Course level: Undergraduate

Fall 2020
American University of Paris

Course Description

Democracy, which means government by, for, and of the people, is an intriguing idea that raises many questions: Who belongs to the people? What is the will of the people? Who can speak in the name of the people? In this course we survey classic and contemporary theories and practices of democracy, ranging from direct democracy in ancient Athens to the modern-day Occupy movement in Zuccotti Park. We pay special attention to the ways in which processes of digitalization such as the use of social media transform our understandings and evaluations of local, national and global forms of democratic life.

This course is part of the FirstBridge Democracy, Participation and Digital Life in Times of Crisis (FB5). The other course connected to this FirstBridge is Speaking Out & Logging In: Digital Participation and Public Life (CM1099CCIFB5), taught by Prof. Jessica Feldman. The Reflective Seminar of this FirstBridge meets every Friday, 14h30-16h05, and is co-taught by Prof. Jessica Feldman, Prof. Julian Culp and the librarian Michael Stoepel.

More information:
catalog.aup.edu/course/pl1099fb5/fall-2020

Syllabus:
Democracy A to Z_FA 20_19 Sept 20 (775.94 KB)