Highlighted PSCI Courses for Fall 2021!

Published: Aug. 2, 2021

There's still room to enroll inÌýthese awesome Political Science courses!

PSCI 3002 - 001: Politics in the Black Community with Omar Montgomery

Thursdays | 5:30-8:20pm | North 1405

A protest fist raised to the sky with yellow background This course examines the experience of Black Americans within the American political landscape. Race identity politics in the United States shaped the social conditions and cultural capital of Black America. Therefore, the course critically analyzesÌýhow social movements including Civil Rights, Black Power, #BlackLivesMatter, and others addressed the political and economic status of the Black Community.ÌýThe overall goal of this course is to give students a pragmatic understanding of how politics in the Black Community both initiated and resisted political trends in the United States.Ìý

The course addresses how representation from different regions of the African Diaspora in the United Stated has broadened the political landscape in Black America. This includes understanding how diversity within Black America based on the intersection of ethnicity, gender, faith, sexual orientation, destination and political affiliation (just a few examples) influenced elections, movements, culture, policy, and economics in different Black communities in the United States.Ìý

Other aspects include:

  • Guest Speakers include local, state, and federal elected officials
  • Community OrganizersÌý
  • Civil Rights LeadersÌý
  • Black Lives MatterÌý
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  • Health and WellnessÌý

PSCI 4837 - 001: Contemporary Issues in Civil LibertiesÌýwith Professor Glenn Morris

Tuesdays/Thursdays | 11:00am-12:15pm | Business School 3100

Two security cameras surround a wide-open eye that signifies mass surveillance.Contemporary Issues in Civil Liberties: The Right to Privacy and the Growth of Government and Corporate Surveillance.
Topics this course will cover include:

  • NSA & Edward Snowden
  • China & the UighursÌý
  • 4th Amendment
  • Misinformation/Disinformation
  • Orwell and 1984

  • Surveillance Capitalism
  • Carpenter v. U.S.
  • The right to privacy
  • Facebook &ÌýThe Social Network
  • Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
  • Constitutional Law
  • Gen Z
  • Apple
  • Racism
  • Sexism
  • Technology
  • COVID-19
  • Zoom
  • Pegasus Project
  • Panopticon

For more information, contact: glenn.morris@ucdenver.edu

PSCI 4236 - 001: American Foreign Policy with Professor Martin Widzer

Mondays/Wednesdays | 9:30-10:45am | North 1603

The decisions of American foreign policymakers have a profound effect on not only the strength, security, and prosperity of American citizens, but on that of citizens and nations the world over. This course surveys the strategic, institutional, and political structures through which American foreign policy objectives are pursued and the consequences of those choices.

In doing so, students will be charged with putting into practice analytical skills developed throughout the semester to produce actionable policy products culminating in a capstone simulation designed to immerse students into an authentic policymaking environment.ÌýÌý

PSCI 4535-001:ÌýLabor and Working-Class Politics with Professor James Walsh

Tuesdays | 12:00-3:20pm | King 318

This class explores the long history of worker-led struggles in American History, beginning with methods of resistance and organizing among Indentured Servants and African slaves, connecting this history to workers' rights legislation during the 1930s and current impediments to advancing workers' rights.Ìý

The course links students to current efforts taking place today in Denver where working class and economically disenfranchised communities are finding strength and agency through community organizing.

PSCI 4807 - 001: Political Violence with Professor Thorsten Spehn

Wednesdays | 5:00-7:50pm | North 1405

Did you ever wonder why human beings hate and how that leads to violence? Or how leaders can use hatred to instigate violence and cause group conflict?

This course examines these important questions by analyzing institutional and social violence, genocide, ethnic conflict, revolution, terrorism, and war. The course will teach you about theories of conflict but also about ways by which aggression and violent conflict can be mitigated within countries, between them, and in your personal relations with others.

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a distorted map of the world with yellow filter.Highlighted Graduate Courses

PSCI 5551-001:ÌýInternational Society: Critical Perspectives with Professor Bassem Hassan

Tuesdays | 5:00-7:50pm | Plaza 116

This course discusses the hierarchies that exist in international society and the mechanisms used in excluding certain actors and privileging others. Topics discussed include the Iranian nuclear program, prostitution near military bases, international law as a disciplinary tool and development as a means for constructing hierarchies.