LHIST5219 Key Texts in the History of Political Thought: Understanding, Interpretation and Analysis – Course Descriptor

Course Overview

This course is an exploration of some of the key writers in the History of Political thought, centring on the question of how best to govern a people. Students will engage with the changing approaches to this issue from Aristotle’s six-part categorisation of government through to twentieth-century approaches to democratic pluralism. Through reading, students will gain an appreciation of the importance of context, the role of ideas and concepts in history and politics, and the varieties of ways one can think about governance. 

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Lectures/seminars 

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1:all sessions in the same sized group

OR 

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

OR

Directed study 

4-12 scheduled hours, the exact number varying according to the balance of 1:1s, 2:1s, or small groups. The plan will be confirmed by the start of the course, taking into account student numbers and the proposed topics, readings, and specific tasks.

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups. 

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessment are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE. 

Summative Assessments

For the written assignment students will discuss and analyse aspects of a key text in the History of Political Thought, drawing on understanding of the cultural, political and philosophical context and content. For the exam, students will utilise their understanding of the ideas, political and cultural context of key texts in the history of political thought to answer questions. 

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is for a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Arendt, H. (1998) The Human Condition. Ed. Canovan, M. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 
• Arendt, H. (2006) Between Past and Future: Eight Exercises in Political Thought. Ed. Kohn, J. London: Penguin. 
• Aristotle (2004) The Nicomachean Ethics. Ed. Barnes, J. Trans. Thomson, J. A. K. and Tredinnick, H. Harmondsworth: Penguin. 
• Aristotle (1981) The Politics. Trans. Sinclair, T. A. Rev. Saunders, T. J. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
• Canovan, M. (1994) Hannah Arendt: A Reinterpretation of her Political Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
• Hansen, P. (1993) Hannah Arendt: Politics, History, and Citizenship. 
• Johnson, C. (1990) Aristotle’s Theory of the State. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press. 
• Keyt, D. and Miller, F. D. (1991) A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Electronic Resources: A variety of podcasts and online lectures – e.g. BBC’s ‘On Our Time’ podcasts

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative topics provided below are used as a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

Classic authors in the history of modern political thought, such as:

• Aristotle
• Machiavelli
• Marx
• Hannah Arendt