Turun yliopiston Moodle

Opintojakson tarkoituksena on vahvistaa opiskelijoiden sosiaalisia kontakteja, opiskelijuutta, asemaa yliopistoyhteisön jäseninä sekä tukea opiskelijoiden opiskelutaitojen - erityisesti juridisten tekstien analyysitaitojen - kehittymistä. Opintojakson luennoilla käsiteltäviä teemoja ovat erityisesti juridisten tekstien analyysitaidot (oikeustieteelliset kirjoitukset ja oikeustapaukset) sekä kriittisen ajattelun lähtökohdat.

Objectives

The aim of this course is to examine how individuals develop and express political attitudes and how these attitudes influence political life. We will consider a wide range of opinion domains, including political ideology and polarization, political knowledge and misinformation, trust in democratic institutions, inequality and redistribution, immigration and multiculturalism, climate change and environmental policy, and views on crime and punishment. In doing so, we will analyze how social, economic, and cultural forces shape political opinions and how these opinions, in turn, inform participation, voting behavior, and policy outcomes. Understanding the formation and consequences of political attitudes will lead us to engage with theories from political science and related fields, as well as to critically evaluate empirical research and real-world cases to better understand patterns of public opinion and their implications for democratic governance.

This course will introduce students to major developments in U.S. history from the colonial period to the present. Students will approach the different time periods through case-studies, with each class focusing on social, cultural, and political historical trends exemplified by the case. Students will both gain a broad understanding of the timeline of U.S. history and how to employ the historian’s toolbox in posing and answering critical questions: Is this event representative or exceptional in its historical period? What does this phenomenon tell us about the development of the U.S. as a nation and people? What do historical trends tell us about the present-day U.S. from transnational perspectives? The course is interactive by nature, focusing on source-based learning and supported by independent work the students will conduct outside of class. Throughout the semester, we will keep in mind that histories are written by people and that it is important to pay attention to the viewpoints from which they stem from.