Teaching Political Theory

Political theory deals with profound questions about human nature, political principles, and the limits of knowledge. In Teaching Political Theory, Nicholas Tampio shows how political theorists may take a pluralistic approach to help students investigate the deepest levels of political life.

The book shares advice about how to design a political theory course, including selecting reading materials, writing lectures, making assignments, and creating experiences for students. More than a how-to manual, the book also shows how political theorists may profitably stage conversations between American, Chinese, European, and Indian political thinkers. After reading this book, political theorists will gain ideas about how to read and teach ancient sceptics like Sextus Empiricus, Chinese Daoists like Zhuangzi, African American abolitionists like Sojourner Truth, and Indian philosophers like B.R. Ambedkar.

Written by an editor of the journal Comparative Political Theory, this book offers insights to political theorists at all stages of their career on how to energize their research and teaching methods.