Undergraduate courses

POLI 101 - Canadian Politics

Fall 2025
Instructor: Dr. Justin Leifso
Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:30 - 6 p.m.

Course description

This course will explore some of the major divisions and fault lines in Canadian politics, with a particular emphasis on understanding conflicts over sovereignty and the ways in which traditional assumptions of Canadian politics have been challenged in recent decades.

We begin by examining the colonial history and machinations that led to Confederation. After discussing the idea of a distinctive Canadian political culture, the course then looks at the contours and conduct of partisan politics at the official level, focusing on Canadian elections, parties and party systems. The remainder of the course studies the country’s central societal debates and divisions, starting with what the political scientist Peter Russell calls Canada’s constitutional odyssey.

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop knowledge of Canadian politics including the conflicts with an emphasis on the debates surrounding sovereignty and self-determination
• explore themes of identity and equity
• expand critical thinking skills including the ability to analyze, synthesize, interpret and evaluate ideas, information, situations and texts
• develop and practice academic writing skills
• develop and practice research skills related to the discipline of political science

Topics may include

• Quebec nationalism
• Indigenous peoples and settler colonialism
• feminism and gender
• racialization and multiculturalism
• globalization

POLI 103 - Worlds of Politics

Fall 2025
Instructor: Dr. Andrew Wender
Schedule: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10:30 -11:30 a.m.

Course description 

What is politics and what is political science? Political science deals with political activity and behaviour which can be found in a vast array of areas and contexts. The first that comes to mind are systems of government in Canada and across the globe. But politics also appears in everyday actions such as the consumer choices that you make about food to eat or what products to buy and the modes of communication that you use.

Using case studies and readings, we will organize the course into four units: an introduction to political science and its research methods; political theory; comparative politics; international relations.

Course outcomes/objectives

• understand basic concepts and areas of study in the discipline of political science
• apply political ideas, institutions and outcomes within different settings
• analyze, interpret and evaluate ideas, information, situations and texts
• develop and practice academic writing skills
• develop and practice research skills related to the discipline of political science

Topics may include

• research methods
• key ideas, theories and historical examples
• current affairs
• Indigenous politics
• populism 

POLI 202 - Introduction to Political Theory

Fall 2025
Instructor: Dr. Simon Glezos
Schedule: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Course description

This course introduces students to political theory as an essential component of the study of politics. Political theory involves paying close attention to the concepts, language and the basic problems of politics as we try to understand and judge our political institutions and practices. We will read a variety of texts of social and political philosophy and ask the following questions:

• What is justice?
• What is a political community? Is it natural or conventional?
• Who is included, who is excluded and why?
• Is it compatible with private property?
• Who is responsible for raising children?
• Is democracy the best regime? What are the constraints and opportunities of political rulers?
• How are exclusion, marginalization, subordination, dispossession and slavery justified?
• What is colonialism?
• What is the relation between politics and the economy? In what forms have we inherited these political ideas?

Course outcomes/objectives

• read and understand complex texts
• recognize and reconstruct concepts and arguments in these texts
• evaluate and criticize theoretical arguments
• construct and advance your own arguments
• listen to your peers, connect your ideas to theirs and advance your arguments in dialogue with them
• become familiar with central concepts and problems of social and political thought and identify these in current events
• develop your ability to apply these concepts to new contexts, both current and historical

Topics may include

• Plato; Machiavelli; Marx; Baldwin
• development of political traditions
• diversity of political thought
• the history of political thought

POLI 211 - European Integration and the EU

Fall 2025
Instructor: Dr. Amy Verdun
Schedule: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays 9:30-10:20 a.m.

Course description

This course introduces the history, policies and challenges facing the European Union (EU). It examines the basic structures and processes of EU governance. Special emphasis is placed on the rationale for integration (theoretical concepts and approaches), institutions, actors, policies and policy-making.

We will also examine a number of current events and recent challenges facing the EU including:

• Brexit
• enlargement of the EU (recent past and future)
• the migrant crisis
• the Covid-19 pandemic
• the financial crisis and related economic considerations

The course will follow the political and economic developments taking place within the EU throughout the duration of the course and students are encouraged to follow the news during the semester.

Course outcomes/objectives

• understand the historical context that led to the formation of the EU
• understand the theoretical political science concepts of European integration and consider their applicability over time;
• demonstrate the ability to discuss and analyze critically, both verbally and in writing;
• develop the necessary tools and skills for writing a good research paper

Topics may include

• Covid-19 Pandemic

• energy and the environment

• European neighbourhood policy

• migration issues

• policy-making and governance

• security and defence

• trade and monetary policy

POLI 217/GDS 201 - Global Development

Fall 2025
Instructor: Dr. Marlea Clarke
Schedule: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Course description

Roughly 1% of the global population control nearly 1/2 the world’s wealth, while roughly one-tenth of the world’s population is made up of people who live without the ability to meet their basic needs.

• What are some of the causes of global inequalities, and how should we respond?
• How have colonialism, imperialism and western notions of ‘progress’ shaped political and economic developments in other parts of the world through development aid and other interventions?
• Is foreign aid an effective way to address global inequality, or is ‘fair and ethical’ trade a better strategy?

Course outcomes/objectives

• explore theories, policies, debates, and struggles for equitable and sustainable development both historically and within the current global system
• describe the role played by international organizations, governments, social movements and development organizations
• using chocolate and coffee as examples, explore how patterns of trade and consumption have shaped development and global inequalities
• reflect on individual positionality in global development, and personal engagement with policies and practices of global development

Topics may include

• imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism
• sustainable development and decolonizing development
• gender and development
• development ‘aid’ and national development agencies
• fair trade and ethical trade

POLI 240 - Conflict and Cooperation in International Politics

Fall 2025
Instructor: Dr. Scott Watson
Schedule: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

Course description

International politics does not only occur in distant countries, the backrooms of capital cities and global centres or at the United Nations. In a globalized world, international politics occurs all around us and is fundamentally connected to issues that affect our daily lives, the structure of our societies and the form of our economies.

At its root, the study of international politics is the study of power: who has it, who seeks it, and how it is used. This course provides students with a general introduction to both international politics and the discipline of international relations (IR).

Course outcomes/objectives

• identify the major theoretical approaches to IR and the differences between them
• develop a basic knowledge of key issues in international politics
• apply IR theories to key issues in global politics, and critically reflect upon the merits and limitations of the different theoretical approaches
• participate in informed discussion about key issues in world politics
• write a research essay that contains a clear central argument, sufficient evidence and correct citation practices

Topics may include

• international systems and governance
• climate change
• migration
• conflict and security
• human rights
• international law

POLI 263 - Politics of Indigenous Peoples

Course description

In this introductory course, we will survey the politics of Indigenous peoples living within the territories presently claimed by Canada – while remaining fully cognizant that the constructed nature of this scope doesn’t actually reflect the web of Indigenous relationships that supersede state borders.

Key insights will be drawn from an historically-informed approach to contemporary Indigenous politics; noting that Canadian colonialism is reproduced through co-constitutive regimes of racialization, sexism and heterosexism, capitalism, ableism, etc. We will pay attention to the ways in which both the enduring reality of Indigenous peoples’ political authority and the colonial project are experienced and undertaken at different times and in different places.

Course outcomes/objectives

• place contemporary Indigenous politics within a broad historical context, so that the continuities and breakages of colonization will become more readily apparent
• develop critical reflections on how colonialism, anti-colonialism, and the endurance of Indigenous peoples’ political authorities is always already differentially distributed along various intersections of race, gender, class, sexuality, disability, etc.
• link theories and practices on settler-Indigenous relations in present-day Canada

Topics may include:

• Indigenous governance
• treaties
• The Indian Act (1867 - present)
• resurgence
• residential schools 

POLI 300B - Early Modern Political Thought

Prerequisite

Complete POLI 103 or 202; or permission of the department

Course description

This course explores the concepts and arguments of early modern political thought and examines how these ideas shaped modern states, imperial expansion, understandings of citizenship, exclusion and equality, property, labor, colonialism, slavery and gender subordination. We will read major works by Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and J. J. Rousseau, texts written by women and people of colour and several revolutionary documents.

Questions we consider include:

• Is political society natural or artificial?
• What constitutes legitimate government?
• What is the relation between human beings and non-human nature?
• Can land be owned?
• Are social inequalities based on nature or convention?
• If all men are equal, is slavery justified? Why are women subordinate?
• What is the relation between ideas of reason, rule over children and justifications of slavery?
• What is the relation between ideas of labour, justifications of private property and colonialism?

Course outcomes/objectives

• recognize and reconstruct central concepts, problems and arguments of social contract theory
• evaluate and criticize theoretical arguments
• construct and advance your own arguments
• listen to your peers, connect your ideas to theirs, and advance your arguments in dialogue with them
• apply these concepts to new contexts, both current and historical
• identify issues in current events that have motivated social contract theorists and their critics
• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion

Topics may include

• state of nature
• social contract
• equality and exclusion

POLI 300C - Post-Enlightenment Political Thought

Prerequisite

Complete POLI 103 or 202; or permission of the department

Course description

The goal of studying the political thought of the post-enlightenment period is to examine the foundations of the ideologies that have shaped our lives the 20th and 21st centuries. In a very direct way, the major movements of the contemporary era have their roots in the political and intellectual thought of the post-enlightenment era, whether we are discussing Liberalism (in both its classical or ‘Neo’ variety), Marxism, Cosmopolitanism or Feminism. An exploration of these earlier thinkers and texts give us a stronger understanding of the ideas and forces that have shaped the world around us.

Course outcomes/objectives

• explore the foundations of ideologies which have shaped the 20th and 21st centuries
• examine the early investigations of ‘progress’ and they give us an understanding of our own place within history.
• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion
• through close reading of texts, develop analytical and critical-thinking skills
• understand how these influential texts inform current political debates

Topics may include

• Kant and Marx
• progress
• enfranchisement
• liberalism

POLI 305 - Politics of Diversity

Prerequisite

Complete POLI 103 or 202; or permission of the department

Course description

Contemporary political theory has been preoccupied with questions about diversity for the last 50 years. This is partly because, following World War 2, real world political events (the rise of minority nationalism, self-determination and decolonization movements) have mobilized and politicized people on the basis of identity, including their gender, race, language, ethnicity, indigeneity, religion, disability and sexuality. We will explore these trends and the recent debates about inclusion and diversity which have generated new approaches to within feminism, disability studies and critical animal studies.

Course outcomes/objectives

• explore the concepts and questions central to a broad array of political theories about diversity
• examine the impact of diversity on human agency, inclusion and citizenship.
• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion
• through close reading of texts, develop analytical and critical-thinking skills
• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion

Topics may include

• multiculturalism
• recognition and diversity
• radical pluralism

POLI 306 - Introduction to Marxism

Course description

The course explores the origins of the revolutionary tradition in the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, most notably in Marx’s Capital. It also examines some traditions and debates that grew up in their wake, primarily in various Western and some Global-South schools of thought. At the centre throughout are key concepts and ideas of historical dialectical materialism, its critique of political economy, its political theory, and its philosophy.

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop written and verbal communication skills through academic writing and class discussion
• critically assess complex texts of Marx and subsequent scholarship (including orthodox, western, black, indigenous, and feminist engagements with Marx)
• recognize and reconstruct central concepts, problems, and arguments in Marxist political economy
• explore the transformation of Marxist ideas in different times and places, as well as over time

Topics may include

• primitive accumulation

• capitalism and imperialism

• social reproduction

• Marxist internationalisms

POLI 322 - Sweatshops and the Politics of the Clothing Industry

Fall 2025
Instructor: Dr. Marlea Clarke
Schedule: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

Course description 

This course will explore the contemporary clothing industry and its history to investigate the complexities and tensions of one of the world’s largest and most important industries. The global clothing industry presents a conundrum. On one hand, the industry offers potential benefits in terms of creating employment and economic growth for individual countries. On the other hand, the industry is notorious both for exploiting workers, especially women and racialized workers, and for the environmental degradation that overproduction and overconsumption of ‘fast fashion’ exacerbates.

We will explore the political and economic challenges of trying to monitor and regulate a global industry, and explore specific examples where the clothing industry has promoted employment and economic growth as well as problematic examples of “sweatshop” labour and lax environmental regulation. Through a focus on the clothing industry, we will examine broader trends in workers’ rights and resistance, capitalism and consumption.

Prerequisite 

2nd year standing recommended

Course outcomes/objectives

• examine the roots of exploitation in clothing production by tracing its origins and outlining the contemporary global dimensions of the industry
• identify the role of workers and unions in addressing labour exploitation and advancing workers’ rights
• identify the role of the state and global institutions in shaping the industry, working conditions in factories and global trends in production and trade
• develop basic hands-on skills in ‘auditing’ (assessing clothing and retail companies’ performance in terms of workers’ rights and the environment)

Topics may include

• consumer culture and clothing consumption
• gender and workers’ rights
• international law, trade and governance
• clothing consumption and the environment
• labour exploitation and sweatshops
• labour standards and regulation
• workplace organising and union strategies
• corporate social responsibility (CSR)

POLI 338 - Approaches to Political Analysis

Course description 

This course introduces students of political science to a variety of approaches in the social sciences. It is designed to help students to design their research projects by developing some familiarity with current methodological debates and by asking a fundamental question: how and to what extent is it possible to combine different perspectives into a coherent research design?

This course underscores the fact that there is no single approach to political science, and, there is no unique ‘best’ approach to understanding and explaining complex political phenomena. There is an on-going debate among political scientists regarding the validity of several competing and complementary approach. Instead, we will learn in this course that there is a plurality of approaches and we ought to consider the validity of each approach.

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop familiarity with current methodological debates
• understand plurality and validity of approaches to understanding complex political phenomena

Topics may include

• theories of approaches and methods

• research design

POLI 341 - United Nations and Global Issues

Course description 

The Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations sets out lofty and ambitious goals for this international organization, including reaffirmation of fundamental human rights, saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war, and maintaining conditions of justice and respect for international law. Its contemporary supporters view the UN as the primary entity through which states and non-state actors can achieve these goals; for others it stands more as an indicator of failure than success.

The goal of this course is not to resolve this debate, but to examine the history of the UN, its institutional makeup and the politics of its key agencies. We will also examine the UN’s response to important global issues and at the future of the UN itself.

Course outcomes/objectives

• understand the structure and processes of the UN
• examine factors that encourage and impede international cooperation
• explore the practice of diplomacy
• evaluate and critique contemporary practices of global governance
• through close reading of texts, develop analytical and critical-thinking skills

Topics may include

• UN Charter
• affiliated actors
• human rights
• Indigenous rights
• migrants and refugees

POLI 344 - International Political Economy

Fall 2025
Instructor: Dr. Colin Chia
Schedule: Monday and Thursday 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Course description 

This course is an advanced introduction for students to key debates, concepts and themes of International Political Economy (IPE). IPE is a field of study that examines the interrelations of economic and political structures, actors and processes to understand how world order is organized.

Using an IPE perspective, the class will examine the relations of power that construct global, national, and subnational institutions and social change, and how they are contested. Students will also examine both key historical and contemporary topics of investigation in IPE to understand how theoretical and empirical topics have arisen and their implications for knowledge production.

Prerequisite

POLI 240, or permission of the department

Course outcomes/objectives

• introduce IPE as a field of study, including its histories, theories and topics of inquiry
• understand the relationship between politics and the global economy
• build an ability to think, read, and communicate logically and critically from an IPE perspective
• develop a self-reflexive approach to understanding how various assumptions and values are shaped and their implications for world events
• enhance verbal and written communication skills through your class participation, class presentations, and written work

Topics may include

• historical political and economic structures and transformations

• actors in IPE including the state, global governance institutions, corporations, and civil society organizations

• globalization

• global finance

• international trade

• environmental governance

• neoliberalism

POLI 346 - Canadian Foreign Policy

Fall 2025
Instructor: Dr. Will Greaves
Schedule: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

Course description 

We will study a range of historical and contemporary issues in Canadian foreign policy (CanFP), and use conceptual tools to critically assess those issues against recent developments in global and Canadian politics. Students will:

• explore theories of Canada’s foreign policy and place in the world
• examine the institutions, administration, and politics of foreign policymaking in Canada
• assess how much power and influence Canada has internationally
• examine the influence of external factors on Canada’s foreign policy choices

Students will gain an understanding of continuity and change in Canadian foreign policy practice and of the emergence of new issues as a result of broader processes in domestic and global politics. Policy areas will include:

• security and defence policy
• economic relations and trade
• the Canada-U.S. relationship
• foreign aid
• Indigenous peoples
• climate change

Course outcomes/objectives

• understand the major theoretical and practical understandings of how Canadian foreign policy is formulated and implemented
• examine important historical and contemporary issues in Canadian foreign policy
• understand the relationship between Canadian history, political institutions and contemporary Canadian foreign policy priorities and their formulations
• develop a critical awareness of recent and current trends in Canada’s global engagement.
• build written and verbal communication skills through essay writing and discussion

Topics may include

• Indigenous sovereignties and diplomacies
• Canada and the United States
• security and defence policy
• international organizations

POLI 350/ADMN 311 - Introduction to Public Administration

Fall 2025
Instructor: TBA 
Schedule: Online

Course description 

This course explores external and internal factors affecting contemporary public sector management in Canada. We will discuss the various legislative, executive and judicial processes which engage public officials and citizens. The course sets the theoretical and institutional context and examines emerging trends in public administration. We then proceed with an analysis of how various layers of the public sector function. This includes federal, provincial, local and Indigenous forms and modes of governance.

We will examine current and emerging debates about public institutions, laws, policies and diversity. Course material includes a range of text and visual materials that integrate diverse perspectives on how to advance public goods and interests. We will examine the functioning of various institutions and their responses to the contemporary challenges of our time.

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop written communication through essay writing
• debate and evaluate techniques of public administration
• understand the policy-making process, forms of engagement and decision-making
• understand the various approaches, processes and organization of public administration

Topics may include

• Westminster model
• public service
• decision-making models
• levels of government including local municipal government
• Indigenous governance

POLI 351- Public Policy Analysis

Course description 

This course introduces students to the fundamental skills of policy analysis, the structure and operation of the civil service, and to real-world challenges involved in identifying and solving public policy problems. Throughout the term there will be opportunities for students to examine what it is to be a civil servant, the role of government in society, and consider how members of the bureaucracy interact with elected officials.

In addition to examining the role of the public service in analysing, proposing, and administering government programs, students will also build practical skills relevant to work as an analyst, including identifying policy problems, researching and evaluating policy alternatives, and making recommendations through briefing notes and presentations. Throughout the term, emphasis will be on systematic and transparent analysis, and writing and presenting materials in a manner that is appropriate for the intended audience.

Course outcomes/objectives

• identify and describe policy problems
• identify multiple solutions to policy problems and complete transparent and unbiased analysis to determine which is most appropriate
• prepare briefing notes and other materials that are well researched, clear, concise, and appropriate for their intended audience

Topics may include

• public policy frameworks

• approaches to public policy

• consultation and stakeholder analysis

• policy instruments

POLI 365 - British Columbia Political Economy

Course description 

POLI 365 is an examination of the political and economic development of the province of British Columbia including:

• political orientations and social cleavages
• party systems, civil-societal organizations, and social movements
• colonial, dispossessing status and origins
• various institutions and social structures.

In this sense, “political economy” is a thing or process to be studied – the contending agents and structures of extraction, production, exchange, political and civil-societal action, and household relations. In addition, “political economy” is a specific family of critical analytical frameworks for studying life in BC – and life more generally. Otherwise diverse, these frameworks tend to imagine whatever they study in a holistic, relational, and dynamic manner.

This course’s examination of BC political economy uses analytical frameworks that emphasize relationships between things rather than things in themselves and separate from one another, and that view those relationships in larger, defined structures that themselves stand in defined but dynamic relationships to one another.

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop knowledge of BC through the interplay of state, economic, civil-societal, and household structures and relationships and their interrelationship with non-human natural relationships
• explore leading political-economic frameworks for analyzing situations like those arising in British Columbia. These include staples, Marxist, feminist, anti-racist and de-colonizing political economic frameworks
• build research and writing skills for third-year interdisciplinary, political-economic and political science scholarship.

Topics may include

• Indigenous land and bodies
• extractivism
• precarity and sectoral change
• migrant labour
• political economy of illegal commodities

POLI 381 - Politics of Mass Media (formerly Politics of Mass Media in Latin America)

Course description 

Media are a key political actor in democracy and democratization. But, how? What are the limitations? How can the limitations be overcome? How do journalists and media affect the outcome of democratic elections? This course will explore how media are used, controlled and censored.

Course outcomes/objectives

• explore the relationship between democracy and media
• examine the complex role the media can play in democratic elections
• identify and distinguish what is meant by agenda setting, framing and priming
• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion

Topics may include

• mass media systems
• public opinion
• authoritarian regimes
• democratization
• democracy and neoliberalism

POLI 412 - (Seminar) Migration, Nationalism and Identity in Asia

Course description

Migration has greatly complicated and unsettled the taken-for-granted associations between people, places, and identity in the age of nation-states and borders. Seemingly simple questions are fraught with nuance and complexity:

• “Who is Chinese”?
• “Who is Indian”?
• “Who is a migrant?”
• “What is a nation?”

Migration links intimately to several important issues such as colonialism/empire, global uneven development, racism, wars and revolutions, nationalism, identity, citizenship rights/legal regimes and gender relations. Migration provides us an exciting opportunity to understand a matter of considerable importance by means of scholarship from political science, human geography, sociology, anthropology and history.

This seminar will help students critically analyze the complex political, economic, and cultural dynamics of migration, colonialism, capitalism, nationalism, and identity in Asia. In particular, we will critically interrogate myths surrounding migration, nationalism, identity and Asia. The course views migration in Asia as part of a global phenomenon.

Course outcomes/objectives

• understand political, economic and social feature of migration in Asia
• think conceptually about migration, identity and nationalism
• recognize and identify key concepts in migration in Asia
• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion

Topics may include

• colonialism and migration
• Settler-Indigenous relations
• diaspora
• labour recruitment

POLI 423 - (Seminar) Neoliberal Canada

Course description  

Neoliberalism has been the prevailing form of governance across much of the world for almost forty years. It has been located in myriad spaces, from policies like privatization, deregulation and austerity to the ways in which neoliberal citizenship governs how we live our lives. In this course, we will trace the emergence of neoliberal governance in Canada. 

The course includes 3 units that seek to understand exactly what neoliberalism is, how it emerged in Canada and what its (and our) future holds. We will trace the emergence and growth of neoliberal thought, starting with the context that incubated the ideas of neoliberal thinkers such F.A. Hayek and Milton Friedman, then think about how to best conceptualize exactly what neoliberalism is, focussing on political economy and institutional understandings of neoliberalism versus post-structural perspectives. Finally, we will take these lessons and deploying them to understand how neoliberalism came to Canada and how it has been articulated here in specific places and in specific ways.

Prerequisites 

Complete one 300-level course in political science or permission of the department

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion
• have a sound understanding of the history of neoliberal ideas
• be able to identify various theoretical perspectives on neoliberalism
• feel comfortable deploying concepts related to neoliberalism in research

Topics may include

• neoliberalism
• policy
• Canadian politics
• political economy
• governmentality

POLI 433 - (Seminar) Issues in Politics: "Technology and World Politics"

Course description

This course examines key issues and debates in the regulation and governance of technology, with particular focus on the contexts of world politics and international relations. Specific topics include approaches to the governance of technology, internet and cybersecurity threats, military and industrial innovation and international rivalry over technological industries and production. 

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop writing and seminar presentation skills
• understand the relationship between regulation and governance of technology in world politics
• advance arguments on key topics in both written and spoken form

Topics may include

• cybersecurity threats
• military innovation
• international rivalry
• governance of technology

POLI 433 - (Seminar) Issues in Politics: "Minorities and Majorities"

Course description

TBA

POLI 499 - Honours Seminar and Essay

Course description

This course is for students writing their Honours thesis for defence in the Spring term of
the 2025-26 academic year. We will meet to review orientation; discussion of methodology and research design; discussion of thesis proposals; discussion of draft thesis chapters; and preparation for thesis defences. In this seminar, students will share drafts of their research proposals and thesis chapters in small groups to receive feedback and critique, and will be required to post draft materials to the POLI 499 Brightspace site.

POLI 101 - Canadian Politics

Spring 2026
Instructor: Dr. Matt James
Schedule: Tuesday and Thursday 4:30 - 6 p.m.

Course description

This course will explore some of the major divisions and fault lines in Canadian politics, with a particular emphasis on understanding conflicts over sovereignty and the ways in which traditional assumptions of Canadian politics have been challenged in recent decades.

We begin by examining the colonial history and machinations that led to Confederation. After discussing the idea of a distinctive Canadian political culture, the course then looks at the contours and conduct of partisan politics at the official level, focusing on Canadian elections, parties and party systems. The remainder of the course studies the country’s central societal debates and divisions, starting with what the political scientist Peter Russell calls Canada’s constitutional odyssey.

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop knowledge of Canadian politics including the conflicts with an emphasis on the debates surrounding sovereignty and self-determination
• explore themes of identity and equity
• expand critical thinking skills including the ability to analyze, synthesize, interpret and evaluate ideas, information, situations and texts
• develop and practice academic writing skills
• develop and practice research skills related to the discipline of political science

Topics may include

• Quebec nationalism
• Indigenous peoples and settler colonialism
• feminism and gender
• racialization and multiculturalism
• globalization

POLI 103 - Worlds of Politics

Spring 2026
Instructor: Dr. Will Greaves
Schedule: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10:30 -11:30 a.m.

Course description 

What is politics and what is political science? Political science deals with political activity and behaviour which can be found in a vast array of areas and contexts.

The first that comes to mind are systems of government in Canada and across the globe. But politics also appears in everyday actions such as the consumer choices that you make about food to eat or what products to buy and the modes of communication that you use. Using case studies and readings, we will organize the course into four units: an introduction to political science and its research methods; political theory; comparative politics; international relations.

Course outcomes/objectives

• understand basic concepts and areas of study in the discipline of political science
• apply political ideas, institutions and outcomes within different settings
• analyze, interpret and evaluate ideas, information, situations and texts
• develop and practice academic writing skills
• develop and practice research skills related to the discipline of political science

Topics may include

• research methods
• key ideas, theories and historical examples
• current affairs
• Indigenous politics
• populism 

POLI 201 - Canadian Institutions of Government

Course description

Canada’s governing institutions, including colonial, liberal-democratic, federal, and parliamentary, have a long history marked by both continuities and changes. Whatever opinion you may have about them, understanding how they operate is useful. This course introduces these institutions, their origins, and conceptual frameworks for understanding them.

Topics may include the imperial legacy, crown sovereignty, parliament, the prime minister and cabinet, the courts, federalism, the police, and the charter of rights. We also look at key turning points in Canadian history, when new elements of the constitutional framework arose out of political debates and decisions and took their modern form. This course also provides some limited training and assignments to enhance students’ academic writing skills. 

Course outcomes/objectives

• identify the history, structure, and functions of key Canadian governing institutions
• develop an understanding of liberal-democracy and other concepts as they are defined, debated and assessed in distinct and sometimes conflicting ways
• develop analytical reading, speaking and writing skills
• practice research, reasoning and presentation skills

Topics may include

• liberal democracy
• parliamentary government
• federalism
• settler-colonialism
• constitutional law and convention
• Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• policing and the judicial system

POLI 202 - Introduction to Political Theory

Spring 2026
Instructor: Dr. Mara Marin
Schedule: Monday and Thursday 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Course description

This course introduces students to political theory as an essential component of the study of politics. Political theory involves paying close attention to the concepts, language and the basic problems of politics as we try to understand and judge our political institutions and practices. We will read a variety of texts of social and political philosophy and ask the following questions:

• What is justice?
• What is a political community? Is it natural or conventional?
• Who is included, who is excluded and why?
• Is it compatible with private property?
• Who is responsible for raising children?
• Is democracy the best regime? What are the constraints and opportunities of political rulers?
• How are exclusion, marginalization, subordination, dispossession and slavery justified?
• What is colonialism?
• What is the relation between politics and the economy? In what forms have we inherited these political ideas?

Course outcomes/objectives

• read and understand complex texts
• recognize and reconstruct concepts and arguments in these texts
• evaluate and criticize theoretical arguments
• construct and advance your own arguments
• listen to your peers, connect your ideas to theirs and advance your arguments in dialogue with them
• become familiar with central concepts and problems of social and political thought and identify these in current events
• develop your ability to apply these concepts to new contexts, both current and historical

Topics may include

• Plato; Machiavelli; Marx; Baldwin
• development of political traditions
• diversity of political thought
• the history of political thought

POLI 210 - Comparing Politics around the World

Spring 2026
Instructor: Dr. Michelle Bonner
Schedule: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.

Course description

Comparative politics, one of the major sub-fields of political science, offers insights into the internal political dynamics of countries around the world, including the similarities and differences in how state institutions are structured and variation in political practices.

We will examine basic concepts in comparative politics such as:

• regime types
• human rights
• media
• elections
• political parties
• social movements.

We will also explore how such key political science concepts as democracy are practiced in different countries and how to make generalizations about the concept and practice of democracy. This course provides background for further studies in comparative politics at the 300 and 400-level.

Course outcomes/objectives

• explore the concepts and themes of comparative politics and understand how and why comparison is conducted
• build critical thinking skills including the ability to analyze, synthesize, interpret and evaluate ideas, information, situations and texts
• develop and practice academic writing skills
• develop and practice research skills related to the discipline of political science

Topics may include

• democracy and Democratization

• state structures and opposition

• political accountability and corruption

POLI 240 - Conflict and Cooperation in International Politics

Spring 2026
Instructor: Dr. Colin Chia
Schedule: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. 

Course description

International politics does not only occur in distant countries, the backrooms of capital cities and global centres or at the United Nations. In a globalized world, international politics occurs all around us and is fundamentally connected to issues that affect our daily lives, the structure of our societies and the form of our economies.

At its root, the study of international politics is the study of power: who has it, who seeks it, and how it is used. This course provides students with a general introduction to both international politics and the discipline of international relations (IR).

Course outcomes/objectives

• identify the major theoretical approaches to IR and the differences between them
• develop a basic knowledge of key issues in international politics
• apply IR theories to key issues in global politics, and critically reflect upon the merits and limitations of the different theoretical approaches
• participate in informed discussion about key issues in world politics
• write a research essay that contains a clear central argument, sufficient evidence and correct citation practices

Topics may include

• international systems and governance
• climate change
• migration
• conflict and security
• human rights
• international law

POLI 300A - Ancient and Medieval Political Thought

Prerequisite

Complete POLI 103 or 202; or permission of the department

Course description

In this course, we will study of major works of political theory from Ancient Greece and the medieval period, specifically Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Alfarabi, and Christine de Pizan. These texts are foundational as they explore and engage with problems and themes that are still central to the practice of political theory today. In many ways these texts serve to produce (for better and worse) the framework for political thought that we adhere to today. By investigating these texts, we are also investigating the roots of our own political concepts and questions.

Course outcomes/objectives

• through close reading of texts, develop analytical and critical-thinking skills
• understand how these influential texts inform current political debates
• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion

Topics may include

• politics and morality
• the ‘good life’ and its relationship to different political regimes
• hierarchy and power
• the influence of classical Greek thought on contemporary politics

POLI 311/EUS 311 - Governments and Politics in Europe

Course description

We study the development of European states, their institutions, and policies in comparative perspective, examining the differences and similarities across European states, and whether or not they persist in the face of European integration. The material is laid out thematically, rather than country-by-country, and focuses on comparative governance structures.

We will look at central issues and political processes, to include political parties, ideologies, electoral systems, interest groups, and institutions. We examine more current events and debates in a comparative manner, to include (but not limited to) regional integration, secessionist movements, economic policies, human migration, and security. Students will learn how to select cases that allow for meaningful comparisons in order to evaluate the political structures of different countries in an informed and informative way.

Prerequisite

Complete POLI 211, or permission of the department

Course outcomes/objectives

• understand the historical context of Europe as a continent
• explore the concepts of European political institutions and governmental organization
• develop a comparative framework of European countries and institutions
• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion

Topics may include

• regional governance

• evolution of ideologies and interests in European states

• secessionist movements

• nationalism

• human migration

• international relations

• security and defense

POLI 321 - Introduction to Research Methods in Political Science

Spring 2026
Instructor: TBA
Schedule: Monday and Thursday 10-11:30 a.m.

Course description 

This course introduces students of political science how to conduct research and critically assess research results and design. The course will teach students how political scientists ask answerable questions:

• how we define key political concepts
• how we formulate hypotheses and theories about political dynamics
• how we measure the phenomena we want to study
• how we think about and assess relationships of cause-and-effect
• how we report our findings to the world.

This course also develops skills that will help students know how to write up, present and discuss empirical research findings. Students will learn by using employing the concepts, ideas and methods on a topic of their choosing.

Prerequisite 

A minimum third-year standing, declared honours or major in political science or permission of the department

Course outcomes/objectives

• understand the scientific method and basics of philosophy of science
• distinguish between qualitative and quantitative research methods
• understand the basic principles of various research methods
• understand how variability influences data and outcomes
• become familiar with very basic statistics
• develop written and verbal communication skills through group projects and individual assignments

Topics may include

• political behaviour
• voting
• public opinion
• social movements
• public policy coordination

POLI 327 - Political Economy of the Global South

Course description 

This course introduces students to important debates within the political economy of development. It focuses on the global south (‘post-colonial’ countries of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Oceania, and Latin America) and examines political struggles and processes of global change from the perspectives and experiences of people and organisations in these regions. The first section of the course examines decolonisation, post WWII institutions of development, development aid, the 1980s debt crisis and related imposition of neoliberal economic restructuring programs.

The second section of the course focuses on the political economy of trade and consumption (new module for 2025-2026). We will use several key commodities (e.g. coffee, cotton, chocolate) to examine these main questions:

• How were unequal economic and trade relations between Global North and Global South countries consolidated in the post WWII period?  
• How have Global South countries tried to achieve economic independence and alternative development strategies?
• How might alternative trade arrangements, such as ‘bean to bar’ chocolate, ‘direct trade’ coffee, or ‘fair trade’ cotton challenge the dominant, unequal trading relationships and promote environmentally sustainable production?

Guest speakers and experiential learning activities such as coffee and / or chocolate tasting will be included in this new module.

Finally, the third section explores the increasing importance and changing nature of south-south relations, including growing trade and development partnerships between Global South countries. No prior study of economics is needed for this course – we will be concerned with ‘real world’ issues, not economic theories!

Course outcomes/objectives

• understand the political economy of development
• ability to present and evaluate some of the key debates over diverse economic development strategies
• describe the role of key institutions in global development: the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and World Trade Organisation (WTO)
• explore theories, policies, debates, and struggles for equitable and sustainable development both historically and within the current global system

Topics may include

• global governance and post WWII institutions of development
• the debt crisis and structural adjustment policies
• trade and development
• migration
• fair trade and ethical trade

POLI 345 - Ethics in International Relations

Course description 

Many of the most contentious and pressing issues in international politics present difficult ethical dilemmas: how ought we to respond when there are conflicting values at stake? Engaging with complex and contentious issues requires ethical assessment and, ultimately, decisions on which policies are right to pursue.

• Are there situations in which states may legitimately wage war, and is it ever acceptable to target non-combatants?
• Are communities justified in restricting immigration, even of refugees?
• Is there a moral duty to redistribute wealth globally, and if so, how?
• Who bears primary responsibility for the costs of preventing, mitigating, or adapting to climate change?

Course outcomes/objectives

• identify key contributions of, and differences between, ethical traditions in international political thought
• formulate arguments, in written and oral form, in relation to these traditions across a range of cases and issues
• evaluate and critique contemporary practices of international relations
• develop core undergraduate skills such as effective writing, textual analysis and critical thinking

Topics may include

• normative theory
• realism
• feminist international ethics
• nuclear deterrence
• deontology and consequetialism
• distributive justice
• cosmopolitanism
• Indigenous perspectives

POLI 348 - Security, War and Mass Violence in International Politics

Course description 

Traditionally, the study of international security focused on the causes of violent conflict between states, mostly major powers. Changes in the international system and the expansion of the realm of security studies have, according to one scholar, rendered security an essentially contested topic.

Security scholars and practitioners now grapple with fundamental questions concerning the nature of security, such as 1) what does security, and insecurity, mean, 2) how do we assess threat claims, 3) what are the primary threats to international security, 4) whose security is paramount, states or individuals, and 5) who are the legitimate providers of security? This course aims to provide students with the tools and ability to address these important questions, through the application of IR theory and contemporary case study.

Prerequisite

• POLI 240, or permission of the department

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion
• examine the scholarly theories of international security
• develop a critical attitude to varied perspectives
• use theory and evidence to make sense of global conflict
• explore debates using credible media sources

Topics may include

• causes of war
• theories of international security
• migration and security
• terrorism
• international security cooperation

POLI 350/ADMN 311 - Introduction to Public Administration

Spring 2026
Instructor: Dr. Sean Darling
Schedule: Wednesday 6:30 - 9:30 p.m.

Course description 

This course explores external and internal factors affecting contemporary public sector management in Canada. We will discuss the various legislative, executive and judicial processes which engage public officials and citizens.

The course sets the theoretical and institutional context and examines emerging trends in public administration. We then proceed with an analysis of how various layers of the public sector function. This includes federal, provincial, local and Indigenous forms and modes of governance. We will examine current and emerging debates about public institutions, laws, policies and diversity. Course material includes a range of text and visual materials that integrate diverse perspectives on how to advance public goods and interests. We will examine the functioning of various institutions and their responses to the contemporary challenges of our time.

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop written communication through essay writing
• debate and evaluate techniques of public administration
• understand the policy-making process, forms of engagement and decision-making
• understand the various approaches, processes and organization of public administration

Topics may include

• Westminster model
• public service
• decision-making models
• levels of government including local municipal government
• Indigenous governance

POLI 363 - Indigenous Politics in Canada

Course description 

This course explores prevailing political narratives shaping the relationships between Indigenous nations, settler society, and the Canadian state and considers possibilities for Indigenous futures. Together we will interrogate the stories we have been told about Indigenous politics in Canada and consider our own positioning in relation to those narratives. Heeding calls from Indigenous communities to reject colonial permanence, this course will engage with Indigenous articulations of liberated futures.

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion
• review historical and contemporary context of the Indigenous-state relationship
• explore narratives of liberation and future-building
• examine power and intersections of race, gender, class, sexuality, (dis)ability in relation to governance

Topics may include

• decolonization

• Indigenous governance

• sovereignty

• resurgence movements

• Indigenous futurisms

POLI 372 - Latin American Politics

Course description 

In the 1970s, most countries in Latin America were either under authoritarian regimes, or engaged in civil wars. By 1990, most counties in the region were electoral democracies and no longer involved in official internal wars. Yet aspects of former authoritarian regimes persist and new forms violence have emerged. Many countries in the region are trying to reconcile with the past while simultaneously fighting rising crime, drug trafficking, gangs, vigilantism, corruption, and police violence. In this way, the study of Latin American politics today forces us to rethink simplistic understandings of democracy and authoritarianism.

This course offers the opportunity to understand the politics of this region through a critical examination of democracy and authoritarianism. Building on first and second year courses (particularly Poli 103, 217, and 210), the lens of democracy and authoritarianism is used to analyze the history, governments and political actors of Latin America. Theory is complemented with an examination of politics in selected countries. The countries we will discuss in the course include Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil. You have the opportunity to explore an additional country, or issue that emerges from the course, in your final paper.

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop knowledge and analysis of the diversity of politics in the region
• examine how authoritarian regimes transition to democracy and the competing meanings of democracy and democratization.
• question some of the stereotypes of Latin America
• develop core undergraduate skills such as effective writing, research, analysis, and argumentation

Topics may include

• authoritarianism and dictatorship
• international economic actors
• human rights in emerging democracies

POLI 382 - Politics and Religion

Course description 

POLI 382 explores points of overlap between the two vital dimensions of human experience and social life: politics and religion. We will explore the supposed separation of politics and religion and whether it does, or can, actually exist and the significant nation-, region- and tradition-specific case studies which emerged in the 1900s and continue to play out today. How do these debates and questions reverberate in contemporary society and what do they reveal about the future?

Course outcomes/objectives

• critique the supposed division between politics and religion
• examine how “religion” and “secular” have been molded in relation to one another through diverse historical and contemporary instances, worldwide
• explore how discourses and significances of religion are deployed within the context of political interests
• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion

Topics may include

• intersecting concepts of religion, politics, and secularity
• civil religion and political religion
• worldwide instances of supposed, contemporary religious resurgence
• critiques of so-called fundamentalist movements
• religion and global colonial, postcolonial, and neocolonial transformations
• religion and policy considerations surrounding social and scientific dilemmas like climate change and global pandemics

POLI 387 - Gender and the Politics of Everyday Life (formerly Feminist Political Economy)

Course description 

TBA

POLI 388 - Politics of Sports

Course description 

“Shut up and dribble” insisted Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham after Lebron James commented on the Trump presidency. Try as Ingraham might, though, separating sports and politics is not so simple.

POLI 388 explores how power operates through sports. Topics will include the funding of professional sports stadiums, nationalism and cultural institutions such as Hockey Night in Canada, and the politics of international sporting competitions such as the Olympics and World Cup.

Course outcomes/objectives:

• explore the relationship between sports and politics
• explore how discourses of sports are deployed within the context of political interests
• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion

Topics may include:

• nationalism

• cultural institutions

• international sporting competitions

POLI 401/501 - (Seminar) Advanced Topics in Political Theory "Race and Capitalism"

Course description 

This seminar is an advanced course in political theory that introduces you to the literature on racial capitalism. We will examine historical and contemporary analyses of the capitalist processes that produce or reproduce racial divisions. Topics will include the origins of capitalism, the relation between capitalism and feudalism, enclosure of the commons, ongoing primitive accumulation of capital, expropriation, housewifization, international division of labour and the devaluation of black labour.

Prerequisite

Complete 1 of POLI 300A, POLI 300B, POLI 300C, or permission of the department.

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion
• recognize and articulate the meaning of key concepts in a literature that connects the processes of capitalism with the creation of racial divisions
• reconstruct the role of these concepts in the theoretical arguments advanced in this literature and evaluate the arguments
• advance arguments on these topics in both written and spoken form

Topics may include

• enclosure of the commons

• ongoing primitive accumulation of capital

• expropriation

• colonization

• housewifization

• international division of labour

• slave labour

• devaluation of black labour

POLI 426/GDS 400 - (Seminar) Rethinking International Development

Course description 

Advanced interdisciplinary seminar on contemporary issues and debates in global development. Engages with theoretical and real-world policy challenges while rethinking conventional approaches to development ground in western assumptions of progress.  We begin the course by critically examining research in and for global development and will think about our own positionality in terms of global development. We then turn to examine several key issues and debates in global development in a seminar format. The course includes some skills-based learning and provides opportunities for students to choose an experiential learning project or a more traditional research paper for their final assignment.  

Prerequisite

POLI 217/GDS 201 – or permission of the instructor

Course outcomes/objectives

• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion
• develop applied skills in ‘research in and for development’
• have a sound understanding of key thematic issues explored in the course and some of the ‘policy’ or proposed ‘development aid’ solutions to such issues
• recognize and articulate different perspectives about development and understand how these shape debates on contemporary issues explored in the course
• develop strong reading skills to be able to identify and map the logic of an argument

Topics may include

• decolonizing development
• Indigenous Perspectives: sustainability and development
• political economy of resource extraction
• forced labour & employment conditions in commodity supply chains (e.g. cotton, coffee, chocolate, cobalt)
• philanthropy and development
• eco-tourism / voluntourism
• climate change and migration
• China and the Global South
• NGOs and development (doing good or a new form of colonial endeavour?)

POLI 433 - (Seminar) Issues in Politics "Memory and Democracy: What Can Social Remembering do for Accountability and Political Equality?"

Course description 

TBA

POLI 463 - (Seminar) Violence to Indigenous Lands and Bodies

Course description 

Indigenous lands and bodies have been constructed as terra nullius, wastelands and criminal spaces, enabling the US and Canada to avert attention from their own illegality. The imposition of colonial law, facilitated by casting Indigenous peoples as savage and in need of civilization and constructing Indigenous lands as lawless spaces absent legal order, have made it possible for the United States and Canada to reduce Indigenous political authority and dispossess Indigenous nations of their lands.

Settler colonial logics operate to keep state sovereignty discursively intact while implementing and mobilizing settler sovereignty in ways that play out on Indigenous bodies and lands. This course is discussion based. You are expected and required to come to class prepared to discuss the readings with a critical lens. This class covers a range of political and legal issues.

Course outcomes/objectives

• examine Indigenous relationships to their territories
• explore Indigenous assertions of sovereignty and resistance to the state
• understand settler colonialism and its enduring impacts including gender violence and policy responses
• develop written and verbal communication through essay writing and discussion

Topics may include

• economies of violence
• colonial space, elimination and containment
• heteropatriarchy
• discourses of reconciliation and healing

POLI 499 - Honours Seminar and Essay

Course description

This course is for students writing their Honours thesis for defence in the Spring term of
the 2025-26 academic year. We will meet to review orientation; discussion of methodology and research design; discussion of thesis proposals; discussion of draft thesis chapters; and preparation for thesis defences. In this seminar, students will share drafts of their research proposals and thesis chapters in small groups to receive feedback and critique, and will be required to post draft materials to the POLI 499 Brightspace site.