The Specialization in Political Theory is open to students in the Political Studies program.
Students who have fulfilled the requirements for either the single-major Honours, joint-major Honours, single-major General, or joint-major General degree in Political Studies may graduate with a Specialization in Political Theory if they have successfully completed the following 4.0 credits:
2.0 POST credits consisting of:
POST 1001H- Politics and Power in the Global Age
An introduction to the basic ideas in politics focusing on power and why consent to be governed is forthcoming in historical and contemporary contexts. Topics may include consumerism, inequality, the environment, and gender. Topics are discussed within the context of consent in an era of intensifying twenty-first-century globalization.
POST 1002H- Issues in Contemporary Politics: Thinking About Participation, Power, and Justice
Explores pressing issues and challenges students to think about how to address them. Using the Canadian experience as a point of departure, examines questions such as how to improve participation, how have social media affected politics, should taxes be lower/higher, and can oil sands development be balanced with environmental protection.
POST 2351H- Ancient and Modern Political Theory
This course surveys the history of political thought from ancient Greece to the end of the nineteenth century. Students will be introduced to how political theorists defined key concepts, such as natural right, sovereignty, contract, political rights, freedom, domination, and equality. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of instructor.
POST 2352H- Contemporary Political Theory
This course is a selective survey that introduces students to central texts, questions, debates, and concepts in contemporary political theory. It examines how thinkers from diverse vintage points have developed different theoretical frameworks to grapple with and make sense of the political reality and pressing political questions they face. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of instructor.
2.0 credits from:
POST 2150H- Philosophy of Law
A study of philosophical theories concerning the nature of law, legal systems, and legal reasoning. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of department chair.
POST 3140H- Justice and Rights
A study of the nature and value of rights in relation to competing theories of justice. Attention is given to the nature of power and oppression in relation to social change; topics may include class, ability, age, gender, and race. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair.
POST 3180H- Social and Political Philosophy
An examination of philosophical theories related to political institutions and practices. Topics may include the foundations of the state, justified use of force, and limits to freedom. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair.
POST 3465H- Realities and Futurities in Film
What makes a film "political" and how can we understand the realities and futurities presented in film? We consider the various ways in which political life and action are portrayed in and through film, addressing--in relation to a variety of film genres--such topics as publics/counterpublics, visual politics, political senses. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits including 1.0 POST, CUST, and/or SOCI credit, or permission of instructor.
POST 3475H- Media of Politics
Examines the decline of the traditional model of journalism and the explosive growth of internet and social media as citizens' main source of news. The ethical, political, and social implications of the nexus between the media and political accountability in a democratic society will be the focus of the course. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits including 1.0 POST and/or CUST credit at the 2000 level, or permission of instructor.
POST 3571H- Arts and Culture Enacting Social and Political Change
Political questions are always posed in a cultural context, but culture itself is a socio-political question and enactment. This course examines the importance of culture through the arts for political change. Vibrant examples of intersectional (race, queer, trans, etc.) Black, Indigenous, Persons of Colour (BIPOC) and Disability arts are considered. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits including 1.0 POST and/or CUST credit, or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for POST-CUST 3570Y.
POST 4331H- Power, Resistance, and Hope
Drawing on political theory, the course explores the relationship between power, forms of resistance, and the hope for and potential practices of alternative forms of politics. In doing so, it focuses on concepts such as oppression and domination, subjectivity, democracy, utopia, and prefigurative politics. Prerequisite: 12.0 university credits including 1.0 credit from POST-PHIL 2351H and 2352H or POST 3335H; or permission of instructor.
Reading courses:
POST 3900Y, 3901H, 3902H, 3903H, 4900Y, 4901H, 4902H, 4903H
Research practicum courses:
POST 4800Y, 4801H, 4802H
Thesis:
POST 4020D (primarily focused on Political Theory)