education of women and feminist pedagogy, and philosophy of science will be addressed. Physical science will be the principal focus.
    Eligible for GSST credit.
    Includes some laboratory work.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/physics-astronomy
    Physics and Astronomy 


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Physics - Advanced Seminar
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  • PHYS 138. Plasma Physics

    An introduction to the principles of plasma physics. Treatment will include the kinetic approach (orbits of charged particles in electric and magnetic fields, statistical mechanics of charged particles) and the fluid approach (single fluid magnetohydrodynamics, two fluid theory). Topics may include transport processes in plasmas (conductivity and diffusion), waves and oscillations, controlled nuclear fusion, and plasma astrophysics.
    Prerequisite: PHYS 112 .
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/physics-astronomy
    Physics and Astronomy 


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Physics - Physics Laboratory Program
  
  

  • PHYS 081. Advanced Laboratory I

    This is the first of a two-semester sequence designed to fulfill the physics major advanced laboratory requirement. Students will perform projects in digital electronics. They will also perform experiments chosen from among the areas of thermal and statistical physics, solid state, atomic, plasma, nuclear, biophysics, condensed matter physics, and advanced optics.
    Writing course.
    0.5 credit.
    Each semester. Staff.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/physics-astronomy
    Physics and Astronomy 


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  • PHYS 082. Advanced Laboratory II

    This is the second of a two-semester sequence designed to fulfill the physics major advanced laboratory requirement. Students will perform projects in digital electronics. They will also perform experiments chosen from among the areas of thermal and statistical physics, solid state, atomic, plasma, nuclear, biophysics, condensed matter physics, and advanced optics. When both PHYS 081  and PHYS 082 are taken, students will receive credit for having completed a writing (W) course.
    Writing course.
    0.5 credit.
    Each semester. Staff.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/physics-astronomy
    Physics and Astronomy  


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Political Science
  

  • POLS 001A. Political Theory

    This course is an introduction to political theory by way of an introduction to some of its most important themes, problems, and texts. It seeks to elicit an understanding of theory as a way of thinking about the world; theory as related to political practices and institutions; and theory as a form of politics. We will look at three central issues of politics- 1) Justice; 2) Freedom; 3) Power, Knowledge and Values-over the course of the semester. The course proceeds topically as well as chronologically, and we will return to certain primary classic theory texts more than once. Primary texts will include Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Mill, Marx and Foucault, as well as texts that present a contemporary perspective on each issue.
    Writing course.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Sharpe.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 001B. Political Theory

    This course examines a range of arguments about the principles of justice-including rights, duties, utility, individual dignity, equality, and autonomy- that should govern our everyday behavior and our political experience. Authors include canonical theorists such as Plato, Xenophon, Kant, Bentham, Mill, Marx and Nietzsche, as well as more recent theorists such as Nozick, Rawls, Sandel and Nussbaum. Students will draw upon five modern movies (Scarface, Crimes & Misdemeanors, Minority Report, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Casablanca) as a means of grounding the questions in a contemporary sensibility.
    Writing course.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Halpern.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 002. American Politics

    How do American institutions and political processes work? To what extent do they produce democratic, egalitarian, or rational outcomes? The course examines the exercise and distribution of political power. Topics include presidential leadership and elections; legislative politics; the role of the Supreme Court; federalism; parties, interest groups, and movements; public policy; the politics of class, race, and gender; voting; mass media; and public discontent with government.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Writing course. Fall 2014 and spring 2015 (these sections are not Writing courses). Nackenoff. Javian.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 003. Introduction to Comparative Political Systems

    Why did more than a century of democracy in Chile collapse violently into one of the most durable military regimes of the 20th century? What might a comparative examination of the Egyptian Arab Spring and the Indian decolonization movement teach us about the promises and conceptual limitations of revolutionary action? Is the United States “exceptional” in its politics, or is it a pale rival to the “post-national” project of the EU? This course asks students to push against conventional wisdom, the “obvious” and “permanent” truths of political and social life, to seek falsifiable, testable explanations for the anomalies, gaps, and mysteries in the domestic politics of states and countries. Lectures, essays, and classroom debates will return over and over again to the following questions: What constitutes legitimate authority, and how is it reproduced? We will seek out answers by exploring how states, regimes, and governments in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East conciliate difference and change, violently and non-violently, in relation to their respective societies.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014 and spring 2015. Malekzadeh.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 004. International Politics

    In this course, we will explore the fundamental concepts of the field of international relations. Students will learn the basic facts about international conflict, the international economy, international law, development, and the world environment, among other things. Furthermore, we will study the fundamental theoretical concepts and theories of international relations. Using these theories, students will be able to sort through arguments about various topics in international relations and make judgment calls for yourself. Finally, students will learn how these concepts have evolved over time and how we can use them to hypothesize what lies ahead for international relations.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Spring 2015. Tierney. Kaya.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 010. First-Year Seminar: Reason, Power, and Happiness

    This seminar will look at what classical theorists- particularly Plato, Aristotle, and Hobbes-can teach us about the relationship between reason, power, and happiness. Among the questions we will explore are the following: What, if anything, is the difference between happiness and pleasure? Do we need to be powerful in order to be happy, and, if so, what kind of power do we need? What do we mean by reason? Is it a neutral capacity- silent about ends or values? Is it simply a tool to help us find the best means to our ends, to break down complex problems into understandable parts? Or is reason always the servant of powerful interests (our own or those of others) and thus inevitably a tool of the powerful to manipulate the weak? In this sense, are policy analysts, skilled at using reason to do cost-benefit calculations, simply hired guns, serving the interest of the powerful? Or is reason actually an integral part of the daily moral choices we make, as Aristotle argued when he wrote about practical wisdom (phronesis)?
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 010C. First-Year Seminar: Mass Media, Politics, and Public Policy

    This seminar will explore important conceptual, empirical, normative, and public policy questions surrounding media institutions as they wrestle with new and increasingly controversial challenges created by the Internet’s new technologies such as Web-based communities of like-minded individuals. Moreover, we will critically examine the important and intricate role of public opinion, such that we might gain a finer appreciation of media influences on the workings of contemporary American government. Finally, we conclude with an examination of the economic, demographic, political, and technological forces that are propelling the present transformations surrounding mass media institutions-and ascertain their implications for American electoral politics and governance.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 010F. First-Year Seminar: When Disaster Strikes

    When a natural or man-made disaster strikes, what are the political repercussions? Using a variety of cases from a different historical periods, different regions of the world, different levels of politics (national, regional, and local), this course will examine both the causes and consequences of disaster. How does the trauma of disaster influence political processes, institutions, and leaders? Is the impact fleeting or enduring? A different case will be examined each week. In the final weeks of the semester, the class will choose several cases of interest to them that we will then investigate together.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. White.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science  


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  • POLS 010H. First-Year Seminar: Disaster

    This seminar will use a combination of reading materials and video footage to explore the links between politics and major disasters around the world. Looking at a series of major disasters in different parts of the world, and at different historical moments, we will examine both the origins and outcomes of these events, and the role of political forces, actors, or institutions in the causes or the aftermath of these events. We will also consider the extent to which any political lessons were learned from the events, and whether they were the right lessons. Both natural and man-made disasters will be examined.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 011. Ancient Political Theory: Pagans, Jews, and Christians

    This course covers the two great traditions that feed into the Modern Age. We begin with the Greeks, with tragedy and philosophy. We read Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy, Sohocles, Plato, and Aristotle. We contrast Greek philosophy with the biblical traditions that gave us history and salvation. We read from the Hebrew Bible, Genesis, Exodus, and the great prophets of the exile, the New Testament, and the Gnostic Gospels and culminate in the grand transformation of both traditions into one foundation with Augustine’s City of God.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Halpern.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 012. Introduction to Modern Political Thought

    This course introduces some of the major concepts and themes of modern political thought through a close reading of texts from the 16th to the early 20th century. The starting point of the course is Machiavelli’s novel “science” of statecraft, which identified the state as the focal point of political activity, and announced that a good politician must be prepared to act immorally, or even love his city more than his soul. In other words, we begin with the thought of politics as a distinct sphere of activity, centered around the state, and separable from other spheres such as morality and religion. The problem of the modern state and the relationship of the political to other domains of life will guide our exploration of the fundamental concepts and debates of modern political thought. Other themes we will discuss include secularism and toleration, absolutist and popular sovereignty, constitutionalism and individual rights, theories of war and colonialism, and the relationship between social and political forms of domination. Authors include Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft, Karl Marx, Max Weber and W.E.B. Dubois.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Berger.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 013. Political Psychology and Moral Engagement

    This course combines readings from the fields of political psychology, social psychology and political theory for the purposes of understanding ourselves as citizens and moral agents. Students will canvas theories as well as empirical studies that describe the processes of political and moral decision-making. We will also ask whether the same processes that usually lead to normal political and moral decision-making might occasionally produce disastrous consequences, and we will investigate means of avoiding the worst outcomes.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 015. Ethics and Public Policy

    This course will examine the nature and validity of ethical arguments about moral and political issues in public policy. Specific topics and cases will include ethics and politics, violence and war, public deception, privacy, discrimination and affirmative action, environmental risk, health care, education, abortion, surrogate motherhood, world hunger, and the responsibilities of public officials.
    Eligible for PPOL credit.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 018. Race and American Political Development

    The struggle against slavery, Civil War, emancipation, Reconstruction, resistance to black disenfranchisement and Jim Crow, the Great Migration, the civil rights movements of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the quest for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the election of President Barack Obama - this short list suggests how consequential African- Americans and their white allies-and their opponents-have been in shaping American political thought, associations and groups, national government, Congress, the Constitution and the Supreme Court, federalism, and public policy. Course is historical-and often comparative-in how it traces the continuously racialized nature of American politics.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Valelly.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 019. Democratic Theory and Practice

    What is democracy, and what does it require? Widespread political participation? Social connectedness? Economic equality? Civic virtue? Excellent education? How well does the contemporary U.S. meet those ideal standards? POLS 019 students read classic and recent texts in normative political theory and empirical political science-addressing what democracy should do and how well the U.S. is doing it augmented by a participatory component that requires several hours per week outside of class. Students engage with civic leaders and activists in the strikingly different communities of Swarthmore and Chester, and participate in a variety of community projects. The goal is to understand better the ways in which social, economic, educational and political resources can affect how citizens experience democracy.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Berger.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 020. Public Opinion and American Democracy

    How do individuals form political opinions? How do those opinions affect American democracy? This course examines political attitude formation and the aggregation of these attitudes to form what we call “public opinion.” The course covers individual level attitude formation, sampling and survey methodology, macro-level opinion and topics related to macro-level opinion including democratic values and policy representation. Students will become familiar with democratic theory and the role that the public plays in democratic theory. Readings will cover cutting-edge social science research as well as the classics of public opinion and political behavior. Using social scientific research methods, students will research public opinion on a particular issue over time.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Javian.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 021. American Political Parties and Elections

    Considers how national parties organize presidential and congressional elections. Topics may include parties in democratic theory, presidential candidacies, presidential party-building, presidential campaigns during the general presidential election, presidential mandates, why parties remain persistently competitive, party polarization and income inequality, the development of partisan bases, and issue evolution and coalition maintenance in party politics. Prior course work in American politics not required but is helpful for comprehension.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 022. American Elections: Ritual, Myth, and Substance

    An examination of the role of policy issues, candidates images, campaign advertisements, media, polling, marketing, and political parties in the American electoral process. We will consider the role of race, gender, class, and other variables in voting behavior and look for evidence concerning the increasing polarization of American politics. We will examine the impact of recent laws and practices that seek to encourage or depress voting in the aftermath of the 2008 election, and will explore the impact of felony disenfranchisement. What are some of the most important recent changes affecting American electoral politics? Historical trends will provide the basis for analyzing upcoming elections. Do elections matter, and, if so, how?
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 024. American Constitutional Law

    The Supreme Court in American political life, with emphasis on civil rights, civil liberties, and constitutional development. The class examines the court’s role in political agenda-setting in arenas including economic policy, property rights, separation of powers, federalism, presidential powers and war powers, and interpreting the equal protection and due process clauses as they bear on race and gender equality. Judicial review, judicial activism and restraint, and theories of constitutional interpretation will be explored.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 029. Polling, Public Opinion, and Public Policy

    Public opinion polling has become an essential tool in election campaigning, public policy decision making, and media reporting of poll results. As such, this course focuses on helping students interested in these areas learn the fundamental skills required to design, empirically analyze, use, and critically interpret surveys measuring public opinion. Because the course emphasizes the application of polling data about public policy issues and the political process, we will examine the following topics: abortion, affirmative action, September 11th, the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections and presidential leadership.
    Prerequisite: POLS 002  or permission of the instructor.
    Eligible for PPOL credit.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 037. Introduction to GIS for Social and Environmental Analysis

    This course is designed to introduce the foundations of GIS with emphasis on applications for social and environmental analysis. It deals with basic principles of GIS and its use in spatial analysis and information management. Students learn not only the theory and concepts of GIS but also how to use GIS software, ArcGIS10, with hands-on activities based on real world data sets. Students will learn to work with a variety of spatial databases including data sets pertaining to land use/land cover, parcel records, census demographics, environmental issues, water, transportation, local government, community development, and businesses. Technical topics to be covered include finding and understanding sources of information for spatial databases, integration of data from a variety of sources, database structure and design issues, spatial analysis capabilities, data quality and data documentation. Ultimately, students will design and carry out research projects on topics of their own choosing.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Staff.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 040. The Politics of Voting Rights

    The right to vote and who has it have been politically constructed and contested since the early 19th century. The course considers why and how this politics has taken so many different forms over the course of American political development, with particular attention to the strange career of African-American voting rights and their party systemic and policy impact, female suffrage, the demobilization of the working class early in the 20th century and its remobilization during the New Deal, the late development of protections for Native American, Latino, and Asian-American voters, and current struggles over election administration and voter qualifications.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Valelly.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 042. Congress in the American Political System

    Institutional evolution since the 19th century, the rise of the congressional career, participation in congressional politics by members of Congress themselves, parties in Congress, and House-Senate differences are the primary topics. Other issues may include the committee system, how congressional elections shape the institution, lobbying and interest groups in congressional process and politics, congressional influence on the bureaucracy, presidential influence on the legislative process, congressional interaction with the federal judiciary, the relative difficulty of conceptualizing and measuring representation, and deficit politics. Prior course work in or detailed knowledge of American politics is required.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 043. Environmental Policy and Politics

    Topics in environmental politics, policy, and law. In the United States, we focus on national regulation and proposals for more flexible responses to achieve environmental goals; environmental movements and environmental justice; the role of science in democratic policy-making; courts and the impact of federalism, the commerce clause, and rights on regulation. The course also considers the role and efficacy of supranational institutions and NGOs and controversies between more and less developed nations. Topics include most of the following: air and water pollution, common-pool resource problems, toxic and radioactive waste, sustainable development, food, natural resource management, wilderness, environmental racism, effects of climate change.
    Eligible for ENVS credit.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 043B. Environmental Justice: Theory and Action

    Examines historical, political, and activist roots of the field of environmental justice. Using interdisciplinary approaches from political ecology, environmental science, history, geography, cultural studies, and social movement theory, we analyze diverse environmental justice struggles and community activism in contemporary environmental issues such as: air quality and health, toxic contamination and reproductive issues, sustainable agriculture and food security, fossil energy-coal, oil, hydro-fracking- and livelihoods, climate change and climate justice. Course incorporates a community-based learning component.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Di Chiro.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 046. Lesbians and Gays in American Politics

    Considers the struggle for gay rights historically, treating the political and social construction of homophobic stigma over the course of the 20th century, the early struggle to build a movement, the iconic role of the Stonewall Rebellion, and the expansion of gay rights activism during and after the 1970s. Why and how gay rights became identified with same-sex marriage and equal military service are considered in some detail. We also treat the roles of the Supreme Court the two political parties, the presidency, Congress, public opinion and federalism in shaping the quest for equality.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Valelly.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 047. Democracy, Autocracy, and Regime Change

    Why do some dictatorships fall, while others survive? Why are some democracies successful and vibrant, while other democracies struggle to survive? This class will introduce students to the study of political regimes and the core concepts of democracy, autocracy, and the politics and processes of regime change. We will explore the ideal types of democracy and dictatorship, and learn about the many factors that contribute to regime stability, and why some regimes become so unstable that they can be swept away. Finally, we will examine various types of regime changes, from the early waves of democratization to the recent events of the Arab Spring.
    Eligible for PEAC credit.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 048. The Politics of Population

    The role of population and demographic trends in local, national, and global politics will be examined. Topics include the relationship between population and development, causes of fertility decline, the impact and ethics of global and national family planning programs, and contemporary issues such as population aging and the AIDS pandemic.
    Eligible for ENVS or PPOL credit.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 049. The U.S. Presidency

    The presidency is widely considered an enormously powerful office, but political scientists have instead been struck by how difficult and relatively impotent the office actually is. The course explores this contradiction and clarifies exactly how, why, and when presidents have been influential. Other topics may include whether and how presidents control the presidency and the executive branch, veto bargaining with and influence on Congress, presidential influence on the macroeconomy, presidential influence on the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary, the politics of executive orders, presidential acquisition of the war power, and the development of the national security state and its implications for political democracy.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2013-2014.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 050. The Politics of India and Pakistan

    This course explores the origins, historical trajectories and contemporary political and social dynamics of India and Pakistan. We will discuss Partition in 1947 and the making of the two countries, as well as evolving ideas of citizenship and national belonging in the two countries. We will then investigate the transformations of Indian democracy and the rise and fall of dictatorship in Pakistan. We will examine issues of contemporary relevance in the two countries, such as the role of religion and ethnicity in national politics and public life.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Naseemullah.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 055. China and the World

    Examines the rise of China in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Topics include China’s reform and development strategy, the social and political consequences of reform, the prospects for regime liberalization and democratization, and patterns of governance. The course will also examine patterns of political resistance and China’s changing role in regional and global affairs.
    Eligible for ASIA or PPOL credit.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 056. Patterns of Asian Development

    Patterns of political, social, and economic development in Asia will be traced, with special focus on China, Japan, North and South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and India. Topics include the role of authoritarianism and democracy in the development processes, the legacies of colonialism and revolution and their influences on contemporary politics, sources of state strength or weakness, nationalism and ethnic conflict, gender and politics, and patterns of political resistance.
    Eligible for ASIA or PPOL credit.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 057. Latin American Politics

    A comparative study of the political economy of Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Cuba. Topics include the tensions between representative democracy, popular democracy, and market economies; the conditions for democracy and authoritarianism; the sources and impact of revolution; the political impact of neo-liberal economic policies and the economic impact of state intervention; and the role of the United States in the region.
    Eligible for LASC credit.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Sharpe.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 058. Contemporary Chinese Politics

    Just how strong is China? Is it on the path to great power status? This course considers those questions by examining the rise of China in recent decades, along with the political, economic and social backdrop to this historic development. Topics will include China’s political and economic development, urban and rural unrest, regionalism and nationalism, music and the arts as forms of political expression, environmental politics, law, justice, and human rights, and the role of the military in Chinese politics. Literature, music, online media and video chat with experts will supplement traditional written materials.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 061. American Foreign Policy

    This course analyzes the formation and conduct of foreign policy in the United States. The course combines three elements: a study of the history of American foreign relations since 1865; an analysis of the causes of American foreign policy such as the international system, public opinion, and the media; and a discussion of the major policy issues in contemporary U.S. foreign policy, including terrorism, civil wars, and economic policy.
    Prerequisite: POLS 004  or the equivalent.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 063. Who’s the Boss? Identity, Ideology, and Power

    Why do we obey? How do we learn the rules that govern our daily lives? This course explores efforts by modern states to regulate social and political behavior through the inculcation of national identity and ideology, and the ways in which ordinary citizens interpret, misinterpret, negotiate, ignore, internalize, and resist those efforts. The course focuses on non-coercive, non-violent forms of power, and pays special attention to the ways in which the application of state power facilitates both the domination and emancipation of ordinary members of society.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 064. American-East Asian Relations

    This course examines international relations across the Pacific and regional affairs within East Asia (including China, Japan, North and South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and the United States). Topics include the impact of Sept. 11 and its aftermath on regional and cross-Pacific relationships, the significance of growing Chinese power, tensions on the Korean peninsula and between China and Taiwan, and the impact of globalization on cross-Pacific interactions.
    Eligible for AISA credit.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 065. Chinese Foreign Policy

    How does China view the world, and its place in the world? How do issues of regional and global concern look from the vantage point of Beijing, and how do they shape Chinese views and policies? As China rises in global influence and strength, how will it exercise its newfound power? The course will focus on these questions, as well as a number of contemporary issues in Chinese foreign policy, including U.S.-China relations, the China-Taiwan conflict, China’s foreign economic policy, and its evolving defense posture and capabilities.
    Eligible for ASIA credit.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 067. Great Power Rivalry in the 21st Century

    Since the end of the great rivalry that marked the bipolar Cold War, commentators have debated whether we live in a unipolar or multipolar world. Celebrations, condemnations, as well as obituaries of U.S. hegemony have repeatedly been written. At the same time, nuclear weapons and the economic interdependence have radically reduced the prospects for war between great powers. Does the U.S.A. stand as the sole great power? Is the European Union simply an enormous market with a soft spot for multilateralism, or does the worldviews it puts forward and the international relations it fosters rival the U.S. way? To what extent does the Chinese agenda at multilateral institutions conflict with that of the U.S.A.’s and the E.U.’s? In answering these questions and others, some of the issues that the course addresses are: changing meanings of “great power” and “rivalry”; historical overview of rivalry; trade disputes between the U.S.A., E.U., and China at the World Trade Organization; relations between these three powers at other international institutions, particularly the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund; foreign aid policies of the U.S.A., the E.U., and China; the implications of the rise of Brazil, Russia, and India for world politics.
    Prerequisite: POLS 004 .
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Kaya.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 069. Globalization: Politics, Economics, Culture and the Environment

    This course examines globalization along its diverse but inter-related dimensions, including economic, cultural, and political globalization. Topics include: historical overview of globalization; economic globalization and its governance with a focus on the major international organizations involved in the governance of international trade and financial flows, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund; global inequality and poverty; cultural globalization; political globalization and the state; environmental globalization; regional organizations, particularly the EU; and prospects for global democracy. The course will also examine topical issues, such as the recent financial crisis.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 070. Political Psychology

    Examines the psychological dimensions of politics. Topics include: the role of perception and cognition in different political contexts, from crisis management to routine political decision-making; the dynamic relationship between leaders and their followers, including the impact of charismatic leaders and the psychology of group dynamics; the impact of political beliefs and values on political behavior, and the role of ideology in the mobilization of revolutionary movements; the formation of group identity, and the forces that provoke the breakdown of cooperation and the eruption of violence between groups. Examples used to illustrate these issues will be drawn from a wide range of locations around the world and a variety of historical eras.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 070B. Politics of Punishment

    The question of why the United States has become a vastly more punitive society-some 2.3 million Americans are held in jails and prisons throughout this country, at last count-is the subject of this upper-level division seminar. The aim of the seminar is to provide both a critical and in-depth exploration of the interplay among American electoral politics, public concerns regarding crime, and criminal justice policy. Among the central questions we will examine are: How is it that so many Americans are either locked up behind bars or under the supervision of the criminal justice system? And where did the idea of using “jails” and “prisons” as instruments of social and crime control come from? What explains the racial and class differences in criminal behavior and incarceration rates? What does it mean to be poor, a person of color-and in “jail” or “prison?” How and why does criminal justice policy in this country have its roots in both the media culture and political campaigns? And how might “politics” underpin what is known as “felon disenfranchisement” or “prison-based gerrymandering?” What are the implications of such political practices for broader questions of racial, economic, and social justice? And importantly, what are the prospects for reform of America’s incarceration complex?
    Eligible for BLST or PPOL credit.
    1.5 credit. Enrollment only by permission of the instructor.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 071. Applied Spatial Analysis with GIS: Special Topics

    This applied GIS course covers advanced topics in spatial analysis and project development. The class will complete a service project for a local nonprofit and students will pursue applied individual research on subjects of their choosing. Advanced GIS topics will include geocoding, spatial interpolation, network analysis, and model development and automation.
    Eligible for ENVS credit.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 073. Comparative Politics: Special Topics: Comparative Capitalism

    A large proportion of all political conflict concerns the relationship between states and economies through regulation, management, and provision of social services. This course explores comparative political economy, or the study of different ways these questions have been resolved across the world, with varying degrees of success and stability. It complements courses such as International Political Economy, regional Comparative Politics courses, American Politics, and Public Policy. It covers topics such as the development and crisis of welfare states, the organization of business-government relations, the impact of globalization on domestic politics and economic management, and the multiple successive models of capitalism within advanced industrial societies.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • POLS 075. International Politics: Special Topics: The Causes of War

    The causes of war is arguably one of the most important issues in the field of international politics. In each week of the course, a candidate theory will be examined, and a specific war will be analyzed in depth to test the validity of the theory. Topics will include revolution and war, capitalism and war, misperception and war, and resource scarcity and war. The course will conclude with a discussion of the future of war, particularly the likelihood of conflict among the great powers.
    Prerequisite: POLS 004  or equivalent.
    Eligible for PEAC credit.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Tierney.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 076. Violence and Development in South Asia

    This course explores the themes of nationalist development and political violence in South Asia. In the years after independence, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka embarked on state-driven industrialization, producing high rates of growth as well as political conflicts arising from exclusion and inequality. The 1980s and 1990s saw both market reforms in these countries and increasingly violent conflict against the state, patterns that have continued to this day. This course examines whether there is indeed any theoretical link between development and violence through the study of economic development and insurgent violence in India, Parkistan and Sri Lanka, as well as the secondary cases of Bangladesh and Nepal.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Naseemullah.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 077. Practical Wisdom

    What is practical wisdom (what Aristotle called “phronesis”)? Is it necessary to enable people to flourish in their friendships, loving relations, education, work, community activities, and political life? What is the relevance of this Aristotelian concept for the choices people make in everyday life, and how does it contrast with contemporary Kantian, utilitarian, and emotivist theories of moral judgment and decision making? What does psychology tell us about the experience and character development necessary for practical wisdom and moral reasoning? And how do contemporary economic and political factors influence the development of practical wisdom?
    Prerequisites: Some background in philosophy or political theory.
    Enrollment is limited and by permission of the instructor. Applications available from department office.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Sharpe.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 078. Iran, Islam, and the Last Great Revolution

    Described as the site of the last great revolution of the Modern Era, this course explores Iran’s recent political history as the expression of an “authentic” modernity, conceived by Iranians and articulated in local terms, both Islamic and pre-Islamic. Rather than treat the post-revolutionary politics of the Islamic Republic as a break with modernity or “a force spinning Iran back thirteen centuries in time,” the course examines continuities between the policies of the current regime and more than 200 years of effort in Iran, stretching back to the Qajar and Pahlavi monarchies, to reconcile European (and later, North American) modernity to Iranian culture and history. Special attention is given to ideology and political Islam, nationalism, the educational system, and the concepts of post-Islamism and social non-movements, particularly since the Green Movement and Arab Spring. The course places Iranian encounters with modernity into comparative perspective by looking at similar processes taking place in countries like Egypt and Turkey, and in Latin America.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Malekzadeh.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 079B. Comparative Politics: Special Topic Revolutions

    Inspired by the recent events of the Arab Spring, this course is a theoretical and historical examination of revolutions. We will study the different definition, causes, and effects of revolutions, as well as the distinction between revolutions and other forms of social movements. Students will be challenged to explain how we know when a revolution is complete-what happens after the storming of the palace?-as well as the reasons why certain revolutions fail while others succeed. Although the course considers a broad scope of political uprisings, ranging from the “colored revolutions” of the post-Communist to the Occupy Wall Street movement, special attention will be paid to the French, Russian, Mexican, Chinese, Cuban, and Iranian revolutions.
    Eligible for PEAC credit.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 082. Schooled to Obey, Learning to Protest: The Politics of Schooling in Latin America and the Middle East

    This course looks at the politics of schooling in the late-developing, occasionally post-revolutionary countries of Latin American and the Middle East, supplemented by casework on China and Russia. The focus will be on the emancipatory and disciplinary effects of schooling, produced by modernizing states as they pursue developmental dreams and nationalist imaginings. Schooled to obey and to produce, many students and their parents learned how to challenge the demands and expectations of the educative state in order to appropriate the public good of schooling for private use.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Malekzadeh.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 087. Water Policies, Water Issues: China and the U.S.

    Access to fresh water is an acute issue for the 21st century, and yet civilizations have designed a wide range of inventive projects for accessing and controlling water supplies over the centuries. Fresh water resource allocation generates issues between upstream and downstream users, between a country and its neighbors, between urban and rural residents, and between states and regions. This course examines a range of fresh water issues, comparing China and the U.S. Topics include dams and large-scale water projects (e.g., rerouting rivers); water pollution; groundwater depletion; industrial water use (e.g., for hydrofracking); impact of agricultural practices; urban storm water management; wetlands conservation; desertification; desalination. In the U.S. context especially, issues of water rights regimes and property rights, privatization, and commodification of water will receive attention. Which claims upon fresh water resources come first? What role do governments, transnational organizations, corporations, NGOs, and grassroots citizens’ movements play in these water decisions? Guest lectures will emphasize science and engineering perspectives on water management. Chinese language ability desirable but not required.
    Eligible for ASIA credit.
    (Cross-listed as CHIN 087)
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 087A. Policies and Issues of Fresh Water Resources in China

    This is an attachment to POLS 087 . Students who complete the course have the option of adding a 0.5 credit field work component. Field work will be conducted in China under the supervision of Professors Nackenoff and Zuo, and will include specific Chinese language training in the vocabulary used in the field of environmental studies.
    Eligible for ASIA credit.
    (Cross-listed as CHIN 087A)
    0.5 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 088. Governance and Environmental Issues in China

    This course examines China’s environmental challenges and the range of governmental policies and institutions that have an impact on those challenges. Topics include air pollution, food supply, energy consumption, urbanization, and environmental activism. Students will be guided through an examination of China’s historical approach to environmental issues, its contemporary pattern of environmental governance, and its engagement with global institutions and environmental diplomacy. Special attention will be given to the transformation of Beijing and other major cities, to China’s policy-making process, and the role of environmental NGOS and global institutions in shaping domestic policy outcomes. Literary works (Chinese novels and short stories) and feature films/documentary films reflecting environmental issues will be combined with readings from social science and environmental science to provide an interdisciplinary perspective. All required readings/screenings are in English or English translation/subtitled. Chinese language ability is preferred, but not required.
    (Cross-listed as CHIN 088)
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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Political Science - Seminars
  

  • POLS 100. Ancient Political Theory: Plato to Hobbes

    This course will consider the development of political thought in the ancient and medieval periods and the emergence of a distinctively modern political outlook. Special attention will be paid to the differences between the way the ancients and the moderns thought about ethics, reason, wisdom, politics, democracy, law, power, justice, the individual, and the community. Key philosophers include Plato, Aristotle, and Hobbes.
    2 credits.
    Fall 2014. Sharpe.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 101. Modern Political Theory

    In this seminar, we will study the construction of the modern liberal state and capitalism through the works of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, and then, in more detail, we will examine the greatest critics of the modern age-Marx, Nietzsche, Jung, and Foucault. Marx demands that we take history and class conflict seriously in political theory. Nietzsche connects the evolution of human instinct to the politics of good and evil for the sake of political transformation. Jung establishes psychology and mythology as foundations for politics, and Foucault uses all three of these critics to question the modern subject and the disciplines of power and knowledge that construct selves and politics in a postmodern age.
    2 credits.
    Spring 2015. Berger.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 102. Comparative Politics: China

    Examines contemporary Chinese politics against the backdrop of its revolutionary past. Topics include pathways of political and economic development, the legacy of the Maoist era, the origins and evolution of the modernization and reform program implemented over the last several decades, and the dynamics of political, economic and social change. Also examine issues of political unrest and instability, demographic change and migration, religion and nationalism, institutions and governance, law and human rights, and civil-military relations.
    2 credits.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 103. Power, Identity and Culture

    Power, external and objective, is also internal and subjective, invisibly working to shape understandings of who we are even as it performs the visible rituals of regulation typically associated with states and governments. This course takes as its central thesis that immaterial and invisible forms of power are power’s most effective form as well as the most difficult for political science to measure and understand. Alternating between case and theory, and looking at power both naked and sublime, we will examine the struggle by the state and other elite actors to shape subjectivities through culture and identity formation in order to secure quiescence and rule. Close attention will be paid to how socializing agents, including schools and the educational system, media and film, and families and local communities, shape and reshape formal efforts to have ordinary citizens internalize what Stuart Hall describes as “the horizon of the taken-for-granted,” those ruling ideas and beliefs that consist “of things that go without saying because, being axiomatic, they come without saying; things that, being presumptively shared, are not normally the subject of explication or argument.” This course seeks to understand how such efforts succeed, falter, and change as they face the negotiations of the ordinary and the less powerful. Authors include Antonio Gramsci, Steven Lukes, James C. Scott, Clifford Geertz, Michel Foucault, Joel Migdal, Stuart Hall, and Robert Dahl.
    2 credits.
    Spring 2015. Malekzadeh.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 104. American Political System

    An intensive survey of the best political science literature on national institutions, democratic processes, citizens’ attitudes and their attention to and knowledge of politics, the behavior of voters and politicians, federalism, income inequality’s political origins, and the questions that political scientists have asked and currently ask about these topics. Previous background in American politics and history is essential. The seminar mixes the latest research with enduring contributions in order to capture the vitality and excitement of studying American politics and its constituent elements.
    Prerequisite: POLS 002  or an intermediate American politics course.
    2 credits.
    Spring 2015. Valelly.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 105. Constitutional Law in the American Polity

    This seminar examines the Supreme Court in American political life, with emphasis on civil rights, civil liberties, and constitutional development. The seminar explores the court’s role in political agenda setting in arenas including economic policy, property rights, separation of powers, federalism, presidential powers and war powers, and interpreting the equal protection and due-process clauses as they bear on race and gender equality. Judicial review, judicial activism and restraint, and theories of constitutional interpretation will be included.
    2 credits.
    Spring 2015. Nackenoff.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 106. The Urban Underclass and Public Policy

    This seminar is a critical examination of some of the most pressing (and contentious) issues surrounding the nation’s inner cities today and the urban underclass: the nature, origins, and persistence of ghetto poverty; racial residential segregation and affordable public housing; social organization, civic life, and political participation; crime and incarceration rates; family structure; adolescent street culture and its impact on urban schooling and social mobility; and labor force participation and dislocation. We conclude by examining how these issues impact distressed urban communities, such as the neighboring city of Chester.
    Eligible for BLST or PPOL credit.
    2 credits.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 108. Comparative Politics: East Asia

    This course examines the politics of China, Japan, the two Koreas, Vietnam and Taiwan. It compares pathways to development, the role of authoritarianism and democracy in the development process, the conditions that promote or impede transitions to democracy, and the impact of regional and global forces on domestic politics and regime legitimacy. It also explores the ideas and cultural patterns that influence society and politics, and the role of social change and protest in regime transformation.
    Eligible for ASIA or PPOL credit.
    2 credits.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 109. Comparative Politics: Latin America

    A comparative study of the political economy of Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, El Salvador, and Cuba. Topics include the tensions between representative democracy, popular democracy, and market economies; the conditions for democracy and authoritarianism; the sources and impact of revolution; the political impact of neo-liberal economic policies and the economic impact of state intervention; and the role of the United States in the region.
    Eligible for LASC credit.
    2 credits.
    Spring 2015. Sharpe.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 112. Democratic Theory and Civic Engagement in America

    This course begins with the questions: What is democracy, and what does it require? Widespread political participation? Economic equality? Good education? Civic virtue? If any of these conditions or characteristics are necessary, how might they be promoted? In addition to theoretical questions, we will investigate one of the hottest debates in contemporary political science: whether political participation, social connectedness, and general cooperation have declined in the United States over the past half-century. If so, why? What might be done? We will consider the potential civic impact of economic and social marginalization in inner-city areas, the role of education in promoting civic engagement, the problem of civic and political disengagement among America’s youth, and the potential for the Internet and other communications technology to resuscitate democratic engagement among the citizenry. We will close by considering some lessons from successful community activists, politicians, and political mobilizers.
    2 credits.
    Fall 2014. Berger.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 113. International Politics: War, Peace, and Security

    This seminar will investigate in depth the issues of conflict, security, and the use of force in contemporary international politics. The course will begin by considering the changing meaning of “security” and by analyzing the major theoretical approaches including realism, liberalism, and constructivism. The course will then tackle some of the great puzzles of international security including the clash of civilizations hypothesis, the role of nuclear weapons, civil wars and intervention, terrorism, and human rights.
    2 credits.
    Fall 2014. Tierney.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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  • POLS 116. International Political Economy

    The course studies the main historical and contemporary approaches in international political economy, and focuses on the primary contemporary issues in political-economic relations among states as well as between states and non-state actors. Topics include: domestic-international level interaction in the politics of international economic relations, economic globalization, the international financial and monetary systems, the international trading system, development and aid, economic crises, multinational corporations, interlinkages between economic and security relations, multilateral platforms to address international political economic issues, including relatively new forums such as the G20.
    Prerequisites: POLS 004  and ECON 001  (Introduction to Economics).
    2 credits.
    Fall 2014. Kaya.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science
    Political Science 


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Psychology
  

  • PSYC 001. Introduction to Psychology

    An introduction to the basic processes underlying human and animal behavior-studied in experimental, social, and clinical contexts. Analysis centers on the extent to which normal and abnormal behaviors are determined by learning, motivation, neural, cognitive, and social processes.

    In addition to the course lectures, students are required to participate in a mini-seminar for several weeks during the semester. Each meeting is 1 hour and 15 minutes, typically during the Monday or Wednesday (1:15-4 p.m.), or Friday (2:15-5 p.m.) class periods. Students will be assigned to a group after classes begin but should keep at least one period open.
    Social sciences.
    Students also act as participants in Psychology Department student and faculty research projects. PSYC 001 is a prerequisite for further work in the department.
    1 credit.
    Each semester. Staff.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/psychology
    Psychology 


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  • PSYC 006. First-Year Seminar: Happiness

    What is happiness? How important is it to people? How important should it be to people? Do people know what makes them happy? If they do know, are they able to make decisions that promote happiness? This course asks all of these questions and tries to answer at least some of them by examining current psychological research. This course serves as an alternate prerequisite for further work in the department.
    Social sciences.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Schwartz.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/psychology
    Psychology 


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  • PSYC 007. First-Year Seminar: Early Social Cognition

    Humans are helplessly social: we spend much of our lives interacting with others, continuously encoding and processing information about our social world. What are the origins and developmental trajectory of our social cognition? Are we prejudiced from the start? How do we learn us vs. them distinction? When and how do young children come to appreciate the content of others’ minds? This course explores the underlying cognitive processes that shape infants’ and children’s understanding of the social world.
    No prerequisite.
    Social sciences.
    PSYC 007 serves as an alternate prerequisite for further work in the department.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Christie.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/psychology
    Psychology 


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  • PSYC 025. Research Design and Analysis

    How can one answer psychological questions? What counts as evidence for a theory? This course addresses questions about the formulation and evaluation of theories in psychology. The scientific model of psychological hypothesis testing is emphasized, including the critical evaluation of various research designs and methodology, understanding basic data analysis and statistical issues, and the application of those critical thinking skills to social science findings reported in the media.

    Students also learn to design and conduct psychology studies, analyze data generated from those studies, and write up their findings in the format of a psychology journal article.
    Prerequisite: PSYC 001  and STAT 011  or equivalent.
    Social sciences.
    Writing course.
    This course is required for the major prior to the student’s senior year. STAT 011. Statistical Methods  must be taken prior to or concurrently with the course.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Spring 2015. Baird, Ward. Baird, Norris.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/psychology
    Psychology 


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  • PSYC 029. Practical Wisdom

    What is practical wisdom (what Aristotle called “phronesis”)? Is it necessary to enable people to flourish in their friendships, loving relations, education, work, community activities, and political life? What is the relevance of this Aristotelian concept for the choices people make in everyday life, and how does it contrast with contemporary Kantian, utilitarian, and emotivist theories of moral judgment and decision making? What does psychology tell us about the experience and character development necessary for practical wisdom and moral reasoning? And how do contemporary economic and political factors influence the development of practical wisdom?
    Prerequisites: Some background in psychology, philosophy or political theory.
    (Cross-listed as POLS 077 )
    Enrollment is limited and by permission of the instructors. Applications available from either psychology or political science department office.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Schwartz and Sharpe.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/psychology
    Psychology 


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