PLSC 663HGroups and Identity

Catalog

This course is a graduate seminar intended to introduce students to the study of intergroup relations and identity politics within political science. The course is primarily divided into two parts. In Part I, we treat identity as the dependent variable - what is identity, how do we measure it, and how do we decide which identity is important to us? In Part II, we consider the concept of politicized identities as the dependent variable. We will go beyond individual-level perspectives and consider what happens at the group level. We will ask where intergroup conflict comes from, how social relations reflect group conflict and cooperation, and what roles do institutions play in reinforcing extant group hierarchies or creating new ones? This course will rely on reading both canonical research in political science, as well as more recent studies focusing on groups and identity. Students will be expected to critically read and discuss assigned readings, refining not just their substantive knowledge base, but also their ability to engage with social science research.