Academic Life

Phronesis: A Program in Politics and Ethics

The Phronesis Minor: Course requirements

Essai sur l'homme, Rene Descartes.

Diagram illustrating the operation of the pineal gland, the seat of the soul.

As an interdisciplinary minor housed in the Honors College, the Phronesis program focuses on questions and issues that leaders and citizens are likely to confront in a self-governing political society. Drawing on the foundation provided by the year-long interdisciplinary "Human Situation" course required of all Honors freshmen, this minor in Politics and Ethics will explore such core issues as: the origins and grounds of political order; the scope and content of justice; the relation between the individual and the community; the place of family and gender; the nature and responsibility of science and technology; the relation between religion and politics; and the demands and prospects of a free and self-governing society.

For the Phronesis Minor, a student must complete 19 hours of approved coursework, 15 hours of which must be advanced, including:

REQUIRED COURSES HOURS IN MINOR

1. Foundational Courses:

ENGL 2361; HON 2101 4

2. 3 hours from POLS 3349, 3342, 3343 3

3. 3 hours from PHIL 3350, 3351, 3375, 3355, 3358 3

4. Two courses from approved list (below) 6

5. Capstone: 4000 level seminar 3

TOTAL HOURS IN MINOR 19

POLITICAL SCIENCE COURSES

POLS 3310: Introduction to Political Theory (Offered Spring 2009)

POLS 3340: Ancient/Medieval Political Thought (Offered Spring 2009)

POLS 3341: Political Thought from Machiavelli and the Renaissance

POLS 3342: Liberalism and its Critics

POLS 3343: Democratic Theory

POLS 3349: American Political Thought (Offered Spring 2009)

POLS 4346: Greek Political Thought

POLS 4396: Recent Islamic Political Thought

PHILOSOPHY COURSES

PHIL 3304: History of 17th Century Philosophy (Offered Spring 2009)

PHIL 3305: History of 18th Century Philosophy

PHIL 3350: Ethics

PHIL 3351: Contemporary Moral Issues

PHIL 3355: Political Philosophy

PHIL 3356: Feminist Philosophy

PHIL 3358: Classics in the History of Ethics (Offered Spring 2009)

PHIL 3375: Law, Society, and Morality (Offered Spring 2009)

PHIL 3383: History of Ancient Philosophy

PHIL 3386: History of 19th Century Philosophy

PHIL 3387: History of American Philosophy

PHIL 3395: Kirkegaard and Nietzsche (Offered Spring 2009)

PHIL 3395: Punishment (Offered Spring 2009)

CLASSICS COURSES

CLAS 3341: Roman Republic

CLAS 3375: Roman, Jew, and Christian (Offered Spring 2009)

4000 LEVEL SEMINARS

POLS 4346: Greek Political Thought

POLS 4394: The American Founding (Offered Spring 2009)

POLS 4394: Ideologies, Belief Systems, and Political Movements (Offered Spring 2009)

POLS 4396: Recent Islamic Political Thought

WCL 4352H: Frames of Modernity II: Exile and Literature

For Fall 2008 course descriptions, click here.

All courses must be Honors sections or approved by program advisor. Non-Honors students may participate in the Minor with the approval of the program director.

The 4000 level course must be an approved seminar with a substantial writing component (such as POLS 4344, 4346, 4394; PHIL 4396, 4397).

At least nine advanced hours must be taken in residence. An average GPA of 3.0 on all courses in the minor is required. No more than six hours of coursework in minor may also count toward major requirements.

Lupa Capitolina. Bronze statue of a she-wolf suckling Romulus

and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. 5th century BCE.