POLI 399 Outline 2010/11 Fall

COURSE NUMBER:

POLI 399

COURSE TITLE:

Special Topics in Political Science - 2010/11 Fall -War and Peace

NAME OF INSTRUCTOR:

Dr William Van Arragon, Dr Michael DeMoor

CREDIT WEIGHT AND WEEKLY TIME DISTRIBUTION:

credits 3(hrs lect 3 - hrs sem 0 - hrs lab 0)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

A course on a topic of figure of special interest to a member of the political science faculty and offered on a non-recurring basis.

Prerequisites: POLI 205

2010/11 Fall
Blessed are the peacemakers, said Jesus, and this course offers an interdisciplinary inquiry into the issues of war and peace in the Western tradition. The course will mix philosophical and theological approaches (just war theory, humanitarian intervention, and Christian non-violence, for example) with historical case studies (especially the Crusades and the Second World War but also reaching to contemporary conflicts such as the “War on Terror”). This will be a seminar-style course based on weekly discussion of a common set of readings. The goal is to provide students with a heightened awareness of the range of perspectives on war and peace both in the past and in our world today.

Same as HIST 399 and PHES 498A

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Larry May, editor. War: Essays in Political Philosophy (Cambridge, 2008)
Rodney Stark, God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades (HarperOne, 2009)
Additional course readings will be assigned throughout the semester.

MARK DISTRIBUTION IN PERCENT:

Review of Stark's God's Battalions (4-5 pages)	20%
Presentation	10%
Major Review Paper (7-8 pages)	30%
Attendance and Participation	10%
Final Exam	30%

	100%

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

To introduce students to the major ideas regarding war and peace in the Western tradition.
To enable students to understand how these historic ideas influence the contemporary world.
To enable students to engage and critically interact with these ideas from a Christian perspective.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Introduction
Early Xian Thought
Crusades
Jus ad Bellum
Jus in Bello
The Fog of War
WWII
Modern Warfare
Ending War

Required texts, assignments, and grade distributions may vary from one offering of this course to the next. Please consult the course instructor for up to date details.