Undergraduate courses

POLI 210 - Comparing Politics around the World

July 6 - August 21, 2026
Instructor: Dr. Lynn Ng
Delivery: Online hybrid synchronous and asynchronous
Sychronous schedule: Mondays and Wednesdays 9:30-noon

---

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 300B - Early Modern Political Thought

July 6 - August 21, 2026
Instructor: Neil Montgomery
Delivery: Online synchronous
Synchronous schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-noon

---

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

Topics may include

• state of nature
• social contract
• equality and exclusion

POLI 346 - Canadian Foreign Policy

May 11 - June 26, 2026
Instructor: Dr. Emma Swan
Delivery: Online synchronous
Synchronous schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-noon

---

Course description

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

May 6 - July 31, 2026
Instructor: Dr. Susanne Thiessen
Delivery: Online asynchronous

---

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 which 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 how various institutions function 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 369 - Issues in Canadian Politics "Canadian Political Parties"

July 6 - August 21, 2026
Instructor: Dr. Cara Camcastle
Delivery: Online synchronous
Synchronous schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays 6 - 8:30 p.m.

---

Course description

This course explores the development of Canadian parties and Canadian party systems. It
first looks at Canada’s party systems and the different parties that have shaped federal
politics. It then looks at the different mechanics of parties focusing on party membership
and activists, the leadership and candidate recruitment, and party financing. In doing so
the course challenges students to think carefully about how Canadian party politics has
evolved.

Course outcomes/objectives

• explore the evolution of Canada's party system and the reasons why different parties have been successful historically and why they are successful (or not) today
• learn about the mechanics of leadership selection, candidate selection, membership recruitment and party finance
• develop written and verbal communication skills through essay writing and discussion
• build independent research skills

Topics may include

• gender
• regional challenges
• ideology
• leadership and ideology

POLI 373 - African Politics

May 11 - June 26, 2026
Instructor: Dr. Smith Oduro-Marfo
Delivery: Online synchronous
Synchronous schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays 6-8:30 p.m.

---

Course description

The African continent is very diverse. and home home to multiple identities, cultures, societies and institutions. As a result, there is hardly a monolithic ‘African Politics’ that can be pointed to,
despite the singular and sweeping narratives that often accompany analysis and discussions of
politics in Africa.

This course takes a broad survey approach to appreciating various political trends and practices across Africa. We will explore historical, empirical and theoretical tools and perspectives that help students to analyze politics in Africa and is not necessarily about investigating the specific nature of politics in every African country.

Course outcomes/objectives

• Appreciate the diversity of politics and political institutions across African countries.
• Explore the historical institutions that shape politics in African countries (or not)
• Access theories and concepts that help to explain various political themes and
  how they manifest in African countries
• develop written and verbal communication skills through essay writing and discussion
• build independent research skills

Topics may include

• development and democracy
• citizenship, identity and protest
• security and conflicts
• global south and global north relations

POLI 433 - Issues in Politics "Politics of Civil Disobedience"

May 11 - June 26, 2026
Instructor: Dr. Michael Carpenter
Delivery: In-person
Synchronous schedule: Mondays and Wednesdays 1 - 3:30 p.m.

---

Course description

Civil resistance, also known as unarmed struggle and nonviolent action, offers a radical alternative to conventional approaches to power and conflict. As a field of study, civil resistance goes back over a hundred years, to the ideas of Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas Gandhi, and Clarence Marsh Case, with antecedents going back many hundreds of years.

Despite a well-developed research agenda and scholarly literature, civil resistance has only recently made inroads into mainstream political science and still remains relatively obscure at most universities. This course provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the study of civil resistance, with a focus on its concepts, case studies, and contemporary debates.

Course outcomes/objectives

• explore contemporary debates and concepts
• examine case studies of civil resistance in history
• develop written and verbal communication skills through essay writing and discussion
• build independent research skills

Topics may include

• noncooperation
• communicative protest
• Indigenous resurgence
• mass movements