SPRING 2004 REGISTRATION BEGINS
Registration
for Spring 2004 courses begins on November 10. The number of credit hours you
have completed determines the earliest date on which you may register, as
follows:
November 10:
98 or more credits
November 12:
83 or more credits
November 13:
68 or more credits
November 14:
53 or more credits
November 17:
38 or more credits
November 18:
23 or more credits
November 19:
15 or more credits
November 20:
0.5 or more credits
November 21:
zero credits
It
is extremely important that
you take this opportunity to sign up for your Spring 2004 courses. With the
University in a cost-cutting mood, courses with low registration numbers are
likely to be quickly dropped from the schedule. If you put off signing up for a
course that you want or need, you may discover that it already has been
cancelled. Please remember too that all courses are “capped” at a certain
enrollment level; once a course is filled, it is up to the instructor to decide
whether or not to admit additional students. There are some courses (POS 203, for
example) where we simply cannot add extra students because of space limitations
in computer-equipped classrooms.
Registering now for your
Spring classes is also the best possible way to ensure that you receive the
highest quality academic advising. You must begin the pre-registration process
by scheduling a meeting with your designated academic advisor. For Political
Science majors, that will be a member of the department faculty. (If you don’t
remember your advisor’s name, call Administrative Assistant Terry Quinn at
780-4283.) After discussing your academic progress with you, your advisor will
give you a RAN, which serves as your “pre-registration password.” Only your own advisor can provide you with
your RAN, and to get it requires a face-to-face meeting. Once you have your RAN
you can
register for your
preferred courses in person, by phone, or on-line.
Courses Ripped From the Headlines
There’s
plenty to choose from in our Spring 2004 schedule -- 30 adventure-packed
courses covering virtually all of today’s most important political issues. Here are just a few of the exciting
possibilities:
POS 335 POLITICS IN WESTERN EUROPE
The
concept of Western Europe has changed in the past decades. Defining Europe
itself has become a rather complicated task: is Europe defined by its
geographical borders? Is Europe today the sum of all countries that consider
themselves European? Is the European Union the new version of a 19th century
Europe? Professor Vassallo’s course is an introductory class on Western Europe
and engages the students in discovering the several (contrasting) features of
Europe nowadays. The final goal is to achieve a rather good knowledge of Europe
as a whole, of many European countries, and of the European Union as a new
political actor among nation states. Come to discover what Europe and Europeans
are today! Comparative Politics subfield.
POS 340 THE POLITICS OF DEVELOPING
NATIONS Professor Faksh’s course
examines the politics and the thrust toward development and modernization in
the Third World. Issues of nation-building or lack thereof; political democracy
and authoritarianism; the role of states in economic management (political
economy); civil-military relations; state-society relations (pluralist-civil
society vs. authoritarian-invasive state); and the relationship between the
Third World and the industrialized-technologically advanced world—all will be
considered in the context of the present international order. The five country
studies emphasized in the course are: India, China, Iran, Nigeria, and Mexico.
They represent differences in levels of development and political systems that
typify diversity in the Third World. Comparative Politics subfield.
POS 453 POLITICS OF AMERICAN POLICY
MAKING
Professor
Hamilton’s course surveys key concepts of public policy formation and
implementation. Students examine three questions about the effects of
government programs. The first, political question, “who benefits and who
pays?” concerns “who gets what, when, and how” from the U.S. political system.
The second, equity question, concerns whether costs or burdens are fairly
allocated among various segments of society? The third, efficiency question,
concerns whether costs of a policy are offset by benefits? Answering these questions
is what policy analysts do. Public Administration and Policy subfield.
POS 399 MEDIA LAW
Professor
Robert Klotz’s new course will explore the major issues that affect
communications through the mass media. The course considers how longstanding legal
frameworks have been applied to different media environments, including the
Internet. American Government subfield.
(Update: Link to Media Law Syllabus)
POS 380 AMERICAN JUSTICE IN WARTIME
Professor
Richard Maiman’s one-time-only “topics” course will examine the balance between government authority and individual
freedom during times of war in America.
The course examines the interactions of the three branches of the
national government in both historical and contemporary contexts, with
particular emphasis on the relationship between the judiciary and the so-called
“political” branches. The first half of the course will survey the early
national period, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Cold War, and the
Vietnam War. The second half addresses the current War on Terror. American
Government subfield. Update: (Link to American Justice in
Wartime Syllabus)
POS 389 INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Although
the state remains the principal political unit in international relations, the
proliferation of interstate and transnational issues has placed altered demands
on global and regional international and transnational organizations. Professor
Lynn Kuzma’s course analyzes the extent to which the growth of international
organizations indicates the existence of a global international society. We
will discuss the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the International
Monetary Fund and many other organizations, including non-governmental
organizations like Amnesty International and Doctors without Borders. To bring
some of these issues alive we will participate in simulations of the
International Court of Justice, a war crimes tribunal and the Organization of
American States summit. International Relations subfield.
POS 390 POLITICAL AND SOCIAL THOUGHT I
In
a moment of crisis—when war is raging,
homelands are under attack, ideologies are under fire – the questions of
political theory can suddenly become life-or death affairs. Professor Ron Schmidt’s course will examine
classical and medieval works of political theory (including Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Politics and Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the City of Ladies) written
during just such moments of crisis. Students will have the opportunity to
discuss and write about such topics as justice, citizenship and virtue in texts
that addressed the issues of politics during historical periods of rapid change
and corruption. Political Theory subfield.
POS 465 CIVIL RIGHTS AND POLITICAL
EQUALITY Professor Bill Coogan’s
course addresses the ways in which fears of the “other” has led to suppression
of immigrants, Catholics, Jews, blacks, Native Americans, women, gays, and
lesbians, and explores the public policy and constitutional law directed at
building an inclusive American community of equals. American Government
subfield.
POS 101 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
In
addition to the sections of POS 101 listed in the Spring course
schedule, an additional section will be taught as part of Weekend College on
Fridays 4:10 to 6:40 by Mr Tim Fadgen on the Portland campus.
INTERNS FOR FALL 2003
Elisia Carlson: Volunteer Lawyers Project
James Fraser: U.S. Senator Susan Collins
Annette Gurney: Portland Housing Authority
Jeremy Lestage: U.S. Representative Tom Allen
Mercedes Mendez: Maine Democratic Party
Elissa Rauth: U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe
Amber Smith: U.S. Senator
Susan Collins
Kaylene Waindle: Maine Democratic Party
HERE’S WHAT’S COOL
FOR SUMMER 2004
It’s not too early to be
thinking about courses you might want to take next summer. While the official
Summer 2004 course schedule has not yet been published, we expect to be
offering the following courses:
POS 101 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT (SCHMIDT)
POS 102J PEOPLE AND POLITICS (MAIMAN)
POS 104J INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
(FAKSH)
POS 120 GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS OF MAINE
(COOGAN)
POS 190 LYING AND POLITICS (SCHMIDT)
POS 299 FOREIGN POLICY AT THE MOVIES (KUZMA)
POS 499 TWENTIETH CENTURY NEW ENGLAND POLITICS
(MAIMAN)
And
worthy of extra special mention is Professor Vassallo’s POS 335/399 STUDY ABROAD: THE EUROPEAN UNION IN BRUSSELS AND STRASBOURG.
Students will spend two weeks in Brussels and Strasbourg meeting with EU
officials and studying European Union institutions in operation. See Professor
Vassallo for more details.