Monday 17 August 2015

COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST FOR POLI 341: ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL POLITICAL THOUGHT

                    DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
             SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
                                                            COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES
FIRST SEMESTER, 2015/2016
            COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST
                                   LECTURERS: Alex K.D. Frempong & Dr. Evans Aggrey-Darkoh
                                    EMAILS: akdfrempong@ug.edu.gh & aggreydarkoh@ug.edu.gh,

COURSE OUTLINE AND READINGS
COURSE TITLE
ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL POLITICAL THOUGHT
COURSE CODE
POLI 341
CREDITS
3
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

The course provides a historical and analytical study of political thought among the Ancient Greeks, the Roman Empire and within the established church- the Holy Catholic Church up to the Reformation. It ends with the rise of the modern nation-state with Machiavelli as the prime thinker. At the end of the course, students should have critical understanding of the main text and ideas of classical and medieval political theory, and the controversies surrounding them. Though some historical context is provided, this is not a course in history, but in political theory.

WEEK NO.
DATE
LECTURE TOPIC
TUTORIALS
VENUE
ASSESSMENT
1
A-17/8/2015
B-19/8/2015
General Overview

JQB 14

2
A-24/8/2015
B-26/8/2015
The Nature and Scope of Political Theory

JQB 14

3
A-31/8/2015
B-2/9/2015
Greek Political Institutions

JQB 14


4
A-7/9/2015
B-9/9/2015
Plato

JQB 14

5
A-14/9/2015
B-16/9/2015
Plato

JQB 14

JQB 14

6
A-21/9/2015
B-23/9/2015
Aristotle

JQB 14

7
A-28/9/2015
B-30/9/2015
Aristotle

JQB 14
Interim Assessment (30%)
8
A-5/10/2015
B-7/10/2015

Cicero

JQB 14


9
A-12/10/2015
B-14/10/2015
St. Augustine

JQB 14

10
A-19/10/2015
B-21/10/2015
St. Augustine

JQB 14

11
A-26/10/2015
B-28/10/2015

St. Aquinas

JQB 14

12
A-2/11/2015
B-4/11/2015

Machiavelli

JQB 14

13
A-9/11/2015
B-11/11/2015
Machiavelli

JQB 14

14
REVISION
          15-17
EXAMINATION (70%)



COURSE READINGS

J.S McClelland, A History of Western Political Thought, (London: Routledge, 2002)
           
George H. Sabine, A History of Political Theory, 4th edition, (New Delhi: Oxford& IBN Publishing Co.PVT Ltd., 1973)

Mitchell Cohen and Nicole Fermon (eds.), Princeton readings in political Thought: Essential Text since Plato, (New Jersey: Princeton University press 1996)

Prangobinda Das, History of Political Thought, (Calcutta: Central, 2001)

Thucydides, History of Peloponnesian war, Translated by Rex Warner, (New York: Penguin Books Ltd, 1972), Book II, sections 33-66, Books III, sections 36-50, 69-85; Book V, sections 48-116)

Plato, The Republic, A New Translation Robin Waterfield,(New York: Oxford University Press, 1993)

McDonald L. Cameron, Western Political Thought, Part 1 Ancient and Medieval, (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1968)

Forsters M.B, Masters of Political Thought Plato to Machiavelli, (New York: the Riverside Press 1941)

Aristotle, The Politics, Translated by T. A Sinclair, (London Penguin Books, 1962)

Aristotle, The Politics, Translated by Lord Carnes, (Chicago:  The Chicago University Press, 1984)

Aquinas: Selected Political Writings, edited with Introduction by A.P D’ entreves, (Oxford Basil Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1959)

Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, Translated by George Bull, (New York: Penguin Books, 2003

John Plamenatz, Man and Society, (New York: Longman Group Ltd., 1963)


COURSE REQUIREMENT
  • There will be thirteen weeks of lectures. Full participation in the lectures is a prerequisite for admission into the final examinations. 
  • Each student must attend tutorials each week to be organized by tutorial assistants. Students are advised to effectively participate in the discussions. It must be emphasized that tutorials are not second lectures.
  • Most of the reading materials exist in the Department of Political Science Library and the Balme Library. Some of the core readings are available in the General Office of the Department of the Political Science, University of Ghana. 
  • It is imperative for students to read the literature much more intently in order to identify the hidden truths (read with understanding).
  • There will be mid-term and final examinations. The distribution of the marks is as follows:

 Mid-term Assessment = 30%
 Final Examination       = 70%

 Total                           =100% 

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