POL 290 - Seminar in Politics, Literature and the Arts

FDR: SS2
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: Set by instructor, varies with topic. In this course, we study how literature, film, and other media are used to examine political themes and how they are used to achieve political ends. We address how politics shapes the arts and how the arts shape politics. The topic is announced at registration. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Only one such seminar may be counted towards the politics major.

Winter 2014 Topic:

POL 290: Seminar in Politics, Literature and the Arts: Utopian Political Thought: The Pursuit of Perfection (3). Political societies are formed to organize and improve human life. The proper scope and substance of those improvements remain hotly debated. What is the source of human happiness? Is it liberty? Security? Wealth? Pleasure? Can political society be perfected? If so, what sacrifices would that perfection entail? This course focuses on utopian thought (and its dystopian consequences) in works of political philosophy and political literature ranging from ancient Athens to the 21st century. Though a variety of dialogues, treatises, novels, and films, we examine common features of utopian thinking and how utopian thinking affects the politics of our time. (SS2)