Anyone interested to learn about liberalism and its values are welcomed to participate in the component of liberal theories. Student must enroll and finish the first component in order to participate in the capstone research. Each student is expected to produce one research essay at the end of the capstone research. Therefore, if students are not interested in writing, it is recommended to enroll only the first part, the course on liberal theories
Ph.D (Napoleonic Europe and Nationalism)
Course Instructor
Dr. Bart Verheijen holds his PhD in Napoleonic Europe and Nationalism. He also studied history and philosophy in the Netherlands and France. His publications include works on the French Revolution and... More
M.Sc (Global Governance and Diplomacy), St.Hugh's, Oxford University
Assistant Lecturer and Research Supervisor
Hnin Wint Naing is an Executive Programme Manager for the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Myanmar Office, FNF Myanmar. She holds her M.Sc in Global Governance and Diplomacy from St. Hugh’s, O... More
Step 1
- You watch the lecture video: week 1 assignment 1.
- Read the American Declaration of Independence.
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 1 assignment 1.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 2
- You watch the lecture video: week 1 assignment 2.
- Read Thomas Paine, “Common Sense”.
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 1 assignment 2.
- Note down the answer to the questions given in the video.
Step 3
- You watch the lecture video: week 1 assignment 3.
- Study the Powerpoint Slides on John Locke.
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 1 assignment 3.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 4
- You answer the quiz for week 1.
Step 5
- You can study all other materials and videos listed in this week (optional).
10 Video(s), 6 Reading(s)
Week 01 (First Introduction)
Week 01 (Assignment 01)
Declaration of independence (PDF)
Week 01 (Assignment 02)
Thomas Paine Common Sense 1776 (PDF)
Week 01 (Assignment 03)
Lecture 1 The age of Atlantic Revolutions (PDF, powerpoint))
Locke Two treatises of government (PDF)
Week 01 (Assignment 04)
Declaration of the rights of man 1789 (PDF)
Reading material week 1 Mckay History of Western Society Final (PDF)
VIDEO 1 A Brief History of America's Independence_ Part 1_ (Revolutionary War) - 321Learning
VIDEO 2 Marseillaise
VIDEO 3 The French Revolution -In a Nutshell
VIDEO 4 POLITICAL THEORY - Thomas Hobbes
VIDEO 5 POLITICAL THEORY - John Locke
Step 1
- Watch the lecture video: week 2 assignment 1.
- Read Benjamin Constant, Chapter 5.
- (Optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 1 assignment 1.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 2
- Watch the lecture video: week 2 assignment 2.
- Read Montesquieu, Book XI: OF THE LAWS WHICH ESTABLISH POLITICAL LIBERTY, WITH REGARD TO THE CONSTITUTION and presentation of Bart Verheiijen.
- Watch video 1: separation of powers. (optional)
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 2 assignment 2.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 3
- Answer the quiz for week 2.
Step 4
- You can study all other materials and videos listed in this week. (optional)
4 Video(s), 4 Reading(s)
Week 02 (Assignment 01)
Benjamin Constant- the Liberty of the Ancients and the moderns (PDF)
Week 02 (Assignment 02)
BOOK XI Montesquieu First Part (PDF)
Lecture 2 - Liberalism in 19th century (PDF, powerpoint)
Reading Material Lecture 2 (PDF)
VIDEO 1 Separation of Powers
VIDEO 2 The Civil War Part 2 Crash Course US History 21
Step 1
- Watch the lecture video: week 3 assignment 1.
- Read the introduction of the famous work of Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America. Also view the powerpoint presentation.
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 3 assignment 1.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 2
- Watch the lecture video: week 3 assignment 2.
- Read the introduction from On liberty by John Stuart Mill. Also view the powerpoint presentation.
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 3 assignment 2.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 3
- Answer the quiz for week 3.
Step 4
- You can study all other materials and videos listed in this week. (optional)
4 Video(s), 2 Reading(s)
Week 03 Assignment 01
Week 03 Assignment 02
Homework Introduction from Mill, On Liberty
Lecture 3 John Stuart Mill and utilitarianism
Movie 1 Utilitarianism Crash Course Philosophy 36
Movie 2 SOCIOLOGY - Alexis De Tocqueville
Step 1
- Watch the lecture video: week 4 assignment 1.
- Read the first chapter of the famous Pamphlet by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels Manifesto of the communist Party. Also view the powerpoint presentation.
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 4 assignment 1.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 2
- Watch the lecture video: week 4 assignment 2.
- Read the poem The White Man’s Burden, in which Kipling gives a justification for imperialism and colonialism.
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 4 assignment 2.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 3
- Answer the quiz for week 4.
Step 4
- You can study all other materials and videos listed in this week. (optional)
4 Video(s), 7 Reading(s)
Week 04 Assignment 01
Homework First Chapter Communist Manifesto Marx (PDF)
Lecture 4 Marxism,Nationalism and Colonialism (PDF, powerpoint)
Week 04 Assignment 02
Homework The White Man’s burden (PDF)
Reading Material Lecture 3 (PDF)
Reading Material Llecture 4.1 (PDF)
Reading Materia Lecture 4.2 (PDF)
Homework Introduction from Alexis-de-Tocqueville-Democracy-in-America Volume 1 and 2 (PDF)
VIDEO 1 POLITICAL THEORY - Karl Marx
VIDEO 2 National Identity and Nationalism
Step 1
- Watch the lecture video: week 5 assignment 1.
- Read the famous text from Ernest Renan, What is a nation (1882).
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 5 assignment 1.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 2
- Watch the lecture video: week 5 assignment 2.
- Read the famous speeches from Vladimir Lenin (1917)- The state and Revolution.
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 5 assignment 2.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 3
- Answer the quiz for week 5.
Step 4
- You can study all other materials and videos listed in this week. (optional)
6 Video(s), 4 Reading(s)
Week 05 Assignment 01
Homework Renan What is a Nation (PDF)
Week 05 Assignment 02
Homework Vladimir Lenin The State and Revolution 1917 (PDF)
Lecture 5 The Rise of Nationalism after 1870 (PDF, powerpoint)
Reading Material Lecture 5 (PDF)
VIDEO 1 National Identity and Nationalism
VIDEO 2 The Internationale (English)
VIDEO 3 Epic History World War One - 1914
VIDEO 4 The Rise Of The Soviet Union
- Watch the short video clip from Hitler's speech from the propaganda video (1985) triumph of the Will.
- Note down the following:
- How does Hitler define the political task of his party? And, How does Hitler
define the political state Germany (as reich?)
- Definitions of Fascism and Nazism.
4 Video(s), 2 Reading(s)
Week 06 Assignment 01
VIDEO 1 Adolf Hitler Closing Speech Triumph Of The Will (1934 English Subtitles)
Week 06 Assignment 02 & 03
VIDEO 2 World War II - A Short Documentary
Lecture 6 The End of Liberalism (PDF, powerpoint)
Reading Material Lecture 6 (PDF)
Step 1
- Watch the lecture video: week 7 assignment 1 and 2.
- Learn powerpoint presentation.
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 7 assignment 1 and 2.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 2
- Answer the quiz for week 7.
Step 3
- You can study all other materials and videos listed in this week. (optional)
2 Video(s), 2 Reading(s)
Week 07 Assignment 01 & 02
Lecture 7 The End of Liberalism (2) (PDF, powerpoint)
Reading Material Lecture 7 (PDF)
VIDEO 1 The Russian Revolution 1917
Step 1
- Watch the lecture video: week 8 assignment 1.
- Read the introduction from Hannah Arendt’s book, The origins of totalitarianism (New York; Meridian Books; 2nd edition 1958). You can also use the PowerPoint lecture to answer the questions.
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 8 assignment 1
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 2
- Watch the lecture video: week 8 assignment 2.
- Read the introduction from Karl Popper’s book, The open society and its enemies (London; Routledge 1945)
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 8 assignment 2.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 3
- Answer all the quizzes.
Step4
- You can study all other materials and videos listed in this week. (optional)
4 Video(s), 4 Reading(s)
Week 08 Assignment 01
Homework Introduction from Arendt
Week 08 Assignment 02
Homework Introduction from Popper_Karl
Lecture 8 (Powerpoint)
Reading Material Lecture 8
Video 1 Hannah Arendt Final Speech
Video 2 Karl Popper Interview
Step 1
- Watch the lecture video: week 9 assignment 1 & 2.
- Read the introduction from Edward Said' famous book Orientalism. Focus on the first part of the introduction.
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 9 assignment 1 & 2.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 2
- Answer all the quizzes.
Step 3
- You can study all other materials and videos listed in this week. (optional)
4 Video(s), 3 Reading(s)
Week 09 Assignment 01 & 02
Homework Introduction from Said_Edward_Orientalism_1979 (PDF)
Lecture 9 decolonization and orientalism (PDF powerpoint)
Reading material lecture 9 (PDF)
VIDEO 1 Decolonization And Nationalism Triumphant Crash Course World History 40
VIDEO 2 Edward Said - An Introduction to Orientalism
VIDEO 3 Edward Said On Orientalism
Step 1
- Watch the lecture video: week 10 assignment 1.
- Read the introduction to the famous book by Fukuyama, The end of history and the last man (New York 1992) pp. xi-xxiii
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 10 assignment 1.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 2
- Watch the lecture video: week 10 assignment 2.
- Watch the interview with Pankaj Mishra.
- (optional) rewatch the lecture video: week 10 assignment 1.
- Note down the answer to the question given in the video.
Step 3
- Answer all the quizzes.
Step 4
- You can study all other materials and videos listed in this week. (optional)
5 Video(s), 3 Reading(s)
Week 10 Assignment 01
Homework Introduction 1992-Fukuyama (PDF)
VIDEO 1 fukuyama explains his theory
Week 10 Assignment 02
VIDEO 3 On Contact Age Of Anger With Pankaj Mishra
Lecture 10 Liberalism (PDF powerpoint)
Reading material lecture 10 (PDF)
VIDEO 2 Samuel Huntington on the Clash of Civilizations (1)
Step 1
- Read the pages from Rawls' famous book A theory of Justice. Also: Do your own research. There is a lot of background information on Rawls. You may also use the Lecture Powerpoint.
Step 2
- If you have time you may also read the excellent essay by the philosopher Berlin.
Step 3
- Answer all the quizzes.
Step 4
- You can study all other materials and videos listed in this week. (optional)
4 Video(s), 3 Reading(s)
Week 11 Assignment 01
Homework J Rawls A Theory of Justice (PDF)
Week 11 Assignment 02
Lecture 11 Rawls Nozick (PDF, powerpoint)
Extra Homework Berlin Two concepts of liberty
VIDEO 1 What Is Justice Crash Course Philosophy 40
VIDEO 2 POLITICAL THEORY - John Rawls
Step 1.
- Watch the speech of former USA president Obama, during the commemoration lecture of Nelson Mandela in July 2018 in South Africa. Read the full text of the speech following the link above. Obama defines democracy and warns against the currents that are threatening democracy.
Step 2
- Answer all quizzes.
Step 3
- You can study all other materials and videos listed in this week. (optional)
1 Video(s), 1 Reading(s)
Lecture 12 Liberal concepts (PDF, powerpoint)
VIDEO 1 Strongman politics are ascendant suddenly Key moments from Obamas Mandela lecture
4 Reading(s)
Syllabus-research-paper-writing-oct-decem-2020
1. How to write an Research plan for a academic paper (1)
2. Research Paper writing part
Research Plan example 1