POL 281 - The Politics of Marriage and the Art of Democracy

Institution:

Washington and Lee University

Subject:

Politics

Description:

Open to majors and non-majors. Meets the global politics field requirement or the political philosophy requirement or elective credit in the major. Are marriage and democracy a good match? Does heterosexual couplehood sustain a health democratic community? We examine conceptions of the connection between marital alliances and egalitarian, individualist political practices. Using three novels – Anthony Trollope’s Phineas Finn, Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy, and selections from Tom Wolfe’s A Man in Full – in which the dramas surrounding marriage partners are embedded in the struggle for a more democratic politics in their protagonists’ respective communities, we consider how marriage practices in earlier, undemocratic regimes are challenged by the demands of democratic political life. Students work in groups to write their own fictions about contemporary courtship and marriage politics. LeBlanc.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.wlu.edu/

Phone Number:

(540) 458-8400

Regional Accreditation:

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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