Make America Great Again ("MAGA") is likely the most consequential political movement of the Twenty-First Century. This class will introduce students to the ideas behind the movement. Emphasis will be on primary sources—articles, books, and speeches by those who helped form or strengthen the MAGA movement. Throughout the course, students will revisit the central question of: "Is MAGA a coherent political ideology? Or is the MAGA ideology an ex-post rationalization of President Trump's policy preferences?"
Students will be required to regularly take positions that may be contrary to their "real life" opinions and defend those positions in both written and oral format.
The course is not an effort at political evangelism — to convince students that the MAGA ideology is wonderful or awful.