HS/PO 352G - German Political Thought: An Introduction

This course is an introduction to German Political Thought from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century. A chronological survey of important thinkers and fundamental texts, it revolves around a theoretical reflection on a variety of core topics such as war and peace, bureaucracy and political leadership, extremism and totalitarianism, feminism and postcolonialism. Texts will include not only political treatises and sociological essays, but also literary texts with political relevance. The instructor will provide students with plenty of support for handling these texts. Placing thinkers and texts within their historical, social, and political contexts, the course invites students to grapple with social and political phenomena both past and present, and to adopt a comparative approach.