From Political Science Back to Politics: Learning to Teach Intro to Comparative Politics

The author's experiences in teaching Introduction to Comparative Politics university-level courses are related. Although the author emphasized the examination of several case studies in his first attempt to teach an introductory comparative politics course, several problems with focusing on case studies are noted. However, it is stated that an approach based on the author's application of the notion of "imagined communities" to the examination of Guatemalan national identity generated more success. Despite the conceptual difficulty of Benedict Anderson's (1983) understanding of imagined communities, Michael Ignatieff's (1994) cinematic exploration of national identity in multiple cultural contexts & other literary & disciplinary texts were used to render the notions of state, nation, & identity less abstract. Specific issues that addressed this tripartite relationship in Iranian, British, & Mexican society are highlighted, demonstrating the connection between identity & politics in each social context. In addition, Cristina Garcia's novel Dreaming in Cuban (1993) was implemented into the course curriculum in order to humanize the politics of national identity. 8 References. J. W. Parker