POLI 380 - Hermeneutics and the Comparative Study of Politics

1 unit(s)

Considered by some to be a “new philosophy of science,” hermeneutics has become in recent years an increasingly established approach to social and political inquiry. This seminar seeks to explicate and critically examine hermeneutical principles in the context of the comparative study of politics. What are hermeneutical approaches to understanding institutional power relations, political practices, and the character and composition of cultures and societies? And what contributions, if any, might hermeneutics make to political explanation? This seminar focuses on these questions. Illustrative studies are drawn from the instructor’s familiarity with politics in the area widely characterized as “The Middle East.” Significant, original, and semester-long research projects are developed out of the empirical curiosities of the participants. Mr. Davison.

Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

Not offered in 2015/16.

One 2-hour period.