Political Theory Workshop

Course Description

Summary

“For those who are concerned with the history of political theories,” Sheldon Wolin wrote in a 1969 essay, “the vocation has become a demanding one at the present time.” If Wolin was alarmed then by the drive to render the study of politics “scientific” – thus relegating political theory to the dust-bin of “value-laden pseudo-science” – one can safely bet that he would have been apoplectic about the challenges facing us today: from rampant anti-intellectualism to shortened attention spans, and from the hollowing out of the public sphere to the ubiquity of AI-generated slop. Paradoxically, though, as the task of political theory has grown more and more daunting, more and more Bennington students have become interested in studying it.

This course is for students who have a burning question or a passion that can be explored with the help of the tools of political theory. It will be structured not as a traditional seminar but as a workshop, consisting of equal parts independent research and collective discussion. Your job will be to show up with a question that you want to gain insight into through a semester-long close reading of political theoretical texts. My job will be to guide you toward readings that can help you, to facilitate dialogue among students whose inquiries connect in some way, and to create an environment where you can receive constructive feedback from your peers.

Students will necessarily be at different stages of thinking and researching, and will vary in their foundational knowledge of political theory. The goal of the course will not be technical mastery or certainty that you have answered your chosen question once and for all; rather, we’ll seek slow and careful exploration leading to intellectual growth. In short, you will practice leading the examined life.