Taken AY2014/2015 Semester 2
PS2258: Introduction to Political Theory
I didn’t have high hopes for PT, and took this mod only to fulfill my major requirements. While the experience wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t necessarily great either. By the end of it, I could definitely proclaim myself not a fan of PT. Before I start pointing out the negatives, I must say that the lecturer is new to NUS. He’s always asking for feedback and ways to improve, so you can probably expect something better in the future.
The amount of content was overwhelming, even for an intro PS mod. I felt that the syllabus was way too packed – plenty of topics, and more breadth over depth. The lecturer seemed to want to cover as many ideas as possible, but there just wasn’t enough time to address them well. It was also too much to study, and I had to filter and sieve out the not-so-important (or so I assume) stuff. I appreciate the lecturer’s efforts in giving us more background knowledge, but it became difficult to absorb. This is especially so for PT, where the ideas are much more abstract. Not to mention the readings, most of which are in such terribly convoluted and sometimes archaic (I’m looking at you, Hobbes) language you’ll feel like tearing your hair out. I would much prefer depth, emphasis on a few major concepts, and a more streamlined syllabus to alleviate my suffering.
Syllabus aside, the lecturer is actually quite good. He was always clear in his delivery, and his presentation slides were rather useful. Problem is, he doesn’t upload his slides. Lectures also go like the wind sometimes, so it’s nearly impossible to copy everything on the screen.
Assessment
20%: tutorial participation
30%: two essay papers
50%: finals
Marks for tutorial participation came mostly from a presentation we had to give (either individually or in pairs). Rather than a summary of the readings, the lecturer expected us to analyse them and bring something new to the table. I’m not sure if we managed it, but we did come up with fairly decent discussion questions.
Completing the two papers was really a struggle. We were given only a week to write the 1000 word paper (10%); two weeks for the 2000 word paper (20%). There wasn’t really enough time, and the difficulty of the questions made things worse. I believe I tried to analyse and elaborate on my points, but turns out that wasn’t enough. Perhaps such is the nature of PT: you must really know what you’re writing (no throwing smoke here), and be sure not to leave any gaps in knowledge, or undefined terms in your essays.
The finals consisted of an ID section and an essay. Almost anything can come out for the ID, so it’ll be very risky to drop topics. The essay questions (three options) were tough as well, and they were narrowly based on specific topics. To survive, you can’t spot topics.
Workload
This mod is definitely heavy, and even burdensome if you don’t like PT. If you have an interest in the subfield, however, do consider taking this mod because it will expose you to many critical ideas.
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