Spring 2010 syllabus (pdf)
Class Schedule (subject to change as necessary)
February 8
Course Introduction
Letter of Introduction due via email by 5pm on February 9, 2010.
Ancient Democracy and Its Discontents
February 10
Ancient Athens
Paul Woodruff, The Life and Death of Democracy; Threshold of Democracy 103-115.Reading Questions: Ancient Athens
February 12
Thucydides and Xenophon
The Threshold of Democracy 59-69, 73-102.
Reading Questions: Thucydides and Xenophon
February 15
Plato, Apology
Reading Questions: Apology
February 17
Plato, Crito
Reading Questions: Crito
February 19
Plato, The Republic Books I and II.
Reading Questions: The Republic 1
February 22
Plato, The Republic Books III-V.
Reading Questions: The Republic 2Simulation role questionnaires distributed.
February 24
Plato, The Republic, Books VI and VII.
Reading Questions: The Republic 3Simulation role questionnaires collected.
February 26
Plato, The Republic, Books VIII-X.
March 1
Athens Game Preparation
Read The Threshold of Democracy 1-58. Pretest, portfolio assignment, role distribution.
March 3
Faction meetings
March 5
Public Session #1 (Reconciliation)
Paper #1: at least two from each faction.
Herald: Ben Batz
Assembly President: Ben Brandt
March 8
Public Session #2 (Government Agency)
Paper #1: at least two from each faction; 3 indeterminates.
Herald: Kelsey Koch
Assembly President: Jasmine Porter
March 10
Public Session #3 (Social Welfare)
Paper #1: all remaining students.
Herald: Maren Lodge
Assembly President: Tyler Schultz
March 12
Public Session #4 (Possible Court Day/Open)
Paper #2: at least two from each faction.
Herald: Joel Jonsson
Assembly President: Hanna Haileyesus
March 15
Public Session #5 (Electorate)
Paper #2: at least two from each faction; 3 indeterminates.
Herald: Alina Stevenson
Assembly President: Aaron Smith
March 17
Public Session #6 (Remilitarization)
Paper #2: all remaining students.
Herald: Irma Marquez
Assembly President: Caitlin Robb
March 19
Post-mortem
Post-test, online evaluation.
March 22
Post-mortem, day 2.
Modern Liberalism and Its Discontents
March 24
Introduction to the Enlightenment and the Emergence of Liberalism
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, selections. Also see the frontispiece to Leviathan.
Reading Questions: Hobbes 1
March 26
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, selections.Reading Questions: Hobbes 2
Portfolios due.
March 29
Spring Break
March 31
Spring Break
April 2
Spring Break
April 5
Spring Break
April 7
John Locke
John Locke, Second Treatise on Civil Government, selections.Reading Questions: Locke
April 9
The Philosophes: Voltaire and Diderot
Voltaire, The Philosophical
Dictionary, selections; Denis Diderot, Encyclopedia, selections. For
additional Encyclopedia entries, see The Encyclopedia of Diderot &
d'Alembert at the University of Michigan.
Reading Questions: Voltaire and Diderot
Dialogue assignment due.
April 12
Jean Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau, Burke, and Revolution in France 68-80. Begin reading The Social Contract.
Reading Questions: Rousseau 1
April 14
Jean Jacques Rousseau
Jean Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, I and II.
Reading Questions: Rousseau 2
April 16
Jean Jacques Rousseau
Jean Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, III and IV.
Reading Questions: Rousseau 3
April 19
Edmund Burke
Burke Selections in Rousseau, Burke, and Revolution in France 81-118.Reading Questions: Burke
April 21
French Revolution Game Preparation
Read Rousseau, Burke, and the French Revolution 119-169. Pretest, portfolio assignment, role distribution.April 23
French Revolution Game Preparation
Faction meetings.
April 26
National Assembly 1
April 28
MayDay!
Newspapers, vol. 1, due for each faction, indeterminates turn in biographical sketch.
April 30
National Assembly 2
May 3
National Assembly 3
May 5
National Assembly 4
Newspapers, vol. 2, due.
May 7
National Assembly 5
May 10
National Assembly 6
Newspapers, vol. 3, due.
May 12
National Assembly 7
May 14
Post-mortem 1
Post-test, dialogue and portfolio assignments, online evaluations.
May 17
Post-mortem 2
Read Rousseau, Burke, and the French Revolution 170-182.