Journalism as Political Theory

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In this course, we will study the relationship between political theory and journalism. Rather than reading solely canonical political theory tests, we will read selections of important works from the history of political thought alongside journalistic writings. The class will be separated by important concepts in political thought, such as power, judgement, community, revolution, and freedom. For each concept, we will read both theoretical accounts and journalistic studies. In doing this, we will examine how philosophic concepts help us understand real-life happenings. We will also address how journalists use philosophic ideas to provide accounts that are more than mere documentation, in effect acting as political educators. Philosophic readings will include work from Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Karl Marx, Michel Foucault, and Franz Fanon. Journalistic readings will include selections from Thucydides, Hannah Arendt, Joan Didion, Tom Wolfe, James Baldwin, Gay Talese, Janet Malcolm, and Robert Caro. In their own work, students will address the class' questions both via scholarly study and their own projects of journalistic political theory.