Jump to first page Welcome to Century of Revolution POLS Ross Rudolph

Jump to first page Introduction n Ross Rudolph u S654 Ross u Office hours: Monday and Wednesday, 1:30- 3 p.m., and by appointment u ext u directed to guaranteed a response within 24 hours n PowerPoint presentations are available for downloading on the course Web site

Jump to first page Overview n Announcements n Student survey n Big questions this course addresses n Course organization n My teaching and learning philosophy, or, my goals for this course

Jump to first page Announcements n Reading for next Monday u Christopher Hill, The Century of Revolution, Part One n Write down 2-3 of what you consider to be the most important distinguishing features of Canadian government and politics in 2007 n Login to Moodle, and introduce yourself to others in your online study group. On Monday you will get a chance to meet them

Jump to first page Step 1 n Start by going to the following URL: n This will bring you to the following page

Jump to first page Step 2 n To log in to moodle, click on the link “Login” at the top right corner of the page

Jump to first page Step 3 n Login using your Passport York username and password

Jump to first page Step 4 n Once you have logged in, select the course you are registered in. POLS n You are now registered in the course.

Jump to first page Please note, if you do not know your Passport York account, please contact

Jump to first page Student survey n Many reasons students enrol in courses have nothing to do with learning objectives: forget those! n Significant learning and research both respond to big questions n What are you looking to get out of this course: what would you like, what do you expect, to learn? n Introduce yourself to your online study group: u Background in politics and political theory u Specific interests in this course u What you would like to know and be able to do at the conclusion of this course

Jump to first page Big questions n Political theories u are constructed u frame the way we understand political issues n Seventeenth century witnessed the emergence of our system of government n Some major issues u When and why did people stop believing they were ruled by divine right kings? u How did doctrine of popular sovereignty become established? u When and why did shift occur from Christian commonwealth to pursuit of private wealth and national prosperity?

Jump to first page Questions n Fantasy echo n I am committed that you will never regret asking a question n Different options u Post a question to your online study group u Lecture u Office hours u response within 24 hours

Jump to first page Calculating final grade n 2 papers, first on material in first half, second on material in 2d half u draft circulated to other member of study group, who gives feedback F What is main point of paper? F Strengths? F Suggestions for improvement? u final revised version, taking into account feedback (20%,30%) n Participation (25%) u Your feedback on two written assignments u Question to list, and contributions that advance the discussion u Participation in class u Periodic 1-minute papers u At the end of the course, you will be asked to self-assess, citing preceding kinds of evidence n Take-home final examination, covering whole course, distributed in final class, with one week deadline (25%)

Jump to first page Policy on unacademic practice n Rules require you to acknowledge and cite source of materials not original with you n Breaches of the rule are u theft: violation of intellectual property u fraud: representing as your own what is not n Penalties u severe u easily avoided

Jump to first page Texts n Required books available u for purchase at the bookstore u for loan on reserve at Scott Library n Pdfs of extracts on Course Website n Complete original Early English Books online through York University Libraries n Importance of reading and discussing with your online study group in advance of classes in which texts are discussed

Jump to first page Deep vs. surface learning n Preparing democratic citizens is integral to liberal education u Not a monopoly of political scientists u Requires inculcation of distinct skills u To be successful, political education must be transformative n Grades are not necessarily an index of learning u Arizona State University experiments u Everyone’s sense of reality is constructed F Deep learning only takes place when expectations fail F No one ever learnt anything by being told n Practical relevance of all this is that u the way you get a good grade in this course is by trying as often as it takes to master material, without penalty for repeated attempts u study groups, assignments, and exam are all designed to promote and assess you achievement of course learning goals

Jump to first page Political theory as a form of political action n Politics is a species of practical knowledge n Political theorists are intensely partisan u They seek to advance a variety of interests u I.e., they don’t just say things, they seek to do things u Interpretation of theory is also contested

Jump to first page Political theory as political education n All theories make explicit the implicit assumptions of their followers n Some theories seek to solve problems n Critical theories submit those assumptions to critical scrutiny n The past is like a foreign country, even an alien planet n Studying theory historically sensitizes students to u difference between past and present u present day diversity