Nihal Isiksel

We learned various political theory perspectives on how to interpret citizenship.

Give Professor Isiksel a gold nugget! She is, without a doubt, the best professor I've had at Columbia. Both in discussion and written assignments, she pushes you to think critically and never settle for the easy answer. She makes philosophy feel meaningful and contemporary and brings in all kinds of interesting debates on race and political ethics. The fact that every single student stayed from the first to the second semester attests to just how great Professor Isiksel is. Professor Isiksel is also just an incredibly kind person who clearly cares about her students. She takes the time to stay behind every class to talk and arranges for students to meet her for coffee outside of class. Despite being a philosophical genius, she's very down-to-earth and doesn't put philosophers on a pedestal just because they're part of the Western canon. The writing assignments are pretty rigorous compared to other sections (you have a little over a week to write 7-8 page papers), but it's absolutely worth it. Everyone should take Professor Isiksel's class. Columbia, please make her teach more undergraduate classes.

Overview of political theory on citizenship in western liberal democracies, popular sovereignty, communitarianism vs. civic republicanism vs. nationalism, refugee issues, etc.

Weekly readings from the CC syllabus (never the entire book - maximum of 200 pages/week) Occasional response papers (participation grade) 2 analytical essays of 6-8 pages Midterm and final with IDs and essays

This course provides the skills with which one uses to engage with political theory and provides substantive depth of the issue of citizenship.

Professor Isiksel is a brilliant instructor who really wants to impart her love of the CC curriculum upon her class. I took her class for two semesters during her first year on the Columbia faculty, and her teaching definitely got more organic and discussion-based as the year went along. I thought that this was ideal given the structure of the class, but it was at times tough for her to get people to participate in class. She was forgiving, however, and she would encourage participation by bringing coffee and cookies on occasion, which was definitely appreciated. Her knowledge of the texts was very strong, and her discussion questions, while obvious at times, definitely got the job done. Two words of caution, however: 1. The distance between an A- and an A is a lot longer than one might expect. This is felt the most in the essays, where perfectly structured essays with a good argument will only get you an A-. To get that A, one must have a nearly-flawless essay. 2. Her absence policy is very strict, even for a Core seminar. We were allowed one absence before our grade started dropping. I would definitely recommend her for students who are looking for a strong focus in political theory and political history in their Core classes and who don't miss class for any reason. At least at the beginning of the year, discussion were fairly dry and uninspiring, but strong classroom partic…

This class is not an easy class. It has a lot of readings, and the subfield, political theory is difficult in general. This isn't a class you can BS at all because the professor will quickly know there is nothing behind your words. As a result you have to read the materials deeply and thing about the topic, which does take time. If you are interested in investing a lot of time into a class and learning a new lexicon in political science take the class, but do not take it if you are busy with other things and political theory is not your life's calling. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Spring 2022 Course: POLSUN3911_002_2022_1-SEMINARINPOLITCALTHEORY : POLSUN3911_002_2022_1 - SEMINAR IN POLITCAL THEORY Instructor: Nihal Isiksel

Attendance/participation, two 6-8 page essays, a midterm, and a final. The papers and tests are all equally weighted.

Professor Isiksel's CC class felt like she got out of it exactly what she wanted to get out of it. If you are looking for a safe CC experience with fairly even grading policies and nothing extra expected, then this is the class for you. Attendance - while she is understanding of religious holidays, Professor Isikel's official policy is that students are allowed one missed class per semester. Attendance is 20% of her grading policy, and she takes it seriously that everyone attend class every day. However, she also brings coffee and cookies at least once a month, and she doesn't seem to care too much about constant participation from everyone, so long as you speak up once or twice a class. Essays - the option is on the table to build your own essay topics, but she gives the students 4 or 5 essay topics to choose from. The topics are fairly limited (no more than 2 authors are discussed in a single essay), and textual analysis is absolutely necessary. The tough-but-fair label fits her grading style well - she doesn't hand out A's like candy, but she also isn't trying to fight grade inflation. Teaching style - the classes generally had 10-20 minutes of historical and biographical lecture and 90 minutes of discussion of the text following questions she sent out before class. The questions themselves were pretty bland, and any liveliness in the discussion was generally brought about…