American Presidential Power at Home and Abroad: From George Washington to Barack Obama
Level: Open to students entering grades 11 or 12 or freshman year of college in fall 2010.
Session: I, June 28-July 16, 2010
Days & Time: Monday-Friday, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM and 2:30-4:30 PM
Instructor(s): Martha K. Zebrowski
Prerequisites: Demonstrated ability to work independently and to undertake substantial, intense, and concentrated reading, research, and writing.
Related Courses: Students interested in this course might also be interested in Debating the Ethics of War and Political Violence and Legal Reasoning, Research, and Writing, offered in Session II.
"I liked working in the library and the guest speakers were really interesting."
–Liliane Nienstedt, 2009
Course Description
A research, writing, and discussion seminar.
Beginning with the American creation of a new kind of chief executive after the defeat of George III and the British in the Revolutionary War, this research, writing, and discussion seminar looks at the development and transformation of presidential power in the U. S. constitutional and political system. To understand how American presidential power has developed, operates, and is perceived in peace and war, in domestic and international contexts, students read and analyze legal cases, government documents, historical and contemporary newspapers, biographies, and commentaries of historians and political scientists. In the Columbia University libraries, working with up-to-the-minute research tools and using historical and contemporary materials, students write substantial, college-level research papers. The instructor guides students as they select individual topics for research, prepare research designs and bibliographies, and write their papers. In a classroom seminar, students discuss common readings and their individual research and papers. The seminar is dynamic, with students taking substantial responsibility for leadership and discussion. The instructor works with students closely and on an individual basis. At the end of the seminar, students submit their research papers for the instructor's comments and evaluation. Students complete the seminar having learned college-level social science and humanities research and writing techniques.
Instructor(s)
Faculty
Martha K. Zebrowski
Martha K. Zebrowski has taught American politics and political theory in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University for 20 years. Her particular interests are in executive leadership and the history of English and American political and constitutional thought. She has an A.B. from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
Specific course information, such as hours and instructors, are subject to change at the discretion of the University.
