Graduate Course Descriptions

2025–26 Fall Winter Course Descriptions

PLEASE NOTE:

  • Course descriptions are not final and may be changed at or before the first class.
  • Prerequisites will be enforced rigorously. Students who do not have the relevant prerequisite(s) may be removed from the course after classes begin. Specific questions regarding prerequisites for a course can be answered by the course instructor. Where there are two instructors of a course, an asterisk (*) indicates the Course Coordinator.

**This page will be updated regularly. Please check here for curriculum changes.

Course Nomenclature:

  • Y1-Y is a full course, both terms.
  • Y1-F is a full course, first term (fall session)
  • Y1-S is a full course, second term (winter session)
  • H1-F is a half course, first term (fall session)
  • H1-S is a half course, second term (winter session)
 

Political Theory

POL2000H1F L0101: Ancient Political Thought to the Rise of Modernity

A survey of leading texts in the history of political thought. This course is open to PhD students satisfying core course requirements [others may participate by special permission of the instructor(s)].

Texts: Tentative list of texts: Plato, Republic; Aristotle, Politics; Machiavelli, The Prince; Hobbes, Leviathan; Locke, Second Treatise of Government; Rousseau, Second Discourse, Social Contract; Wollstonecraft, Vindication of the Rights of Woman
 

POL2002H1S L0101: Modern and Contemporary Political Thought

Contemporary political thought.

Texts: TBA
Format and Requirements: TBA
 

POL2026H1F L0101: Topics in Political Thought I: Africana Political Thought 

Course Description TBA
 

POL2027H1F L0101: Topics in Political Thought II: Rousseau's Social Contract

Undergraduate Course Code: POL485H1F L0101

What is the single greatest work of modern political theory?  Actually, it’s no contest: Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s On the Social Contract.  Janus-like, it looks back on the social contract tradition of Hobbes, Locke, and others, which it perfects, and forward to the epoch of the philosophies of freedom of Kant, Hegel, and Marx, which it initiates.

Texts: Rousseau, The Social Contract, edition TBA
Format and Requirements: We will meet weekly for 3 hours in seminar format.  There will be a shorter and longer term paper and a take-home examination.
 

POL2027H1S L0101: Topics in Political Thought II: Democratic Theory

Undergraduate Course Code: POL485H1S L0101

This course will examine contemporary theoretical debates over the meaning of democracy. Approaches to democratic theory will include liberalism, neo-republicanism, deliberative democracy, and agonistic democracy. Themes will include “epistocracy,” elite democracy, representation, populism, transnational and cosmopolitan democracy, and comparative democratic theory.

Texts: TBA
Format and Requirements: This seminar will meet for two hours weekly. Students will prepare a major research paper. Other requirements include weekly participation and short response essays.
 

POL2028H1S L0101: Approaches to Political Theory

Course Description TBA
 

POL2038H1S L0101: Studies in Comparative Political Theory

Undergraduate Course Code: POL480H1S L0101

We will critically examine what “comparative political theory” is and what it would mean to genuinely “deparochialize” political theory, that is, to de-center Euro-American thought in the study of political ideas. The course neither presupposes background knowledge of any non-Western thought tradition, nor does it aspire to provide students with sufficient knowledge of particular traditions to ground serious scholarly contributions to this emerging field. To provide that background would require a series of specialized courses in, e.g., East Asian political thought, Indian political thought, Latin American political thought, Indigenous political thought, African political thought, and so on. Rather, the course aims at sharpening our understanding of (a) the purposes served by “deparochializing” political theory; and (b) the various methods by which we can seek to serve these purposes.
 

JPR2051H1F L0101: Fanaticism: A Political History

Undergraduate Course Code: JPR459H1F L0101

Course Description TBA
 

POL2075H1F L0101: Postmodern and Contemporary Thought

Undergraduate Course Code: POL475H1F L0101

This course concerns the development of postmodern thought and its passage into the posthuman. The course begins with a brief discussion of a number of themes in Western philosophy that underlie postmodernism. Then to Jean Baudrillard's symbolic exchange, Paul Virilio's understanding of the effects of the technology of speed on the social. Next, we look at a discussion of capitalism and 'virtual' systems in the work of Deleuze and Guattari, racism in Fanon and Spivak, Derrida on the gift, Michel Foucault on art. The posthuman through Donna Haraway’s cyborgs.. The course will also examine an alternate view of science, myth and philosophy in the work of Michel Serres.

Format and Requirements:  One two-hour seminar per week.  Course requirements TBA.
 

POL2080H1F L0101: Workshop Seminar for MA and PhD students (Power and Property)

Course Description TBA
 
 

Canadian Government

POL2100H1F L0101: Core Course: Issues and Foundations in Canadian Government

This course combines a thematic approach to the literature of Canadian politics with close analysis of the substance and study of politics in Canada. The course considers such questions as: what is distinctive about Canadian politics and the way in which it is studied? Are the conceptual-theoretical frameworks which (explicitly and implicitly) underpin the study of Canadian politics adequate? What intellectual forces (Canadian and non-Canadian) have shaped the literature on Canadian politics and have those changed over time? How have Canadian scholars themselves contributed to the study of politics? What is gained or lost by studying Canadian politics in a comparative context and by studying it in terms of its particular history, society and economy? Various methodological approaches to analyzing Canadian politics will be employed. Substantive topics covered include: political culture, identity politics, Aboriginal politics, political behaviour, the nature of the Canadian state, governmental institutions (Parliament, executives, bureaucracies), federalism, courts and constitutional politics.

Format and Requirements: Students enrolling in the course are expected to possess a thorough familiarity with Canadian politics and with the associated literature. In-class discussion will be based on assigned readings. Evaluation will be based on periodic seminar presentations for a group of assigned readings, short papers, one longer essay, and class participation.
 

POL2105H1S L0101: Core Topic 2: Canadian and Comparative Political Development

Political science has taken a developmental turn. Across multiple subfields, political scientists are returning to key historical events and periods to understand how political systems develop and evolve. Central to this exercise are the concepts, theories, and tools developed in the American Political Development tradition, and now being applied in other countries. This course will provide an in-depth introduction to these concepts, and then explore their application in a Canadian and comparative perspective. We will consider various developments, including the extension of the franchise, the emergence and evolution of political parties, the creation and reshaping of the welfare state, and the evolution of representational institutions. The final aim of the course will be for students to write a paper applying the tools of political development to a Canadian or comparative case.
 
 

POL2800H1F L0101: Special Topics: Immigration, Ethnicity and Pluralism

This course examines ethnicity and other predicates of groupness (such as racial classifications and gender), (ii) historical and contemporary trends in international migration, and (iii) debates over pluralism, membership, and belonging. Seminal works are read alongside cutting edge scholarship, with contributions from a broad range of academic disinclines, and examples drawn from an array of geographic regions. 
 

International Relations

POL2200H1F L0101: International Relations Field Seminar I (Core)

The purpose of the core course in international relations is to familiarize doctoral students with competing and complementary theoretical approaches to international politics; to develop students’ ability to assess these literatures critically; and to help students refine the theoretical foundations of their subsequent dissertations.

Format and Requirements: 2-3 hours of discussion per week; requirements TBA
 

POL2201H1S L0101: International Relations Field Seminar II (Core)

This is the second course in the international relations core sequence. The course has three principal objectives. 1. To continue providing the students with a brief introduction to the large academic literature on international politics, with the goal of helping them to prepare for the synthesis and analysis they will be required to carry out on the field examination. 2. To introduce students to a variety of frontier research problems that animate current work in the field, so they can see and evaluate examples of how empirical research is actually conducted rather than just commenting on “the classics” or reading pure theory. 3. To initiate their own research projects, to gain practical experience in elaborating a theoretical argument, drawing out testable implications, assembling and analyzing relevant evidence, and presenting the work before colleagues.
 
 

POL2205H1S L0101: Topics in International Politics I: International Law

Undergraduate Course Code: POL486H1S L0101

This course examines and compares several core domains of international law, including the use of force, international human rights law, international environmental law, international trade law, and international investment law. The course considers international law in a broad political and historical context and pays particular attention to the forces that create and shape international law. The course also examines current issues in international law, including the recent withdrawals from the International Criminal Court, the legal responsibility of transnational corporations, and the decline of US leadership in the international order.
 

POL2205H1S L0201: Topics in International Politics I: Postcolonial Debates in IR

What is postcolonial IR, and what does it mean for the discipline of IR? Why/how has postcolonial IR emerged and evolved? This course examines the foundations and evolution of postcolonial IR, to situate its legacies, changes, and continuities. We cover key themes in postcolonial IR such as otherness, difference, representation, knowledge/power, race, and racism in IR. We also examine what it means to undertake decolonial and anticolonial knowledge production in IR. The course is divided in two parts. The first part teases out the core theoretical tenets of postcolonialism, and postcolonial IR. The second part covers how postcolonial IR can be empirically deployed. We examine the application of postcolonial critiques to key issues in IR, such as north-south cooperation, global environmental politics, global capitalism, war.

Texts: Primarily journal articles and book chapters
 

POL2206H1S L0101: Topics in International Politics II: Psychology of International Security

Undergraduate Course Code: POL487H1S L0101

This course provides an in-depth engagement with the political psychology of international security. We first take up fundamental political questions – like "what is power?" and "what is war?" – and engage the diverse answers that psychological international relations scholarship currently provides. Noting that war is the most destructive invention in human history, we then use these lenses to engage the value-add of psychological explanations for why states fight. The final third of the course uses all of this theoretical and empirical knowledge to examine security and war in our lifetime, beginning with the emergence of "terrorism" as a security issue in the post-Cold War era and looking forward to questions like China’s reemergence.
Texts: No books are required for purchase. All readings will be made available online.

Format and Requirements: One two-hour seminar per week. Course requirements TBA.
 

POL2206H1S L0201: Topics in International Politics II: Great Power Politics

Undergraduate Course Code: POL487H1S L0201

Course Description TBA
 

POL2216H1F L0101: Military Instruments and Foreign Policy

Undergraduate Course Code: POL459H1F L0101

This course analyses the relationship of military force to politics: nuclear war and deterrence, conventional war, revolutionary war, terrorism and counter insurgency are examined from the perspectives of the US, Russia and other contemporary military powers.
 

POL2226H1F L0101: Ethics and International Relations

The course aims to explore the requirements of justice and fairness in international affairs. It is common to theorize international relations in terms of interests and power. But even the most cursory look at what important actors actually do in their international interactions reveals that they use normative language all the time. This has not gone unnoticed, with investigations of ethics in the international arena multiplying in recent years. Drawing on readings from political philosophy, legal theory, and normative international relations theory, the course will take up practical ethical dilemmas encountered in world affairs. The main focus of the course will be on institutions. Examples will be drawn from the issue areas of trade, health, and the environment, among others.
 

POL2780H1S L0101: Workshop Seminar for MA and PhD students: Global Environmental Politics

TBD
 

Comparative Politics

POL2700H1F L0101: Foundations and Approaches to Comparative Politics (Core)

This course will offer an in-depth introduction to some of the core concepts and approaches in comparative politics. What is the scope of comparative politics? What are the different ways of posing questions, crafting arguments, and making descriptive and causal inferences in comparative politics? We will provide an overview of meta-theoretical approaches and then explore various ways of understanding and applying key concepts in the field, including the state, power, class, society, culture, nationalism, revolution, and regimes.
 

POL2701H1S L0101: Core Topic 1: Comparative Institutional Politics: Governance, Parties and Structures of State Power

This course is designed as the second part of the introduction to the study of comparative politics for Ph.D students. It builds on and complements the material covered in POL 2700. The topics in this course include (but are not limited to) political regimes, parties, electoral behaviour, clientelism, populism, political economy, and courts. The main objective of the course is to introduce students to key questions, concepts, debates, explanations, and different approaches in comparative politics on these topics as well as to trace the intellectual evolution of these subfields. Students will be introduced to diverse substantive and methodological approaches in the study of these topics.

Format and Requirements: Seminar participation, papers, presentations, book review
 

POL2702H1S L0101: Core Topic 2: Constituent Power in Comparative Perspective: Identity, Contention, and Mobilization

This course examines dimensions of Comparative Politics that are largely “beyond” or “below” the state. Asking how social and political power interact, it considers how preferences, identities, and subjectivities are formed, 2) how they are mobilized through contentious politics, and 3) how they relate to state power across a wide range of historical and contemporary contexts.
 

POL2322H1F L0101: Topics in Comparative Politics II: The Foundations of Political Economy: Theories of State and Market

Undergraduate Course Code: POL443H1F L0101

This advanced seminar explores the core social science theories looking at the relationship among state, economy, and society. The course requires close reading of texts, spanning from the foundational works of political economy to paradigmatic contemporary works in Liberalism, Marxism, Mercantilism, Neo-Classical Economics, Socio-Political Thought, and Institutionalism. Thus, prior knowledge of political economy/economics theory is helpful. We will examine the fundamental assumptions on which our understanding of the social world and contemporary research in political economy are based, and their application to the most urgent questions of our time, such as inequality and the role of the state in industrial development.

Format and Requirements: Participants in the seminar are required to do all required reading before weekly class meetings, lead several discussions throughout the semester, and complete rigorous essay assignments. While this course includes a lecture component, student participation and the Socratic mode of debating and collective learning are critical for success. Accordingly, students should come prepared for class, express their views, and home in on concerns that both readings and their life experience lead them to think are critical. The instructor EXPECTS the students to come with timely subjects that are related to the overall class subjects from the Economist or other similar news sources
 

POL2326H1S L0101: Democracy and Dictatorship

Undergraduate Course Code: POL426H1S L0101

The course provides an in-depth introduction to theories of the origins of democracy and dictatorship. In the first part of the course, we examine and compare theories rooted in economic development, voluntarism, institutional design, and historical institutionalism. The latter half of the course applies these different approaches to debates over the origins of Nazi rule in Germany in the 1930s, military dictatorship in Chile in the 1970s, and non-democratic rule in contemporary Russia.
 

POL2391H1S L0101: Topics in Comparative Politics III: The Politics of Infrastructure

Undergraduate Course Code: POL410H1S L0101

Infrastructure—its presence and absence—is at the centre of many contemporary struggles. This course examines the politics of infrastructure through a range of methodological approaches and empirical sites. It considers how infrastructure is produced and governed through power-laden processes, and how infrastructure shapes the material relations of ecology, citizenship, territory, authority, sovereignty, subjectivity, and collective action.
 

POL2391H1S L0201: Topics in Comparative Politics III: Indigenous Research Consortium

Undergraduate Course Code: POL410H1S L0201

The theme of this year’s seminar is to explore what it means for us in the university to listen to Indigenous peoples “in and on their own terms.” We will explore four important Indigenous practices to help us better understand Indigenous perspectives in contemporary politics: Indigenous law, the treaty relationship, Métissage, and Indigenous spirituality. We will welcome several Indigenous visitors to class over the semester. Students will have the option to attend a three-day conference on the homelands of  Teme-Augama Anishinaabe on Lake Temagami, Ontario (September 25-28th, 2025).

Format and Requirements: Three short essays (15%); Semester-long Journal writing project (70%); Packback Participation (15%)
 

POL2780H1F L0201: Workshop Seminar for MA and PhD students: Chinese Authoritarianism in Comparative Perspective)

TBD
 

POL2801H1S L5101: Special Topics: The Canadian Constitution in Comparative Perspective

Today, over 190 countries worldwide, as well as several regional and transnational political entities, have adopted constitutions that celebrate the polity’s aspirations, define the prerogatives of and limitations on state and governmental institutions, enshrine a bill of rights, and establish some form of active judicial review that empowers courts to determine the constitutionality of ‘ordinary’ statutes and decrees. Consequently, high courts have become a central forum for dealing with core moral dilemmas, key policy-making challenges and contentious political questions. This global trend, which Canada joined with the adoption of the Constitution Act, 1982 (including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms), is arguably one of the most significant developments in late-20th and early 21st century government. This seminar offers an examination of various constitutional and political aspects of these broad trends. It combines the study of relevant Canadian and comparative constitutional texts and court rulings with exploration of pertinent political science research concerning the expansion of constitutionalism and judicial review and its impact on politics and policymaking in Canada and abroad. Throughout the course, special emphasis will be given to pertinent features of the Canadian constitution and Canada’s contribution to the world of new constitutionalism.  

Texts: TBA
Formats and Requirements: Seminar; requirements include attendance and participation, comment papers and in-class presentations, and a final seminar paper  
 
 

Development Studies

POL2400H1F L0101: Core Course: Theories and Issues in the Politics of Development

This course provides a selective overview of some of the theoretical and conceptual issues and debates that have dominated the study of the politics of the global south. The course is designed to prepare Ph.D. students for the field examination in the development studies area by encouraging critical thinking about political science, comparative politics and development studies.

Format and Requirements: One three-hour seminar per week. Course requirements TBA.
 

POL2401H1S L5101: Core Course: Regions and Methods - Development Studies

POL2401 (Regions and Methods – Development Studies) is designed to complement POL 2400 (Theories and Issues in the Politics of Development). This course will focus on regional, methodological and empirical perspectives in development. This will be a team taught course, led by a scholar who will both coordinate and provide overarching intellectual leadership in the course throughout the term. The bulk of the course, however, will be built around a series of modules led faculty members who are regional specialists in the field of development studies.
 

POL2408H1F L0101: Political Economy of International Development

Course Description TBA
 

POL2418H1S L5101: Topics in Middle East Politics: Comparative Urbanisms in the Middle East & North Africa

Undergraduate Course Code: POL479H1S L5101

This seminar explores what it means to generate theory from place and conduct comparative urban research. Bringing together readings from geography, anthropology, sociology, and political science, which take the city as their object of analysis, we will discuss the role of planning, speculation, technology, and nostalgia in shaping cities to pluralize the terrains from which we think not of one urbanism or urbanization process, but of multiple urbanisms that characterize the Middle East and North Africa region.

Texts: Gökçe Günel, Spaceship in the Desert; Begüm Adalet, Hotels and Highways; Yael Navaro, The Make-Believe Space; Sophia Stamatopoulou-Robbins, Waste Siege; and others.
Format and Requirements: Students will be expected to write and share a weekly response piece, actively participate in class, write a paper proposal mid-semester and present it in class, and submit a research paper.
 

JPF2430H1F L0101: Conceptualizing Cities in a Global Context

Undergraduate Course Code: JPF455H1F L0101

With over half of the population on this planet being urban, the significance of improving our understanding of cities in a global context has never been greater. This course is designed to improve awareness of cities as approached by different disciplines and in different international contexts.

(Given by the Department of Political Science and the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design)
Prerequisite: POL201H1/ POL201Y1/ POLB90H3/ POLB91H3
 

Public Policy

POL2318H1F L0101: Core Course: Public Policy: Theories and Approaches

This course serves as one of the core courses for doctoral students who plan to write the major field exam in public policy. The course offers an overview of the main theoretical approaches in the field of public policy. Students will read widely in the public policy literature and be expected to reflect on what they learn in class discussions and written essays.
 

POL2319H1S L0101: Core Course: Public Policy: Applications

This course serves as one of the core courses for doctoral students who plan to write the major field exam in public policy. It builds on the theories and approaches explored in Pol 2318H and applies them to a major area of public policy. Students will read widely in the public policy literature and be expected to apply what they learn in class discussions and written essays.
 

POL2780H1S L0101: Workshop Seminar for MA and PhD students: Global Environmental Politics

TBD
 

POL2800H1F L0101: Special Topics: Immigration, Ethnicity and Pluralism

This course examines ethnicity and other predicates of groupness (such as racial classifications and gender), (ii) historical and contemporary trends in international migration, and (iii) debates over pluralism, membership, and belonging. Seminal works are read alongside cutting edge scholarship, with contributions from a broad range of academic disinclines, and examples drawn from an array of geographic regions. 
 

Methods

POL2503H1F L0101: Thinking Through Research Design

This course provides an introduction to the logic of research design and the different challenges to causal inference commonly encountered in quantitative and qualitative research. The course is primarily intended for M.A students and it does not assume any formal background in research methods or research design.

Format and Requirements: Seminar, with essays, class participation, group discussion, in-class presentations, and a draft and final research paper proposal.
 

POL2504H1F L0101: Statistics for Political Scientists

This course is a graduate-level introductory course on the theory and application of statistical methods in empirical research in political science. It primarily targets Ph.D. students who wish to use statistical methods in their future research or to read quantitative research in their area. The objective of the course is to provide these students with opportunities to acquire the foundational knowledge of statistics needed for further sophisticated statistical methods taught in more advanced courses and eventually self-taught in the future. Coverage includes: probability theory, descriptive statistics, descriptive, associational, and causal inference, and linear regression model.

Format and Requirements: Combination of lectures, labs, and seminars/workshops. Course requirements TBA
 

POL2505H1F L0101: Qualitative Methods in Political Research

This course introduces a selection of qualitative methods that are frequently used to conduct political science research. After briefly reviewing key debates about research ethics and how to ask good research questions, the course covers both the theoretical development and practical use of specific qualitative methods, including ethnography, interviewing, discourse analysis, digital fieldwork, process tracing, case studies, and multi-method research designs. Recurrent themes include debating the promises and pitfalls of a given method, better from poorer applications of a method, the trade-offs in selecting one method or type of evidence over its alternatives, and the value of iterating back and forth between methodological scholarship and substantive research. Because mastering qualitative research requires learning by doing, this course engages numerous applied examples of qualitative research and invites students to get hands-on experience with a qualitative method of their choosing.

Format and Requirements: TBD
 

POL2507H1S L0101: Multiple Regression Analysis for Political Scientists

The course addresses foundational topics in statistical inference and regression analysis. It provides students with rigorous foundations of probability theory, statistical inference, and multivariate regression analysis. The emphasis is given to acquiring rigorous theoretical foundations, which are necessary to learn and apply state-of-the-art quantitative analyses in the discipline. Along with a mathematical introduction to various methods, the course will also cover their application using statistical software. Besides regular homework assignments, there will also be computer assignments intended to highlight the basic theoretical concepts in the context of both real-world and simulated data.
 

POL2519H1S L0101: Quantitative Methods and Data Analysis

This class introduces a variety of statistical techniques for limited and categorical dependent variables relevant to political science research. The course builds on materials from POL 2504 and POL 2507, designed for PhD students advancing their methodological skills and applying statistical methods to their own research. The course covers a wide variety of estimators, including those for binary, ordered, count, multivariate, and temporal outcome variables. We also discuss issues relating to censoring and non-random sample selection. Additional and related topics will be covered as necessary.
 

POL2520H1F L0101: Comparative Indigenous Methodologies and Research Approaches

The purpose of this course is to consider research, methodologies, and ways of knowing with, and alongside, Indigenous approaches. Consideration and comparison of Indigenous ways of knowing and learning, alongside Western Academic approaches, will include perspectives from Indigenous nations of, and outside of, Turtle Island (North America)
 

POL2578H1F L0101: Topics in Methods: Causal Inference for Political Scientists

Causal Inference for Political Scientists provides an in-depth and hands-on introduction to the most commonly used methods for design-based causal inference in political science. In this course, students will learn about common methods for causal inference with both observational and experimental data, including experiments, selection on observables, difference-in-differences, instrumental variable estimation, and regression discontinuity designs. The course is designed to empower students to evaluate the credibility of empirical claims in existing research and use methods of causal inference in their own papers. As an applied course, students will focus on understanding how various methods are employed to answer significant and substantive questions, and ultimately develop their own empirical paper using suitable methods of causal inference. A basic understanding of regression analysis is necessary for this course, and students from various backgrounds are encouraged to enroll.
 

POL2578H1S L0101: Topics in Methods: Experiments in Politics: Application

Experiments in Politics: Application is designed to provide the tools necessary to design and implement social science experiments along with the skills for analyzing and interpreting experimental results. We will discuss issues of causal inference, measurement, validity, and ethics in experimental design. Students will also learn about different experimental modes, how to program online experiments, and will work on analyzing experimental data. Much of the course will be structured like a lab-style seminar in which we collectively design, field, analyze, and write up an experimental study on political behavior. The ultimate goal is to publish a scholarly article in a peer-reviewed journal – an ambitious project that will require substantial commitment from every student. 
 
Note: Experiments in Politics: Application is a combined undergraduate-graduate seminar. Undergraduate students are required to take a prerequisite course, Experimental Thinking: Foundations, in Fall 2025. For graduate students, the instructor will consider prior coursework to determine whether they have the necessary background to enroll. Students with questions about the necessary background are advised to contact the instructor.”
 

POL2810H1Y L0101: MA Research Seminar I: Political Development and Canadian Democracy

This course is intended for MA students to meet the research requirements of the program. The primary purpose of the seminar is to provide an opportunity for students to design and conduct an independent research project on a topic of their choice. Topics chosen may fit within the major themes of the course in the broader fields of Canadian or Comparative Politics, or Public Policy, but equally students are free to define their own topics outside of those parameters.

The course is designed to assist students with their choice of research topic, with framing the research appropriately in terms of conceptualization and research design, and in identifying useful methodologies and appropriate resources and research materials. The seminar format will provide a collegial setting within which students can present their research, hone their presentational skills, gain useful feedback from peers and instructors, and develop a variety of skills useful in their future academic or professional lives. Further information on course themes and format will be made available in the syllabus.

Texts: TBD
Format and Requirements: Participation, Discussion leadership, Paper Proposal, Final Major Research Paper; TBA %
 

POL2810H1Y L0201: MA Research Seminar II: Exploring Political Transitions

This course is intended primarily for MA students to meet the research requirements of the Departmental MA program. The primary purpose of the seminar is to provide an opportunity for students to design and conduct an independent research project on a topic of their choice. Topics chosen may fit within the major themes of the course, but equally students are free to define their own topics outside of those parameters. The course is designed to assist students with their choice of research topic, with framing the research appropriately in terms of conceptualization and research design, and in identifying useful methodologies and appropriate resources and research materials. The substantive focus will be on issues of political transition. The purpose is not so much to introduce the broad field of transitology as to assess the various approaches that have been used in the study of “Third Wave” transitions. A number of sessions will be devoted to the presentation and discussion of research projects as they take shape over the course of the year.

Texts: Barbara Geddes, Paradigms and Sand Castles: Theory Building and Research Design in Comparative Politics, (University of Michigan Paperback). Available for purchase at the University of Toronto Bookstore.
 

POL2812Y1Y L0101: PhD Dissertation Proposal Seminar

The purpose of the dissertation seminar is to enable third-year PhD students to prepare and successfully defend a dissertation proposal.

Texts: N/A, selected readings
Format and Requirements: Pass/fail. Seminar discussions on proposal development and research design, faculty and student guest panels, peer and instructor feedback. Assignments: drafts of various stages of dissertation proposal
 

Diversity and Identity

JPR2058H1S L5101: Postsecular Political Thought: Religion, Radicalism and the Limits of Liberalism

Undergraduate Course Code: JPR458H1S L5101

The course will examine debates on postsecularism and religion’s public, political role as articulated by political thinkers such as Jurgen Habermas, by focusing on politically radical or revolutionary challenges to liberalism in the 20th and 21st century, especially from the postcolonial world, whose theoretical arguments are grounded upon or draw their inspiration from religious traditions, doctrines and practices.
 

 

 

Graduate Course Offerings for Summer 2024

 

International Relations

POL2206H1F L0101: Topics in International Politics II: Women at the Helm: Gender, Leadership, and Global Politics

Undergraduate Course Code: POL487H1F L0101

The growing number of women in executive office has raised questions about how our existing theories—theories often created by and to explain the experiences of men—can account for how women come to power and how they perform in office. This class surveys how gendered norms and political structures affect the election, behavior, and political fate of women heads of government. Students will engage with various approaches to the study of gender and leadership in International Relations and explore cases of stateswomen who led empires and states.

Format and Requirements: Course requirements and assignments include exams, quizzes, policy briefs, essays, and active participation.
 

Comparative Politics & Development Studies

POL2431H1S L0101: Dynamics of Political Change in Contemporary China

Undergraduate Course Code: POL431H1S L0101

Selective examination of issues and themes in China's post-Mao reform effort with particular emphasis on the challenges faced by China’s leadership in managing an increasingly complex market authoritarian state and society. contemporary social, political and economic developments. Emphasis is on the period since Xi Jinping’s assumption of power in 2012.

Format and Requirements: Two two-hour seminars per week. Course requirements: essay, critiques and class participation.
 

Courses Not Offered in 2025-26

POL2019H5F L0101: Moral Reason and Economic History 

Undergraduate Course Code: POL476H5F L0101

This course looks at what some of the ‘great’ philosophers have said about economics, and what some of the ‘great’ economists have said about moral philosophy. The course is modeled after Hegel’s approach in The Philosophy of History. The point is to ask what the interaction between moral philosophy and economics can tell us about history and our own time. Among others, the thinkers discussed include Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Calvin, Smith, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Lukacs, Hayek, Rawls, Habermas, Marshall and Keynes.

Format and Requirements: Reading Reports, Class Participation, Essay Plan, Research Essay
 

POL2024H1S L0101: Feminist Political Thought

Feminist theory offers basic challenges to the foundations of modern political and legal thought. It suggests a different conception of human nature and a different model of epistemology and of appropriate forms of argument about the traditional issues of legal and political theory: justice, power, equality and freedom. Introduction to the foundations of feminist theory, an analysis of its implications for traditional liberal theory, and an application of feminist theory to law.
 

JPR2058H1S L5101: Postsecular Political Thought: Religion, Radicalism and the Limits of Liberalism

Undergraduate Course Code: JPR458H1S L5101

The course will examine debates on post-secularism and religion’s public, political role as articulated by political thinkers such as Jurgen Habermas, by focusing on politically radical or revolutionary challenges to liberalism in the 20th and 21st century, especially from the postcolonial world, whose theoretical arguments are grounded upon or draw their inspiration from religious traditions, doctrines and practices.
 

RLG3622H1F L0101: Maimonides and His Modern Interpreters

Undergraduate Course Code: POL421H1F L0101

The course offers an introduction to the seminal work of Jewish philosophy, The Guide of the Perplexed, by Moses Maimonides. We will delve into some of the basic themes of Jewish philosophical theology and religion as they are treated by Maimonides. Through close textual study of the Guide, a broad range of such topics might be considered, such as: the question of biblical interpretation and its proper method; dialectical theology and the status of imagination; what is prophecy and revelation?; providence; theodicy and the problem of evil; divine law versus human law; what is the perfect state or political order, and how is it best achieved?; the search for wisdom and the character of human perfection. Readings from some of the leading modern interpreters of Maimonides and the Guide (such as Julius Guttmann, Leo Strauss, and Shlomo Pines) will also be examined.

Texts: The main text will be: Moses Maimonides, The Guide of the Perplexed, trans. Shlomo Pines (University of Chicago Press); Leo Strauss, Persecution and the Art of Writing.
Format and Requirements: Among the class assignments will be: two class presentations; two papers; class participation.
 

POL2103H1F L0101: Topics in Canadian Politics II: Political Participation: Who Gets Elected?

Undergraduate Course Code: POL491H1F L0101

Who serves in Parliament and other legislatures? Do the backgrounds of politicians affect how policies are decided and which policies get adopted? This seminar explores the political representation of different groups in society and the consequences of representation for policy outcomes. Topics include the representation of women, racial and ethnic minorities, class interests, youth, LGBTQ+, religious groups, and other social divisions.
 

POL2205H1F L0101: Topics in International Politics I: the Global Politics of Science Fiction

This course examines the intersection of science fiction and global politics. We will engage with classic and contemporary sci-fi works that touch upon key IR concepts like anarchy, empire, arms races, and hegemony.

Undergraduate Course Code: POL486H1F L0101

Format and Requirements: 3 hours of seminar per week. Requirements TBA
 

POL2207H1S L0201: Topics in International Politics III: Global Indigenous Politics

Undergraduate Course Code: POL466H1S L0201

This seminar centers on the crucial role of Indigenous Peoples as influential non-state actors in the international system. It explores global, regional, and domestic issues in the implementation of Indigenous human rights, with particular emphasis on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Students will analyze the challenges and opportunities faced by Indigenous Peoples across multiple levels of governance, within various legal and public policy frameworks, and in the enforcement of rights through international organizations. The seminar will examine intersections between law, politics, the environment, and health, while also considering Indigenous Peoples' roles in shaping non-governmental organizations and transnational movements
 

POL2217H1F L0101: The Military Instrument of Foreign Policy: Concepts and Approaches

Undergraduate Course Code: POL405H1F L0101

In light of endemic international threats and conflicts, the seminar analyses the use of the military instrument of foreign policy. We meld theoretical and pragmatic approaches. Among the subjects covered are civil-military relations, the development of nuclear weapons, deterrence and nuclear deterrence, arms control and war termination strategies.
 

POL2241H1F L0101: Civil War and Counterinsurgency

This course overviews the origins, dynamics, and outcomes of civil war and counterinsurgency. It provides a theoretical and empirical foundation for understanding these forms of conflict and the logic of their violence. An additional objective of the course is to consider questions of definition, empirical strategy, and methodology relevant to conducting rigorous research on these topics. The course is organized in three parts. The first reviews the general concept of civil war and provides an overview of various theoretical approaches to understanding it. We will consider arguments concerning identity and ethnic conflict, the political economy of violence, and rationalist explanations for war. The second part of the course examines the dynamics of insurgency and counterinsurgency, including recruitment and rebel alliances, combatant strategies, and third-party intervention. The final section considers the outcomes and aftermaths of civil war, including conflict duration, recurrence, and the challenges of post-conflict statebuilding.

Format and Requirements: One two-hour seminar per week; requirements TBA
Preparation: Familiarity with quantitative methods is strongly recommended (ex. POL222H1, POL232H1, POL419H1)
 

POL2321H1F L0101: Topics in Comparative Politics I: Living in the Illicit Global Economy

Undergraduate Course Code: POL438H1F L0101

For as long as the global economy has existed, it has had a clandestine “underside.” Today, illicit trade is estimated to represent as much as 20% of total economic activity in some countries. Yet for most of us, our knowledge of the global economy is limited to legally recognized profits and expenses. This course explores the illicit side of the global economy, particularly as it is experienced by those living in the social peripheries. Drawing on political, historical, and ethnographic accounts of illicit economies from across the globe we will examine how distinctions between legal/illegal and licit/illicit activities are drawn, as well as the forms of life that emerge at the interface of the state, legal economies, and illicit activities. Tacking back and forth between theoretical texts and empirical research, students will reflect on prevalent ethical judgements about illicit activities, and on how their everyday lives might be entangled with them.
 

POL2355H1F L0101: Twentieth Century Ukraine

Undergraduate Course Code: POL455H1F L0101

This course will focus on the evolution of Ukraine as a state from its failed struggle for independence after World War I, its existence as a Soviet Ukrainian state, to its full
independence after the collapse of Communist rule and the Soviet Union.

Texts: Paul Robert Magocsi, A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples (University of Toronto Press, 2010)
 

POL2392H1F L0101: Topics in Comparative Politics IV: Comparative Law and Social Change

Undergraduate Course Code: POL492H1F L0101

This course explores the ways in which law figures into political struggles. We will examine comparative case studies from around the world to analyze how national and international legal institutions, legal professionals, and rights discourses are routinely mobilized by individuals and groups seeking to instigate social change.
 

POL2392H1S L0101: Topics in Comparative Politics IV: American Political Development

Undergraduate Course Code: POL492H1S L0101

An examination of the content, dynamics, and study of American political development. Possible topical focuses include: mechanisms and narratives of political development; state formation and institutional development; and race, ethnicity, and civil rights.
 

JPA2353H1F L0101: Authoritarianism in Comparative Perspective

Undergraduate Course Code: JPA453H1F L0101

This course examines the politics of authoritarianism in theory and practice. It covers major theories in authoritarian politics, ranging from selectorate theory, authoritarian institutions, impact of institutions on political outcome, ways of measuring authoritarian state power, democracy and development, to social movement and state repression in authoritarian regime, and political transitions. On empirical application, we will draw on cases from around the world, with some emphasis on Asian authoritarian states.

(Given by the Department of Political Science and the Contemporary Asian Studies Program)