Fall 2026
The Politics of Home
Dates: September 02, 2026 – December 16, 2026Day/Time: Wednesday 8:00 AM - 10:20 AM EDT
Level: 300-Level
Certificate: Human Rights
Human Rights certificate requirement: Course taught from a perspective other than that of law or politics.
Instructor: Zahid Rafiq, Bard College
The home is the familiar, a place of safety; it is the nest, the hatchery, the fortress; it is where one rests and hides away from the dangerous and alien world. But what if beneath its accepted and intimate rhythms, home hides sinister things, prejudices, violences, echoes of strange cries, often even in plain view. Do we even see the violence at home, or are we so accustomed to it that we cannot even see it? Do we speak against it if we see it, or do we accept it as the natural way of things and do our part to preserve and continue the order at home? Are there dictators at home, fascists and resistance fighters too? How do various members partake in the politics at home? What keeps a home a home and what threatens it? And what happens in homes when the world around is on fire, and when even with the windows closed, we hear cries, not sure if they come from the outside or inside? In this course, we will read texts where violence is part of the structure of home, where politics is what happens at and as home, and we will look at class, at gender, money, ideology, love, hate, and at the human condition.
Credits: 4 US / 8 ECTS