Course | Description |
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PS 101 Introduction to Political Science | This course introduces students to the central concepts of Political Science, such as power, domination, liberty, and legitimate and illegitimate authority. In addition, students will be introduced to the basic methods employed by political scientists. The relevance of the course material to American politics, both past and present, will be highlighted. This course fulfills the Social Science General Education requirement. |
PS 102 American Government | The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the structure and function of the American political system. Typical issues to be addressed include the presidency, the Congress, the Constitution, federalism, interest groups, the judicial system, and domestic and foreign policy. |
PS 200 The Politics of Climate Change | The history of climate change in relation to decision making refers to the continuing history of political actions, policies, trends controversies and activists’ efforts as they pertain to the issue of global warming and other environmental anomalies. The overall purpose of this course for students is for them to understand how the history and politics of climate change impact the world they live in. |
PS 205 Confronting the Holocaust | This interdisciplinary course will endeavor to achieve an integrated conception of the Holocaust by studying various aspects of it. The general purpose of this course will be to sensitize students to the events and influences of the Holocaust by: examining historical aspects through the use of primary and secondary sources; considering the role of bystanders, Jewish and non-Jewish, organizations and individuals, political and religious leaders; and studying the reactions of victims, survivors, and oppressors as reflected in literature. |
PS 212 Civil Liberties | We take our rights for granted, e.g., free speech, assembly, and religion. It is important to know how these rights are defined, how they are acquired, and how they can be lost. In this course, students will be introduced to civil liberties as they exist in the United States and around the globe. In order to understand civil liberties in the United States, attention will be paid to Supreme Court rulings on civil liberties, which includes a discussion of the facts, legal issues, and constitutional questions. Using a comparative approach, rights in other countries will also be explored, including abuses of civil liberties. |
PS 220 Police States | The study of how governments function over time includes how the structure of government has been transformed. A study of the formation of police states means an examination of how governments are changed from democratic to authoritarian in response to events. Police states exist in many parts of the globe in which governments use political repression to dominate society. They are police states because of either the suspension of the rule of law or the use of law to monitor and eliminate diverse viewpoints and organizations. This course will use case studies to explore how and why governments are made into police states, how police states limit freedom as well as the ultimate goals of police states. |
PS 224 State and Local Government | This course will examine state and local governments. These governments are very important and are the main building blocks and chief organizing governments for the whole-government system. To this end, students will be introduced to the relationships between federal, state, and local units of government. The course also will focus on state and local politics in New York State. Students will learn about the relevance of government of their own state. In particular, topics that pertain specifically to Western New York will be discussed, such as the urban-suburban problem, Love Canal, mass transit and poverty. |
PS 252 Human Rights and Global Politics | What are human rights around the globe? A survey of nations indicates that there are vast differences in the rights accorded to citizens. This course explores how countries treat their citizens. We will examine rights and the abuse of rights, including the following subjects: due process rights, political prisoners, torture and ill treatment, prison conditions, the death penalty, political killings and war crimes. This course fulfills the American History/Western Civilization General Education requirement. |
PS 280 Political Movements | Political movements have, throughout the course of U.S. history, shaped and often defined the policies of the government. By studying political movements we in essence understand who gets what when and how. Also by studying political movements we know the degree of support and or opposition to government policies. Political movements are important in that they inform us as to how ideas and organizations that support certain ideas are what we know as the LEFT and the RIGHT of the political spectrum. |
PS 300 The Politics of Technology | Mobile devices, including cell phones, Iphones and tablets, Google Glass, WiFi, smart classrooms, self-driving cars: these are all examples of technologies currently in use. This course would function to introduce political science majors and non-majors to the primary role that technology has assumed in shaping human interactions. Given technology’s prevalence and student association with it, this course should enlighten students to the uses of technology beyond mere description. Through the assigned readings, lectures, discussions and in-class presentations, students will begin to understand the following: technology’s historical roots; the necessity of technology and how technology has changed and developed over time. In addition, students will, by the end of the semester, be able to assess technology in political terms, balancing its positive and negative effects. |
PS 333 Terrorism | The Oklahoma City bombing and the World Trade Center bombing are two recent examples of terrorism. The word evokes fear for good reason, because it involves extremely violent, visible actions by individuals, groups, or governmental authorities. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to a systematic study of terrorism and its domestic and global impacts. Class discussions will define terrorism in relation to its historical roots. Distinctions will be made between left-wing and right-wing terrorism, and a sociology of terrorism organizations of both types will be presented. In addition, the broad range of efforts that have been used to combat terrorism will also be addressed. The overall intention is for students to acquire an understanding of the role of violence for political and non-political ends. |
PS 335 Genocide | Murder, Mass murder. One recent citation includes this horrible statistic, that almost 170 million unarmed, helpless men, women and children have been shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, crushed, worked to death, buried alive or drowned by governments. Mass murder is global, taking over in many countries in different years: in Turkey, from 1909-1918, over one million Armenians were killed; in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 two million Cambodians were killed; from 1933 to 1945, the German government exterminated a total of more than 20 million people. Genocide is an old practice with a new name. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to a systematic study of genocide, from ancient to contemporary case studies. Emphasis will be placed on how and why genocides occur. Class discussion will also focus on the roles of perpetrators, bystanders and victims. The overall intention is for students to acquire an understanding of the role genocide has played in the pursuit of political ends. This course fulfills the American History/Western Civilization General Education requirement. |
PS 337 Gender Politics | The personal is political. Gender politics are about the structure of sex roles. It is also about the struggle between the sexes in which the central issues are freedom and domination. This course will begin by introducing students to the women’s movement, past, present, and future, with an eye towards identifying how the debate still profoundly influences the lives of individuals, often in unseen ways. Then, the movement will be highlighted in terms of its unity of thought and action. To understand the thought that continues to shape this movement, students will analyze and evaluate the arguments of the major thinkers, such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Simone de Beauvoir. |
PS 367 Political Trials | O.J. Simpson, the Chicago 7, and the case of Oliver North all share in common that they are political trials. Courtrooms are battlegrounds for the merger of law and politics. High-profile court cases serve as arenas to express and settle issues of racism, cold war politics, labor unrest and civil liberties contests. Political trials are the means by which governments confront political crimes. They have a long history, which serves to illustrate as the cases are discussed, why they exist and what are the lessons to be learned from a discussion of these trials. This course fulfills the American History/Western Civilization General Education requirement. |
PS 401 Internship | The purpose of the Law & Government internship is to provide a workplace experience that will further develop skills that have been learned in the classroom. Students will also learn new skills relevant to their career paths, begin to establish a network, and develop a sense of the professional norms of behavior that govern the workplace. Internship work, however, cannot coincide with a student's current employment. Students will be required to attend regular seminars and independent study meetings (in person or by phone) wherein they will discuss and analyze what they have learned and challenges they have encountered. |