Submitted by: Rosemary E. Shinko
Adjunct Faculty, Political Science, UCONN
Coordinator of The Source for Active Learning at UCONN,
Rosemary.Shinko@uconn.edu, Office: (203) 251-9505
In conjunction with: Jennifer Sterling-Folker, Associate
Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Political
Science, UCONN,
With the support of the UCONN,
The
Stamford Campus would value the opportunity to offer the course proposed by
Rosemary Shinko. We fully expect to be able to provide resources to offer
the course annually beginning 05/06, provided the project is completed and
makes it through the University course approval process.
Richard Watnick,
Interim AVP and Director of the
4/2/04
Tentative Title: Global Perspectives on Political Thought
Objectives of the Project:
Course content: The goal is to design and develop a
course in non-Western political thought.
The course will explore the themes of justice, liberty, equality,
identity, politics, spirituality, and power. My first objective will be to identify
what would serve as the most representative texts/writings from the Middle
East, Asia, Africa, Latin and
In addition to exploring the various political texts that would form the basis for the student reading list, I would also like to develop a body of various cultural/aesthetic resources that students/instructors would be able to draw upon. I would like to acquire a collection of films and identify excerpts that could be viewed in or outside of class. I would like to be able to draw upon pieces of literature, artwork, and musical compositions. The rationale for this would be to help students develop an appreciation of cultural complexity and to enable them to see how political thought is not only embedded in a complex and varied cultural milieu, but that everyone’s conceptions of justice, equality, etc., are reflective of their particular cultural heritage. I would also like to spend some time studying spatial arrangements and grasping how various cultures design their private and public spaces. I would like to be able to draw upon various architectural structures as they impact public spaces for social and political interactions. Lastly, I would like to investigate the issue of time and how other cultures represent and conceive of time in order to trace what influence this may have on the ways in which different cultures conceive of justice, identity, equality, etc.
Course Design: I would like to explore structuring the course as a series of discursive encounters centered on the identified topics (justice, equality…). I would like to play with the metaphor of a series of sliding doors that open up onto a series of new vistas, as a way of conceptualizing the flow of ideas and class readings. The question I will be grappling with will be how to integrate cultural background, how/ when to bring in various additional cultural aspects, and how they will serve to enrich a student’s understanding of the diversity of political thought. I want students to be able to grasp how others conceptualize these political concepts, how/where they overlap with their own and where and why they differ. The point is to expand a student’s understanding of these political concepts in order to broaden and deepen their own culturally bound notion of what these ideas mean, how they function within a political structure, and ways in which these concepts could be (re)thought or imagined anew.
Teaching Approach: I want to investigate alternative teaching methodologies by exploring ways in which the classroom can in effect be decentered. This would entail experimenting with ideas that would enlarge the student’s actual responsibility for the types of learning that occur in the classroom. My question is what other ways can learning be facilitated in the classroom beyond the simple reliance on small group/team work. What other arrangements can be made to enable students to engage in a more fluid learning experience both within and possibly outside the classroom? This might include exposing students to art, dance, and theatrical productions. I would like to have students engage in a series of interviews with academics, community leaders and/or members of the cultural community who could provide additional insight and commentary on the various readings we are covering in the class.
Incorporation into the new General Education system: This course will further the Gen Ed Group 4 goals by encouraging students to reevaluate their own conceptions of the meaning of justice, equality, identity, power, spirituality, politics, and liberty by exposing them to the ways in other which other cultures define, conceptualize, and utilize these concepts. The point is to expose them to the realization that the west doesn’t own nor can it claim an exclusive right to define these concepts. These concepts are culturally contextualized and students will be encouraged to identify similarities/differences from one cultural context to the next. The really engaging point will be to stress how these concepts are still in flux within various cultural contexts, as well as across these contexts, as different political actors make demands for justice, equality and recognition within and across various states.
Relationship to existing POLS offerings: 106 Introduction to Political Theory is primarily a western-based exploration and survey of the major themes of political theory. What intrigued me was a comment made by Alfred (Peace, Power Righteousness, 1990: 138), author of an indigenous peoples manifesto, who writes, “There is no intellectual, moral, or logical superiority to white ways of knowing.” I began to question the sufficiency of only teaching the western ways of knowing. If students are only exposed to western ideas they almost automatically presume the superiority of those ideas and western modes of thought. Thus this course would fill in the gaps in students’ knowledge by encouraging them to study, discuss and reflect on the different ways of understanding basic political themes and concepts. There is a rich and diverse political dialogue that students have not been able to fully participate in and this course would be designed to achieve that goal.
Evaluation of project objectives: This course is attempting to broaden a student’s understanding and appreciation for the ways in which other cultures identify, define, and elaborate their political concepts. Thus I could foresee utilizing some type of a portfolio so that students could record their daily reactions to the readings and class discussions, incorporate interviews with those from other cultural heritages, include some type of further research on one of the class themes, and conclude with a paper exploring how their conception of a particular political concept has hopefully deepened and expanded. I want to encourage students to become more aware of how their own thought patterns and presumptions have been impacted by their work in the class. I would like to explore the possibility of developing some type of student self-assessment tools so students can become aware of their own appreciation and evolving understanding of the topics covered in the readings/discussions. The point of the course is to encourage students to develop their own responses to what they are reading and learning and to help them learn how to incorporate/integrate their own understanding of these key political concepts with the views of others. Ultimately, they must learn how to make room for these other perspectives.