Course Syllabus

O'Neill School logo that reads "O'Neill. Lead for the Greater Good."

 P710: Civil Society, Fall 2026, Section 23857

Course Description

What is civil society? How does civil society interact with other social institutions—especially the state? This course introduces the broad, interdisciplinary field of civil society theory and research.

Instructor: Matthew Baggetta, PhD

Course Meeting Time: Thursdays, 12:45-3:15pm, SPEA PV-270

Office hours: Tuesdays, 11:00am-1:00pm ET, SPEA 435

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

  1. Recognize some major subfields within the study of civil society and articulate how newly encountered research literature fits within or across those subfields.
  2. Understand concepts like civil society, civic engagement, political participation, social capital, associations, collective action, organizing, mobilizing, social movements, and other foundational ideas that both distinguish and cut across areas of civil society research.
  3. Assemble research literature within a focused area of interest under the civil society umbrella and articulate a structure for intellectually organizing that literature in writing.
  4. Deliver a high-quality, well-illustrated lecture introducing other scholars to a focused area of interest within the study of civil society.
  5. Identify an unanswered research question within a focused area of interest within the study of civil society and prepare a grant proposal narrative to fund research that would answer the question.

Course Schedule

  • Unit 1: Introducing Civil Society (Weeks 1-8)
  • Unit 2: Studying Civil Society (Weeks 9-10)
  • Unit 3: Deep Dives in Selected Thematic Areas (Weeks 11-14)
  • Unit 4: Reviewing and Advancing the Study of Civil Society (Weeks 15-16)