| Course Title: Advanced Topics in Politics: 'Nationalism and Democratic Erosion' |
| Start Date: 09/04/2024 End Date: 12/17/2024 |
| Term: Fall Semester 2024 |
| Description: The academic study of nationalism owes much to Benedict Anderson's conception of Imagined Communities. However, scholars should always remember that those social constructs impact the lived experiences of the people within them, especially when multiple conceptions of nationhood compete. This course examines what happens when competing visions of the American nation clash and traditionally dominant perspectives work to exclude traditionally marginalized communities from the political arena. When this happens, democratic norms and principles find themselves in the crosshairs. In this course, we will investigate the origins and spread of nationalism; the theory and practice of national mythologies; the theory and practice of democracy; and how these concepts operate in the United States. Critically, we will investigate how traditionally hegemonic communities leverage their conceptions of nationalism to erode democracy for individuals who do not fit into their idealized, exclusionary American nation. |
| Distribution(s): III - Social Sciences , SI - Speaking-Intensive , WI - Writing-Intensive , TP - Topics Course |
| Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate | Credits:4.00 |
| Faculty | Phone | Email address |
| Ana Abraham | anastasjaabr@mtholyoke.edu |
| Meeting Dates | Method | Meeting days | Meeting times | Building name | Room | Frequency |
| 09/04/2024 - 12/17/2024 | Seminar | Wednesday | 01:30PM - 04:20PM | SKNR - Skinner Hall | 102 | Weekly |
| Requisite Courses | ||
| Prereq: 8 credits in the department. | Take previously | Required |
| Comments |
| Additional Comments |
| Course Tags | ||
| POLIT-AMER | POLIT-AMER: Politics - American subfield | This course has been approved to count towards the American Politics subfield of the Politics major (100-200-level courses only) and minor (all courses). |
| Cross-listed Sections |
| None |
| Course Availability | ||||
| Section status: Open | Capacity: 18 | Enrollment: 7 | Available: 11 | Waitlist: 0 |
BOOK INFORMATION
| Book List | Required | Publisher Full Price |
| Title: The Invention of Tradition Author: Hobsbawm, Eric, and Terence Ranger Copyright: 1983 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 9781107604674 Publisher: Cambridge University Press |
Required | 21.99 |
| Title: Myth America Author: Kruse, Kevin M and Julian E. Zelizer Copyright: 2022 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 9781541604667 Publisher: Basic Books |
Required | 21.99 |
| Title: The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to Ameri Author: Gorski, Philip S and Samuel L. Perry Copyright: 2022 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 9780197618684 Publisher: Oxford University Press |
Required | 24.99 |
| Title: The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of E Author: Alberta, Tim Copyright: 2023 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 9780063226883 Publisher: HarperCollins |
Required | 28.00 |
| Additional Book Comments |
| This is the complete book list for this class. |