MIT Political Science January 2020 IAP Offerings
Learn about Political Science subjects and activities this coming IAP!
2020 IAP classes are here!
Image: Stuart Darsch
The department of Political Science would like to share three exciting opportunites for your 2020 IAP session:
Subjects
17.S916 All the President's Generals: Civil Military Relations in the US and Beyond (3 units)
M/W 11 :00-12: 30pm, 56-167
Description: This course introduces the unique characteristics of militaries and explores the roles they play in the societies they are constructed to defend, with a special focus on the relationships between the military and their civilian leaders and popular publics. Topics include a modern history of relations between US Presidents and the military, coups and military governments, public trust in the military, racial integration of the military, and the military-industrial (and tech!) complex. Students will debate the responsibility of civilian leaders and the public to oversee the military in a democracy and examine the issues and tradeoffs that industry and the public face when engaging with the armed forces.
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17.925 Fundamentals of Science and Technology Public Policy Making: Science and Technology Policy Boot Camp (3-6 Units)
MTWRF 9:00-5:00 (January 27-31 ONLY)
Description: Examines the public policy behind, and the government's role in, the science and technologybased innovation system. Focuses on the US but also discusses international examples. Prepares students planning careers in and around science and technology with the basic background for involvement in science policy making.
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Activities
Building a Movement: An Organizer's Toolkit
R I0:00-12:30pm, 9-255 (January 9, 16, 22, 29)
Description: While the fight for women's suffrage is remembered for its picket lines and parades, it was first won in living rooms across the country, where women talked one another into action. Before the sit-ins and freedom rides of the civil rights movements, there were thousands of conversations in church basements and campus classrooms where people who had suffered injustice for generations were mobilized to act. And, before unions build America's middle-class, labor organizers had to convince their fellow workers that if they united, they could win. The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but justice isn't what bends it. It takes people willing to do the work of convincing others that, together, they can make change. Histol)' is made by organizers. In four one-day workshops, we will leam why organizing is critical to building effective campaigns for social change. We will develop a "tool-box" of organizing strategies including power mapping, campaign planning, and ladders of engagement. And most importantly, we will offer hands-on practice and critical feedback on the foundational task of activism: the organizing conversation: how to talk to someone, not simply to convince them you are right, but to get them to join with you in working for a better world.
https://tinyurl.com/organize-iap-signup to sign up!