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CANADIAN POLITICS

POLS 810/910 Canadian Politics (Field Course)

A critical analysis of the literature on Canadian politics. Topics covered include parliamentary institutions, federalism, the courts, multiculturalism and citizenship, Aboriginal politics, women and politics, political economy, interest groups and social movements, the mass media, political parties, public opinion, and voting. Fall.

POLS 821 Elections

An examination of the importance of elections to the maintenance of democratic systems. Six themes are discussed: the history and theory of democratic participation; the legal framework; campaign organization; why people vote the way they do; the manifestation of social cleavages during campaigns; and the future of electoral participation. Canadian examples are placed in a comparative context. Winter.

COMPARATIVE POLITICS

POLS 830/930 Comparative Politics I (Field Course)

A systematic examination of political systems to account for significant similarities and variations among them. At the core of the field are two issues: what are the major contending approaches to determining what is significant, and what is the nature of the comparative method? This course aims to develop criteria for choosing between approaches and research strategies for empirical work. Fall.

POLS 832 Theories and Politics of Nationalism

(Nationalism, Ethnicity, Peace, and Conflict-NEPC) This course examines major theoretical debates in the scholarship of nationalism and evaluates influential contributions to the understanding of nationalism in sub state and global politics. Readings combine broader theoretical approaches and empirical studies. Winter.

POLS 834 Politics of Law and Courts

(Political and Legal Thought-PLT; Nationalism, Ethnicity, Peace, and Conflict-NEPC) This course explores theoretical and empirical questions at the intersection of politics and law. The course examines the function of constitutions, how judges on constitutional courts make decisions, and the function of judicial decision making situated more broadly in a democratic society. When do courts matter and for whom? Fall.

POLS 835 Comparative Indigenous Politics

(Nationalism, Ethnicity, Peace, and Conflict-NEPC) This course is a graduate level survey of major themes in Indigenous politics through a comparative analysis of selected cases. The goals are to provide a foundation of major themes and methodologies within the field that will allow students to engage in emerging literature and diversify their methodological portfolio. Fall.

POLITICAL THEORY

POLS 851 Global Justice

(Political and Legal Thought-PLT; Nationalism, Ethnicity, Peace, and Conflict-NEPC) An exploration of issues of justice in international politics from a normative and philosophical perspective. The course will explore the nature of our duties to people in other countries, the basis of the nation state and the limits of its territorial claims, and the justification of global institutions. The course will cover topics such as just war theory, humanitarian intervention. secession, migration, human rights, and global distributive justice. Fall.

POLS 853 Topics in Political Theory

Topic: Intergenerational Justice | (Political and Legal Thought-PLT)  This course is about how we integrate reparations for historic injustice in our broader theory of social or distributive justice. The issue of reparations is brought to the fore by Charles Mills's criticisms of John Rawls's liberal-egalitarianism for ignoring questions about racism, slavery, and colonialism. Rawls's principles may correctly diagnose many historic injustices, as Tommie Shelby argues, and justify a variety of policies useful for reducing racial inequality. Yet the purpose of these principles was to set out the standards a fully just society would have to satisfy, not directly to answer questions about what is permissible or required in face of injustice. In particular, Rawls's principles do not say when and to what extent compensation is owed for past injustice. In contrast, rectification of past injustice was an explicit component of Robert Nozick's libertarian "historical-entitlement" theory. Nozick admitted that a history of serious injustice could require egalitarian redistribution. Yet he was vague on the content of his rectificatory principle, and how it would support such a policy, and other libertarians have been more sceptical. Critics of libertarianism claim that rampant historical injustice undermines the whole project of basing property rights on transactional pedigree, since virtually all properties have a tainted history. Historic injustice thus raises serious problems for both egalitarian and libertarian approaches to social justice, even without raising the issue of how to think about justice in an intercultural, multi-nation context. The first part of the course focuses on egalitarianism and libertarianism. The second part examines classic arguments for reparations (based on harm and inheritance) and against (based on supersession, and redundancy with present-oriented egalitarianism). The last two weeks deal with climate change and reparations. The course takes as its main case the question of reparations for slavery, but the discussion of supersession centres on indigenous claims, and students are free to focus as their interests dictate. Fall.

POLS 857 Science and Justice

(Political and Legal Thought-PLT) The word "science" comes from the Latin scientia which means "having knowledge". What is the relation between science and normative political ideals like democracy, justice, and equality? The topics covered in any given year will vary, but may include the ethical, legal, and social consequences of advances in the biomedical or environmental sciences. Winter.

POLS 858 Colloquium in Legal and Political Thought

(Political and Legal Thought-PLT) This Colloquium course explores new work in legal and political philosophy. Once every two weeks, a legal, moral, or political philosopher will present a paper falling within the general boundaries of the Colloquium’s ambit. In alternate weeks, students will meet with the Colloquium convenors to prepare for the forthcoming session, examining the paper in depth. Fall.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

POLS 860/960 International Relations (Field Course)

This course is a comprehensive examination of the evolution and current state of the field of International Relations (IR). It covers international theory, the structure of the international system, key concepts, readings from the canon, and themes in the study of IR such as war, security, foreign policy, the state, gender, global systems, and concepts of power. This course also locates IR in relation to Global Political Economy (GPE) and other related fields of study. Fall.

POLS 862 Topics in American Foreign Policy

The course examines major trends in American foreign policy covering domestic as well as external variables in pre and post war administrations. Emphasis is placed on the USA's global role, the part it plays in international organizations and alliance systems, and the conflicts and controversies that characterize them. Fall.

POLS 863 Race and International Politics

(Nationalism, Ethnicity, Peace, and Conflict-NEPC) This course is about the role of race and racism in international politics. The goal of the course is to provide a foundation into critical race approaches to understand IR’s disciplinary origins, its theories, and how they help shape the world order. The course integrates various concepts, theories, and issues from different subfields to bring back the concept of “the color line” into our conversations about global politics. Winter.

POLS 867 Approaches to Global Governance

An exploration of the theory and practice of global governance which traces the emergence of the concept in modern international relations; the academic and public policy debates to which it has given rise; and its application in the design and work of selected international institutions. Winter.

GENDER AND POLITICS

POLS 880/980 Gender and Politics (Field Course)

This course addresses the diverse and developing field of Gender and Politics in the discipline of Political Science. The focus will vary depending on the instructor, addressing topics such as: representation; feminist methodology; identity; gender and work; gender and citizenship; the politics of the family; queer theory; intersectionality of race, gender and class; and gender and globalization. Winter.

OTHER COURSES

POLS 898 Master's Research Project

POLS 999 Ph.D. Thesis Research

POLS 801 Quantitative Data Analysis

Introduction to quantitative data analysis, including types of data commonly used in political studies, appropriate methods for analyzing each type, and best practices in data management. Students will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to be informed, critical consumers of quantitative research, laying the foundation for further study. Winter.

POLS 900 Methods of Political Studies

This course covers approaches to the discipline, the philosophy of social science, and issues and problems in research design. This course is compulsory for doctoral students who have not already completed a similar graduate course. Doctoral students who have completed a similar course will take another course as their sixth. Students in the Political Studies MA program are eligible to take this course with permission from the Graduate Coordinator. Fall.

DIRECTED READING COURSES

POLS 901 Readings in Political Studies I

Reading course in political science.

POLS 902 Readings in Political Studies II

Reading course in political science.

POLS 911 Readings in Canadian Politics

POLS 931 Readings in Comparative Politics

POLS 941 Readings in Comparative Politics of Development

POLS 951 Readings in Political Theory

POLS 961 Readings in International Relations

POLS 981 Readings in Gender and Politics

POLITICAL AND LEGAL THOUGHT-PLT OFFERINGS

*Seats may be limited. Subject to instructor approval. Course requests must be submitted to gradpols@queensu.ca.

LAW 916/240 Colloquium in Legal and Political Thought

This Colloquium course explores new work in legal and political philosophy. Once every two weeks, a legal, moral, or political philosopher will present a paper falling within the general boundaries of the Colloquium’s ambit. In alternate weeks, students will meet with the Colloquium convenors to prepare for the forthcoming session, examining the paper in depth. Fall.

LAW 809/410 International Criminal Law

This course explores the rapidly developing discipline of international criminal law (ICL), i.e. international efforts to prosecute individuals responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. We will examine: the major institutions, the politics that shaped them, and how they in turn shape politics; definitions of crimes; principles and defenses; issues of transitional justice, amnesties and truth and reconciliation; and the major controversies and perspectives on ICL. The course supplements traditional instruction methods with considerable emphasis on active and interactive learning. Accordingly, seminars will include lecture, interactive discussion, exercises and simulations. Fall.

LAW 821/221 Comparative Constitutional Law

The Constitution Act, 1867 declares the Constitution of Canada to be similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom. The guarantees of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are subject to reasonable limits prescribed by law that can be justified in a free and democratic society. These statements beg further normative questions about the nature of Canadian constitutionalism and political culture. The objective of this seminar is to provide a broad understanding of constitutionalism in comparative perspective. Employing case law and commentary, we shall consider some of the major points of convergence and divergence in written and unwritten constitutional traditions, with reference to a variety of countries. We shall also examine the role of the courts in constitutional judicial review, and the extent to which fundamental principles such as the rule of law, the separation of powers, democracy, equality and the protection of minorities are implemented. Among the particular issues we shall address are the following: What texts, principles and practices make up a constitution? Why does a constitution have a continuing claim to legitimacy? What claims to institutional competence and legitimacy can the executive, legislative and judicial branches make? Why and how do some jurisdictions structure themselves as federal states? How do institutional and cultural contexts shape the scope and content of rights? Fall.

LAW 814/263 Jurisprudence

This course provides a critical introduction to central issues in general jurisprudence, that is, the theory of law in general. Our overarching question is deceivingly simple: `What is law?' To attempt to answer this question, we will explore: the functions and types of laws; authority; legal rights and obligations; legal reasoning and argument; the connections between law and morality; among other topics. The aim of the course is to introduce you to thinking philosophically about the law and to methodological and normative questions concerning law; to provide you with knowledge of some of the most influential legal and political philosophies and their theses on law; to encourage and enable you to think about doctrinal legal questions from a philosophical perspective; and to help you develop legal reasoning skills by training you in constructing abstract, philosophical arguments. Our approach is philosophical, but no prior background or training in philosophy is necessary. Winter.

LAW 835/535 Equality Rights and the Charter

More equality rights seekers have lost than won at the Supreme Court of Canada which raises a fundamental question: why? To brainstorm possible answers, the first class reviews the record of wins and losses. To what should we attribute these outcomes? To equality rights doctrine, its application to factual contexts, both doctrine and context, or some other reason? In subsequent classes we examine some of the key themes that animate Charter equality controversies including, where time permits: grounds, substantive equality, discrimination, intersectionality, competing rights, proportionality, comparison, affirmative action, etc. The course requires you to apply at least one of these themes to a Charter equality rights topic that you research, present in class, and write about in a factum, feminist judgment, or essay. Your objective is to assess whether Charter equality rights doctrine makes social justice available to equality seekers and, if not, what change(s) you would recommend. Put differently, what values animate the Court’s approach to equality rights and are they consistent with yours? Winter.

LAW 640/839 Law & Injustice

This course explores the relationship between law and injustice, focusing in particular on theorizing injustice, and especially those injustices that infect but do not originate in the law. Through readings in contemporary political and legal philosophy and political essays, we consider: different types of injustice, such as structural, historical, epistemic, and indigenous; duties to resist injustice for victims, bystanders, and beneficiaries; and forms of responding to injustice, including anger, civil and uncivil disobedience, and political violence. Winter.

LAW 850A/850B Feminist Legal Studies Workshops

The Feminist Legal Studies Workshops are designed to enable students to work closely with faculty in analyzing and discussing, with leading feminist theorists and scholars visiting Queens Faculty of Law, the topics of the speakers’ papers. Fall/Winter.

Philosophy

PHIL 804 Social and Political Philosophy I: G.A. Cohen

G.A. Cohen (1941-2009) was a remarkable philosopher who produced writings of rigour and insight on some of the most fundamental ideas of political theory: liberty, justice, and equality. Moreover, owing to his engagement with both Marxist and liberal traditions, and even a foray into conservatism, his intellectual career was unusually wide-ranging. An outstanding scholar and an exemplary teacher, Cohen enjoyed an exceptional international reputation for his particular brand of rigorous socialist political philosophy. Throughout his work, Cohen trenchantly argued that fundamental ideals at the centre of the most influential political theories – liberty for Nozick, egalitarian justice for Rawls – were destined to remain unrealised given those theories’ commitment to private property and the market. In response, he articulated the constituents of a radical alternative that reinvigorated the socialist ideal. In all these contributions, Cohen was able to impart to radical politics an uncustomary analytical precision and intellectual acuity.

Moreover, Cohen was unique in the extent to which his personality and personal history shaped his philosophical contribution. Who could not be intrigued by the story of growing up in a Jewish Communist community in working class Montreal, and then finding dazzling success on the British philosophical scene, as a graduate student, a lecturer and then Reader at University College London, and finally as the holder of a prestigious chair in Oxford? Moreover, Cohen was a warm and generous person, with an irrepressible sense of fun and mischief, humanity and kindness, evidence of which peppers his otherwise often austere analytical prose.

This course examines Cohen’s corpus, reading key works from throughout his career, and newly published book about Cohen published by the instructor. Each week 2-3 students will be expected to give a short (5-10 minutes) talk to the class drawing on their weekly comment sheet, but all students should be prepared to participate in the discussion. Fall.

PHIL 810 History of Philosophy: Indian Philosophy

We will study primarily yoga philosophies that deal with epistemology and the philosophy of the mind. The six systems of Indian philosophy offer a framework through which the mind and its functions can be studied. We will focus on three of these systems: Samkhya, Yoga and Vedanta as well as the Bhagavadgita and study the writings of Vivekananda, Aurobindo, Radhakrishnan and Moore that pertain to these themes expanding on the Yoga philosophies in its widest sense. Fall.

PHIL 820 Ethical Issues I: Bioethics

We will discuss in each class a limited number of specific topics in bioethics. Typically, in this course, the topics are student-initiated. We have, in past installments of this course, covered a wide variety of issues, ranging from gender reassignment to the criminalisation of HIV transmission to standards of care in a trial, global health aid obligations and MAiD for patients with refractory depression. Fall.

PHIL 839 20th C. Philosophy I: Ordinary Language Philosophy

In Oxford in the 1940s and ’50s, Gilbert Ryle and J. L. Austin created “ordinary language philosophy”, a controversial style of thinking that saw philosophical questions as arising from the misuse of language, and hence as solvable, or dissolvable, by careful attention to our everyday forms of speech. This course will explore the origins of ordinary language philosophy in the work of Ryle and Austin, together with writings by some of their critics, the restrained (e.g. Elizabeth Anscombe, Iris Murdoch, A. J. Ayer, Peter Strawson, Bernard Williams) and the furious (e.g. Ernst Gellner, Herbert Marcuse, Gillian Rose). We will also examine the influence of Wittgenstein on ordinary language philosophy and explore what is living and what is dead in the movement. The period has recently been the topic of several fascinating, and very accessible, books, and we will read one of them, Nikhil Krishnan’s, A Terribly Serious Adventure: Philosophy and War in Oxford 1900–1960. We may also have recourse to relevant film and television from the period. Fall.

PHIL 840 20th C. Philosophy II: Phenomenology

Phenomenology is a philosophical practice of reflecting on the transcendental structures that make lived experience possible and meaningful. It begins by bracketing the natural attitude, or the naïve assumption that the world exists apart from consciousness, and “reducing” this everyday experience of the world to the basic structures that constitute its meaning and coherence. In this sense, phenomenology points us in a critical direction. But where classical phenomenology remains insufficiently critical is in failing to give an equally rigorous account of how contingent historical and social structures also shape our experience, not just empirically or in a piecemeal fashion, but in a way that is so fundamental, we could call it quasi-transcendental. Structures such as patriarchy, white supremacy, and heteronormativity permeate, organize, and reproduce the natural attitude in ways that go beyond any particular object of thought. They are not things to be seen, but rather ways of seeing, and even ways of making the world that go unnoticed without a sustained practice of critical reflection to make them visible. In this seminar, we will learn the basic concepts of classical phenomenology and explore the possibilities for critical phenomenology in the work of Frantz Fanon, Sara Ahmed, Gayle Salamon, Alia Al-Saji, and others. Fall.

PHIL 893 Ethics and the Environment

This course will engage with key environmental issues such as biodiversity and extinction, climate change, conservation, eco-feminism, deep and radical ecology, ecological restoration etc. drawing on various philosophical traditions in ethics, hermeneutics, political philosophy, ontology, and phenomenology. The aim is to provide both an overview of the variety of topics that can be encompassed within environmental philosophy and to encourage participants to develop critical and innovative approaches to questions of direct practical import. While the focus will generally be on our ethical relations to non-human entities and our understanding and interpretation of these relations we will be particularly concerned to examine the ways in which our ethical evaluations might be informed by, and inform, our understandings of particular places/environments. Fall.

PHIL 802* Moral Philosophy I: Current Discussions in Moral Philosophy

This seminar will be built around works in progress primarily by leading moral philosophers. It will consist of five units, two sessions each. A unit’s first session will concentrate on one or more canonical papers on a particular topic. Its second session will focus on a draft manuscript by philosopher working on that topic, who will attend as our guest to discuss their work with us. Winter.

PHIL 805* Social and Political Philosophy II: Membership and Solidarity

An examination of major issues in contemporary social and political philosophy. Possible topics to be studied include communitarianism, liberalism, multi-culturalism, the nation-state, and utopias. Winter.

PHIL 812* Topics in the Philosophy of Culture

An examination of major issues in the philosophy of culture. Possible topics to be studied include: the history of the philosophy of culture; the relationship between culture and identity or the self; the relationship between culture and progress; and various forms of cultural relativism. Winter.

PHIL 841* 20th C. Philosophy III: Analytic Philosophy

This course is an in-depth study of analytic philosophy’s birth, development, and influence on 20th Century thought. We begin with a brief overview of 19th Century views on the nature of mathematics and mathematical knowledge. We then turn to the pivotal works of Frege on the foundations of arithmetic, and its extensions to his theories of meaning and thought. Next, we take a look at the ideas of Russell and Wittgenstein that took off from Frege’s works. We end with an examination of some of the most influential analytic works from the middle and later 20th Century, with an eye toward understanding the strengths, limits and prospects of the movement. Winter.

COURSES IN RELATED FIELDS

*Seats may be limited. Subject to instructor approval. Course requests must be submitted to gradpols@queensu.ca.

Geography

GPHY 884 Economies, Politics, and Space

This seminar examines economic spaces as not only sites of production, exchange, and circulation but also as shaped by sociopolitical struggles over economic futures, the politics of place, and daily life. This will be accomplished through the discussion of key political economic texts and of current debates in the field of economic geography. Winter.

Global Development Studies

DEVS 801: Political Economy of Development

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the relationship between political economy and the ideas and practices of development. The course grounds students in core theories, both classical and contemporary. It then examines key themes and controversies to illustrate the relationships between political economy and development practice. Fall.

DEVS 802: Cultural Politics of Development

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the cultural politics of development in historical and contemporary perspective. The course focuses on narratives of development and their relationship to social and political movements in the South and North. Themes include the ideas of tradition, modernity and progress; colonialism, nationalism and liberation; and the gendered and racialised politics of development. Fall.

DEVS 803: Qualitative Approaches in Development Research

This course introduces qualitative fieldwork methods including research design, proposal writing, ethics, interviews, and data analysis. It offers a clear pathway towards successful fieldwork design, implementation and reporting and provides core professional skills for working productively within development and community organisations. Winter.

DEVS 812* Africa in the Anthropocene

Africa south of the Sahara contributes least to the global climate emergency but is already bearing a disproportionate burden of impacts. This course historicizes environmental management and mis-management on the continent since the onset of the capitalist era, key manifestations of the climate crisis, and activism, technologies and transnational normative frameworks that offer hope to mitigate the worst impacts of environmental change. Winter.

DEVS 813 Climate Justice

This course examines the intersections between climate change and social justice. Through readings and class discussions, students will develop an understanding of the relationship between climate change and colonialism and identify some of the disproportionate impacts that climate change has on marginalized communities and women. Different dimensions of justice (distributive, procedural, recognition and restorative) and frameworks for incorporating justice into climate governance (e.g., energy justice, just transition, climate reparations) will be explored. The challenges of achieving climate justice within existing political and economic institutions will also be addressed, with a particular focus on international climate finance. Finally, concerns about the potential for new injustices to arise out of climate policies (e.g., ‘green sacrifice zones’, ‘green grabs’, and ‘green colonialism’) will be considered. Winter.

Policy Studies

MPA 814 Intergovernmental Policy

This course examines how policy making and the substance of policy are affected by federalism. Attention focuses on patterns of interaction among governments, and between governments and organized interests in Canada, and in other federal or quasi federal systems. A major subject is how such patterns of interaction are affected by the structure of political institutions, the allocation of powers, and fiscal considerations. Winter.

MPA 826 Ethics in the Public Service

This course examines ethical problems that typically arise in the formulation and implementation of public policy. It considers how conceptions of ethical problems have shifted over time; strategies for thinking about and resolving ethical issues; and the design of institutional arrangements that minimize the risk of harm from ethical lapses in the public sector. Winter.

Other

Students may also request courses in cognate fields, such as Economics, History, Cultural Studies, SURP, Sociology, Gender Studies, etc. /academic-calendar/graduate-studies/programs-study/

ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE

*Queen’s/R.M.C. Visiting Graduate Student Application form required. Please contact gradpols@queensu.ca.

War Studies Program -

Master of Defence Studies -

Master of Public Administration -

Other -