The Adventures of Mr. Chris

Teaching

Here are a few examples of syllabi I developed for courses that I have taught over the years. Other academics are welcome to use or adapt these as they see fit. Unless otherwise notes, these were developed as Undergraduate Liberal Arts courses for classes of 12-35 students. If you are interested in adapting these syllabus and would like word copies please let me know.

Global Studies

  • (Dis)Order and (In)Justice: An Introduction to Global Studies (100 level) [Download pdf]

Course Description

This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to global studies. We will use the overarching themes of ‘order/disorder’ and ‘justice/injustice’ to think critically about a number of global issues. Our discussions, readings and other class assignments will explore the diverse, interconnected nature of global systems and attempt to better understand how global processes, flows and ideas are connected to our everyday lives. Some of the topics we will be looking at include: gender and race politics, militarization, globalization, immigration and refugees, environmental change, human rights and questions of global justice and the nation state.

  • History of Global Change and Social Transformation (200 level) [Download pdf]

Course Description

This course explores long-term, historical processes of global change and social transformation. We will focus on connections between communities, peoples and nations from ancient times to today with the goal of better understanding how and why the world looks the way it does. We will learn about some key historical turning points and how a diverse set of transformations around the planet helped to bring about an increasingly interconnected and globalized world. We will use a wide range of theoretical and empirical materials that help
us think about what it means to study global issues from diverse perspectives and across a variety of cultures. You will come away with a better understanding of some of the central issues of concern in the study of the past, as well as some of the debates currently taking place within and across the broad fields of global studies and global history.

Political Science

Course Description

The aim of this course is twofold. First, to introduce students to the field of political science and studying politics more generally. Secondly, to help students develop the ability to understand and analyze how different issues—power, identity, race, ethics and the media, to name just a few—are thought about, discussed and studied within political science and popular culture more generally. Some of the questions we will explore include: What does it mean to study politics? What is the role of power in shaping how people think about politics? How has our understanding of what is “political” changed over time? What is the role of public opinion and public policy in shaping politic discourse, and how much information does the public need in order to evaluate government decisions? What is the role of the state in an increasingly globalized world? Is liberal democracy the best form of politics?

Course Description

The aim of this course is twofold. First, to introduce students to the four main sub-fields within the discipline of political science: political theory, international relations (IR)/global politics, comparative politics and American politics. Secondly, to help students develop the ability to understand and analyze how different issues—power, identity, justice and media, to name a few—are thought about and discussed within these four fields, as well as in popular culture more generally. Some of the questions we will explore include: What does it mean to study politics? What is the role of power in shaping how people think about politics? How has our understanding of what is “political” changed over time? What is the role of public opinion and public policy in shaping politic discourse, and how much information does the public need in order to evaluate government decisions? What is the role of the state in an increasingly globalized world? Is liberal democracy the end of history?

Course Description

The aim of this course is twofold. First, to introduce students to the basics of critical reading, writing, thinking and presentation in relation to contemporary political issues. Secondly, to help students develop the ability to understand and analyze how different issues—power, identity, justice and the media, to name just a few—inform and shape our views of politics and the world. Some of the questions we will explore include: What does it mean to study politics? What is the role of power in shaping how people think about politics? How has our understanding of what is “political” changed over time? What is the role of public opinion and public policy in shaping political discourse, and how much information does the public need in order to evaluate government decisions? What is the role of the state in an increasingly globalized world? What would an Obama or Romney victory mean for the future of America? What led to the 2008 Economic Crash, and will it happen again? (*One section was developed for the 2012 election, so this section would need updating based on current politics.)

Course Description

This class will explore some of the central debates in Western political thought from the ancient Greeks to today. As we explore these early and modern philosophical, ethical, moral and religious debates, we will ask how changing political values have deepened and expanded our understanding of politics and shaped political thought. Class readings are structured around a series of major themes that we will be exploring during the semester, including: Human Nature, The State, Democracy, Liberty and Rights, Economic Justice, Social Justice, Liberalism and its Critics, Progress and Civilization, War and Peace, Dictatorship and Imperialism. Some of the authors we will be reading include: Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Smith, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Wollstonecraft, Darwin, Hegel, Bentham, Mill, Berke, Montesquieu, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Kropotkin, Hayek, Weber, Kant, Thoreau, ML King Jr, Rawls, Taylor, Berlin, Dworkin, Hart, MacKinnon, Nozick, Skinner, Freud and Foucault.

Course Description

This course is an introduction to US politics, with special attention on the political debates and dynamics in the 18th century that led the American colonies to fight a war for independence. The course is organized around two central themes–freedom and power–both central to US politics. By tracing the origins, development and consolidation of the 13 colonies into a united Republic, students will gain a better understanding of the political history of the US. Through course readings, videos, lectures, student presentations and classroom discussions, we will spend the next 15 weeks on a journey to better understand the nature and scope of US politics.

Environmental Politics

Course Description

The aim of this course is to explore the emergence of environmental politics as a field of study. To do this, we will be looking at the rise of environmental discourses and awareness from 1970 onward, and asking how our understanding of environmental challenges and laws has been shaped by past and current events. This journey will take us from the oil fields and waterways of America to those walking the halls of power from Congress to the White House. We will look at who makes environmental law, what shapes those policies, and who has power in deciding what gets passed and what gets blocked. Some of the questions we will explore include: How did the environment come to be a political issue, and how does this history shape our views today? What led to the proliferation of environmental discourses and laws in the 1970’s? How did these discourses change over time, and what factors led to these changes? What is the role of public opinion and public policy in shaping environmental politics, and how much information does the public need in order to evaluate government decisions? (*Note: The last portion of this class focused on engaging students with an environmental case study in New York, and would need to be updated with a new case.)

Social Justice

Course Description

This course explores how the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, religion and physical abilities affect the material lives and media representations of various cultural groups in the United States. We will engage historical and current debates on issues such as racial and ethnic identities and politics, immigration, economic inequality and wealth, the power of media representations, the digital divide, how gender norms and sexism shape our lives and the many and diverse ways that power, privilege and structural inequities manifest in our world.

Course Description

The aim of this course is twofold. First, to introduce students to the study of race and ethnicity within the field of political science by exploring how the terms race and ethnicity are used by different scholars. As we will see, neither term is as simple as it might first appear. We will explore some of the different ways that these two concepts have evolved and changed over time in the United States, as well as how conceptions of culture, nationality, language and identity have influenced these terms. Secondly, this course aims to challenge students to engage honestly and openly with the often contentious and politically explosive issue of race politics and racial discrimination in America. Some of the issues we will explore include: What it means to say race is a social construct. What distinguishes race from ethnicity. How our understanding of “race” has changed over time. How immigrants shaped America’s racial and ethnic identity. Why a colorblind society is problematic. How white privilege and white supremacy continue to shape American society. Current racial trends in education, housing, employment and the criminal justice system. How theories of intersectionality can help expose institutional racism and complicity. And finally, how to develop anti-racist politics.

  • Indigenous Environmental Politics (300 level) [Download pdf]

Course Description

Indigenous communities are at the forefront of struggles for social and environmental justice today. This course explores the roots and emergence of Indigenous ecological politics, with special attention to land rights, communal forests and waterways, resource extraction and development projects. The course will explore the underlying Indigenous understandings of kinship with the Earth and its diverse inhabitants—sometimes referred to as cosmopolitics—and we will explore how concepts such as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) have emerged alongside the growing social and ecological crisis. Some of the cases we will look at include the rights of nature, the role of “Pachamama politics” in the Andes, Water Defenders and Indigenous resistance in North America, and the role of Indigenous identity and land issues in South Asia. (*Note: This was originally developed as a cross-listed course in Environmental Politics and Global Politics.)

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to the themes of social impact and social change, with attention to the systemic and global aspect of social issues. Throughout the semester we will explore what it means to think about formal and informal social change, from the local to the global, and examine how different communities are fostering social innovations that help to improve society or address important community issues. We will discuss social change theory and practice, with special attention to issues of community organizing for social change. Readings included Rinku Sen and Srdja Popovic.

 

Religious Studies

Course Description

This course introduces students to some of the ways human societies make sense of social upheaval, disasters, and catastrophes through ideas about the end of the world. We will see how religious ideas like the apocalypse provide resources to help explain catastrophes and making sense of suffering, despair, and death in our world. Throughout the semester we will consider a variety of narratives about the end of the world from both religious and secular perspectives. Students will come away with a better understanding of why such stories have come to dominate our cultural imagination and added insight into the historical and political realities that first gave rise to, and continue to feed, our worries about the end of the world. 

 

Course Description

This class will explore some of the complex relationships between religion and nature. How do religions and spiritual beliefs shape our views about the natural world? What is the relevance of religion to the perception and resolution of environmental problems? How do religions view the ideal and appropriate relationship between humans and the natural world? This course will explore understandings of religion and environment/ecology/nature relations. We will trace the creation of the field of “religion and ecology” and related environmental movement, assess various religious communities’ responses to today’s environmental issues, and consider historical, cultural, ecological, and scriptural/theological bases for beliefs and practices related to nature across various traditions.