Shah Zeb Chaudhary

This class is an introduction to emotions and global politics; how do emotions shape and affect global politics? What sorts of emotions motivate and drive global actors? Together, we will think about different emotions and what they mean, such as fear, love, hope, shame, anxiety, humiliation, and how these affect politics. What does it mean to fear, and what kind of politics does fear lead to? To love, care, hate? How do certain emotions make specific political choices legible and sensible? What kind of emotionality makes bombing a country, taking in refugees, or closing borders seem legitimate and sensible political decisions? The course will examine the politics of melodrama and freedom, humanitarian interventions and poverty porn, and the broader politics of representation to make us feel differently. The seminar begins with an introduction to global politics and different ways of thinking about emotions before diving into classes structured around emotion and its politics or political issue. Together we will study melodrama, empathy, music, the feelings and performances of rationality, and morality (among others) in relation to global politics.