Alice el-Wakil, Department of Political science

Abstract

What do students ask for when they ask for “more diversity in the syllabus”?

This project aims at better understanding political science students’ demand for more diversity in the syllabus of the introduction to political theory course Politisk Teori 2 at the University of Copenhagen (Spring 2023). Based on a survey sent out to all students in the course and a focus group session with volunteers, it uncovers some of the reasons why students advance these demands, how widespread their concerns are, and what they consider could be done to accommodate these concerns in appropriate and feasible ways in the future. Turnout in the survey was only around 10%; but the contributions of those who did participate offer reflected, informed, nuanced, and benevolent insights into what they consider to be limitations of the 2023 syllabus and lecture and what could be done to mitigate them. Some of the main lessons include: (1) respondents perceive syllabi differently in terms of how diverse they are and should be, and their preferences sometimes conflict; (2) “diversity” seems to be primarily understood as diversity of perspectives, whereby specific emphasis is put on including critical insights from thinkers from marginalized groups and with “non-Western” perspectives; (3) respondents widely consider that they can benefit from having a diverse curriculum in terms of expanding the range of concepts and approaches they learn, gaining relevant knowledge about the limitations of classical works in political theory, and developing their abilities and skills for critical and argumentative thinking; (4) there is a special demand to diversify the syllabus of introduction to political theory courses compared to other courses in political science; and (5) what could be done by lecturers includes finding a balance between content and diversity, both in the readings and in the lectures, integrating “classics” and “critics” more systematically throughout the semester (avoid having a “core” + “add-ons”; focus on including authors from marginalized groups and with “non-Western” perspectives), and explicitly and honestly justifying the choices about what is included and what is left out.