December 14, 2001

A Political-Science Course at Yale U. Searches for the Origins of Great Ideas

First, read Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault. Then (this is the hard part), work backward to divine the insight that led to the finished masterpiece.

That's one of the challenges for students in "Creativity and Method in Comparative Research," a graduate political-science course at Yale University.

Taught by James C. Scott, a professor of political science and anthropology, and Arun Agrawal, an associate professor of political science, the course