COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: KEY THEMES IN POLITICAL THOUGHT

Code	Course Type	Regular Semester	Theory	Practice	Lab	Credits	ECTS
PIR 104	B	2	3	0	0	3	5

Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature)	NA
Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	Avdi Smajljaj
Second Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	NA
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours:	NA
Language:	English
Compulsory/Elective:	Compulsory
Classroom and Meeting Time:
Course Description:	The course aims to introduce students to classics of political thought, starting from Socrates to Machiavelli. Themes related to politics, justice, state, governing, and others, will be dealt from the perspective of political philosophers. Their different point of views will be examined from the perspective of their context on which they developed, while trying to make a link with still present relevance and importance of these concepts and ideas. Students will be equipped with knowledge and skills to evaluate these ideas from their own perspective, while reflecting in today’s world.
Course Objectives:	The course offers a critical introduction to the main political debates and thoughts starting the ancient Greek political philosophers. It cover classical philosophers starting from Socrates contribution to political philosophy up to Machiavelli. Within the course will be handled political themes according to different philosophical perspectives like: democracy, liberty and freedoms, state, citizenship, ethics, virtue, political systems, slavery, political rhetoric, secularism, civil disobedience, legitimacy, and so on.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week	Topics
1	Introduction to the course
2	Socrates
3	Plato I
4	Plato II
5	Aristotle I
6	Artistotle II
7	Cicero
8	Midterm
9	St Augustine
10	Acquinas
11	Marseglio of Padua
12	Machiaveli I
13	MAchiaveli II
14	Course revision

Prerequisite(s):
Textbook:	David Boucher, Paul Kelly: Political thinkers - from Socrates to the present, Oxford, 2017. Alan Ryan: On Politics - A history of political thought - from Herodotus to the present, Liveright, 2012.
Other References:
Laboratory Work:
Computer Usage:
Others:	No

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

1	Ability to identify the main contribution of classical philosophers to political thought
2	Ability to link and compare different perspectives of political philosophers on political concepts
3	Ability to argue and discuss about political issues from theoretical perspective
4	Ability to create critical thinking in political thought
5	Ability to use political concepts, given by classical philosophers, to study politics in contemporary world

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES (Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution)

No	Program Competencies	Cont.
Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations (3 years) Program
1	Having and using advanced knowledge and comprehension supported by textbooks including actual knowledge in political sciences and international relations literature, materials and the other scientific resources.	5
2	Analyzing data, ideas and concepts of current political issues and international relations, determining complex events and topics, making discussions and developing new suggestions in accordance with researches.	5
3	Having knowledge and thought about actual topics and problems together with their historical, social and cultural aspects.	5
4	Introducing those who are interested in politics and international events with the topics of Political Science and IR and teaching clearly the problems and the types of solutions.	5
5	Improving skills of working together with the main social science disciplines and other disciplines which are related to Political Science and International Relations.	5
6	Improving critical thinking and skills in making research independently.	5
7	Developing solutions about the problems and conflicts which are common in national and international arena.	5
8	Improving skills for leadership and research and analyze capacity of those who is responsible with national and international ones.	5
9	Knowing any foreign language enough to communicate with colleagues and understand actual researches and articles.	5
10	Gaining IT skills to use computer and technology) in order to reach actual knowledge.	1
11	Gaining skills to follow societal, scientific and ethic values during collecting, interpreting, conducting of data related to social and political developments.	5
12	Having consciousness about human rights and environment.	5
13	Gaining the skills to follow actual developments and pursue long-life learning.	5

COURSE EVALUATION METHOD

Method	Quantity	Percentage
Midterm Exam(s)	1	30
Presentation	1	10
Project	1	15
Final Exam	1	35
Attendance		10
	Total Percent:	100%

ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)

Activities	Quantity	Duration(Hours)	Total Workload(Hours)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours)	16	3	48
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice)	14	1	14
Mid-terms	1	9	9
Assignments	2	22	44
Final examination	1	10	10
Other			0
Total Work Load:			125
Total Work Load/25(h):			5
ECTS Credit of the Course:			5