Department website: https://snfagora.jhu.edu/
Overview
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins is an academic and public forum that integrates research, teaching, and practice to improve and expand powerful civic engagement and informed, inclusive dialogue as the cornerstone of robust global democracy. We work by generating scholarly insights and transforming them into usable knowledge for civic and political actors who can enable real-world change.
Our objective is to translate the best insights from academic scholarship into actionable knowledge in the real world. As we are a university-based institute, our students and faculty are our core constituencies. However, through our research, teaching, and practice, our objective is to impact people who are or will become leaders of the modern-day agora. This includes community leaders, advocates, non-governmental organizations, party organizations, and public thinkers; arbiters of the public information sphere who are catalysts of civil society around the world; and the students at Johns Hopkins who will go on to fill those positions. These leaders of the modern agora act as intermediaries connecting people to the political process, to allow proper functioning of the norms, behaviors, and institutions that make liberal democracy possible.
Founded in 2017 with a visionary $150 million gift to Johns Hopkins University from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the SNF Agora Institute draws inspiration from the ancient Athenian agora, a gathering place for shared conversation, debate, and action that became the heart of democratic governance in Athens.
For current course information and registration go to https://sis.jhu.edu/classes/
COURSES
AS.196.110. Digital Society: Big Data, Social Media, and Ethical Engagement. 1 Credit.
How do big data and social media shape our ideas about ourselves and our participation in governance? This interdisciplinary course examines the influence of algorithms and large-scale data systems in our lives and society at large. Students explore how data-driven technologies affect brain function, human behavior, and public discourse as they engage with the work of Dr. Lilliana Mason and other JHU faculty experts. Students investigate pressing ethical issues related to privacy, misinformation, data security, and digital manipulation. Through hands-on programming in Python, students will work with real-world datasets to analyze trends and patterns, culminating in a final project that explores data’s impact on social behavior and participatory governance. This course is ideal for students interested in computer science, data science, neuroscience, psychology, cybersecurity, and/or governance. No prior programming experience is required.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Quantitative and Mathematical Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2),
Citizens and Society (FA4)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.201. Introduction to Civic Leadership. 3 Credits.
What does it take for people to engage productively as informed, skilled, and effective members of democratic communities and the world? Whether we are scientists, doctors, engineers, advocates, public servants, or anything else, we are all members of pluralistic communities. This introductory course seeks to introduce students to the theory and principles of civic life and the rights and responsibilities of active citizenship. We’ll examine the history of and struggles for freedom, inclusion, and civic participation, the role of information, deliberation, and free expression in the public sphere, and the threats and opportunities for global democracy. Students will read and discuss materials by civic studies and democracy scholars, building a foundational understanding of civic life across disciplines and perspectives. Many of these scholars and practitioners will appear in class to discuss their work directly with students. The course will pay particular attention to the ways that students from all backgrounds can apply these ideas in their everyday lives, regardless of the professions they pursue. This course is also the first course for students interested in minoring in the SNF Agora Institute Minor on Civic Life, but is designed to inspire a commitment to participation in civic life for all students, including those who do not major or minor in related fields.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.210. Catastrophe. 3 Credits.
The world feels increasingly dangerous. Dictators are on the rise, democracies are faltering, and global stability is under threat from the specter of major wars—even nuclear conflict. Future pandemics may prove more deadly than the last. The environment is under severe stress. And emerging technologies like artificial intelligence may displace humanity’s central role in the world. Catastrophe seems just around the corner. This course takes a comparative approach to studying these different catastrophes, and what can be done to prevent them. Our aim is to better understand these dangers, assess their relative gravity, and explore possible responses. Topics include the rise of authoritarianism and the decline of liberal democracy; the risk of armed conflict and nuclear war; public health threats like antibiotic resistance and pandemics; environmental degradation including climate change; and transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.211. Is the U.S. Congress representative? Is America democratic?. 2 Credits.
Alexander Hamilton (in Federalist No. 9) recognized “the representation of the people in the legislature by deputies of their own election” as one of the distinctively modern innovations of government that set the United States up for success. In this short course, we will begin with some big picture questions about the origins and logic of representative democracy, including the question of what duties elected officials owe to their constituents. We will then consider whether contemporary American political institutions live up to our ideals. Do anti-majoritarian practices such as the filibuster and judicial review represent unacceptable deviations from democracy? Why do so many Americans find our government so offensively unrepresentative? Philip Wallach is one of the country’s leading thinkers about Congress and its place in America’s constitutional system. The Wall Street Journal named his 2023 book, Why Congress, one of the year’s best on politics. He has been writing about what leads people to accept policies as legitimate since his first book, To the Edge: Legality, Legitimacy, and the Responses to the 2008 Financial Crisis (2015). He is currently a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and previously worked at the Brookings Institution and as a Fellow for the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.301. Social Entrepreneurship and Democratic Erosion. 3 Credits.
This course will explore the dynamics and interplay between social entrepreneurship, social change, and policy. Students will explore this specific moment in our democracy, and contextualize erosion happening in international and domestic contexts. The course will examine the intersection between social change and policy change, examining how the two concepts intersect while focusing on the end goal of systems change and furthering democracy. Students will examine different case studies of social transformation (or proposed social transformation) from across the United States and world. Guest speakers will include diverse practitioners of social entrepreneurship who think about long-term pathways to transformative social change, and dynamic policymakers. While the course will include case studies on broader domestic and international challenges and models of democratic erosion, a larger focus will be on specific local social problems and solutions. This will manifest through class discussions and a final project based on the surrounding community.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
Writing Intensive
AS.196.302. Science and Democracy. 3 Credits.
What role does scientific expertise play (or not play) in American democracy? What role should scientific expertise play (or not play) in American democracy? These are the key questions we’ll address in this class, focusing on a wide range of examples such as government responses to public health crises, environmental crises, and war. We’ll tackle these questions from multiple angles, drawing on ideas from across the social sciences, including political science, psychology, sociology, economics, history, and communication. We’ll focus largely on the United States, though in some cases compare the US experience with other democracies to understand how unique aspects of our democratic institutions influence the link between science and democracy.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2),
Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.306. Democracy by the Numbers. 3 Credits.
How is democracy doing around the world? This course will help students to answer this question and ask their own questions about political systems by examining a variety of quantitative measures of facets of democracy in the U.S. and internationally. We consider general indices as well as those that focus on specific normatively-appealing aspects—the absence of fraud in and broader integrity of the electoral process itself, the guarantees of fundamental human rights to all, governments’ effectiveness and accountability to the public, the equity of both representation and policy outcomes for minority groups and those historically disadvantaged or excluded, and the possibility and extent of civic engagement in non-government institutions. Wherever possible, the course will present evidence about the kinds of institutions and policies that seem to bolster democracy. Students can expect to gain hands-on experience with publicly-available subnational and national indicators of electoral and democratic quality.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2),
Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.308. Voting Power: How to Win Policy Reform in The U.S. Election Ecosystem. 3 Credits.
While stories of allegedly true crimes have long fascinated the American public, the last decade has seen an astonishing proliferation of media depicting both real and fabricated crime and policing events. In this course, we will examine how crime media—from true-crime documentaries to YouTube interrogation-analysis videos and online “citizen sleuth” forums—shapes and is shaped by complex collaborations and conflicts among state actors, large media conglomerates, and the public. Alongside an interrogation of the capitalist relations that organize the production and circulation of traditional crime media and digital crime “content,” this course provides an intensive introduction to foundational debates in surveillance studies, media theory, and law and policing scholarship. By “following the money,” students will not only map the commercial, cultural, and political underpinnings of crime storytelling in the digital age, but they will also evaluate the ideologies of law enforcement, surveillance, and punishment that these media promote.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.310. Fighting the Information War: Democracy, Autocracy and the Battle of Narratives in the 20th and 21st Centuries. 3 Credits.
Once, many believed the information revolution would undermine autocracies and energize democracies. Instead, we live in an era of unprecedented disinformation, propaganda and media manipulation. Can we reverse these developments? How do we fight back? This course will look at examples of propaganda and disinformation in the past, especially in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, as well as the present: Russia, Latin America, Europe, and the US. We will analyze how our information environment has been transformed, and think about how to create alternatives that will help deliberative democracy flourish.
Prerequisite(s): Students may earn credit for AS.196.310 or AS.196.610 or AS.196.364, but not all three.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.315. Civics, Power & Democracy in Action: A Theater-Based Analysis. 2 Credits.
This course examines how theatre interrogates power, governance, and democratic life. Using theatrical texts as case studies, students will analyze how civic systems, political authority, public discourse, and collective decision-making are represented, challenged, and disrupted onstage. The course emphasizes discussion, close reading, critical analysis, and comparative study rather than performance. No prior theatre experience is required. This course is suited for students interested in examining how political power and civic systems function through language, behavior, and institutional dynamics.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.316. Power to the People?: Popular Sovereignty in the United States. 3 Credits.
Popular sovereignty — the idea that the people rule themselves — has been heralded as one of the preeminent innovations of the modern world. And over the course of the last two hundred or so years, a rising tide of nations committed themselves to the principles of popular sovereignty. Yet in recent years, the inevitability, soundness, and very viability of “rule by the people” has come into question. Can popular sovereignty survive? In what form will the people rule, and at what cost? This class is an investigation into the idea and practice of popular sovereignty in the contemporary United States. We will explore this topic by actively consulting theory and empirical research in the social sciences. We will supplement theory and empirical research with our own research on the 2026 election, including media coverage of issues, popular attitudes about democracy, and popular representation in government and by interest/advocacy groups and social movements. In other words, this class is part discussion seminar and large part hands-on active research.Additionally, this class is organized as a collaboration between two courses: one at Johns Hopkins University, the other at Williams College. The two classes will meet frequently via videoconference to share research and discuss readings and ideas. Students from both campuses will collaborate on research and presentations.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
Writing Intensive
AS.196.320. Civic Leadership Seminar. 2 Credits.
The Civic Leadership Seminar engages with foundational questions of civic leadership and supports students in developing and practicing skills that are needed for active citizenship. At the heart of these activities is the need to work with others to tackle problems in communities we care about, and so students will become well-versed in principles of collective action, communication, and the science of collaboration. Weekly meetings will involve a mix of reading, presentations by guest speakers, discussion, and reflection. As part of the Minor in Civic Leadership, students take this seminar class for two semesters. Those taking it for the first time will engage in several relatively short community engagement activities in which they practice putting ideas from the class into practice. Those taking it for the second time will be taking it as a capstone class, and be required to independently develop, implement, and present a more extensive community engagement project.
Prerequisite(s): AS.196.201
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.325. AI and Democracy. 3 Credits.
How will the advent of AI affect democracy in the US and elsewhere? And how should democratic principles shape technologies such as AI? In this course, we will explore the potential consequences of technologies such as large language models for democratic culture and institutional stability. We will investigate whether we ought incorporate democratic values into the design of AI, to address problems such as bias and safety. We will discuss the new questions that arise as AI agents become active in society, and the consequences for employment. Finally, we will examine how or whether democracies ought govern AI and related technologies.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.326. How to Beat Autocrats: lessons from the front lines in the battles to defend democracies. 3 Credits.
Dictators have changed. No longer wedded to ideology, they now use corruption, disinformation and surveillance to cement control. But those who fight them are adapting too.This course will cover the latest stories and lessons from the global battles against autocracy. From Brazil to Georgia, Russia to Zimbabwe and China, we will meet the activists, politicians, campaigners and journalists who are reinventing how to take on autocrats in the 21st century. Students will then apply these lessons to the US. What can we learn from Russian activists’ battle against corruption, for example, for America today? The aim of this course is to familiarize students with the evolving tactics of autocrats and democratic activists, and use that to understand the strengths and weaknesses of American democracy- and how we can defend it. The course will be taught be Anne Applebaum, Peter Pomerantsev, and Denise Dresser. It will feature regular special guests from the front lines of campaigns against autocrats, followed by workshops where students will apply international lessons to the US. As a final paper students will produce a proposal for a campaign to defend democracy in the US.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.363. Populism and Politics. 3 Credits.
Around the world, from Italy to Brazil, and from Hungary to the United States, populist candidates are fundamentally changing the political landscape. In this course, we explore the nature of populism; investigate whether populism poses an existential threat to liberal democracy; explore the causes of the populist rise; investigate the ways in which populism is a response to demographic change; and discuss what strategies might allow non-populist political actors to push back.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
Writing Intensive
AS.196.411. The Modern American Midterm Election in Historical Perspective. 3 Credits.
American elections – even rare, unexpected, or paradigm-busting elections – do not occur in a vacuum. Instead, they are created, shaped, and constructed by a variety of significant forces, over time.This seminar thus suggests that you cannot understand modern American politics and contests, including the 2024 election and the upcoming 2026 election, without examining the historical antecedents that make the present-day moment possible. Consequently, while enrolled in this seminar, students will grapple with the following central question: what are the foundational moments in modern American social, political, and economic history that provided the “building blocks” for the 2026 United States Midterm Elections? How can we use history to analyze and explain the developments of the 2026 election, and put them in context as those moments are happening in real time?
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.420. Civic Leadership Capstone. 3 Credits.
This capstone engages with foundational questions of civic leadership and supports students in developing frameworks for and practicing skills that are needed for active citizenship. Weekly sessions will involve a mix of reading, presentations by guest speakers, discussion, and reflection. Capstone students will be required to independently develop, implement, and present a civic engagement project.
Prerequisite(s): AS.196.201 AND AS.196.320
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Citizens and Society (FA4),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.435. Democratic Strategies in an Age of Information Conflict. 3 Credits.
This course examines how democracies can respond to propaganda, covert influence, and political warfare. Co-taught by instructors with experience in journalism, intelligence, and policy, the course combines theory with practice, asking what democratic resilience looks like in an era of global information confrontation. Drawing on historical and contemporary case studies—from World War II black radio and Cold War psyops to modern-day Ukraine and recent U.S. elections—the course explores tools and strategies that can be employed today across government, technology platforms, and civil society.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Democracy (FA4.1),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
AS.196.500. Independent Study. 1 - 3 Credits.
This is an independent reading and research course at the undergraduate level on topics related to democracy, measurement, and/or social statistics. Registration and syllabus must be agreed upon in advance and prior to College add deadlines, and must include contact hours requisite to the credit level.
Prerequisite(s): You must request Customized Academic Learning using the Customized Academic Learning form found in Student Self-Service: Registration > Online Forms.
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
AS.196.502. SNF Agora Institute Student Research Internship. 1 - 3 Credits.
This student research internship offers undergraduates an opportunity to engage in collaborative research with an SNF Agora faculty member or SNF Agora Visiting Fellow.
Prerequisite(s): You must request Customized Academic Learning using the Customized Academic Learning form found in Student Self-Service: Registration > Online Forms.
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
AS.196.505. Internship. 1 Credit.
Registration for this course is an opportunity to join work on a project dedicated to testing how to communicate democratic values to diverse audiences during the 2026 Anniversary of the US. The question we will be exploring is whether Americans can have a coherent national conversation that confronts the country's history, and can imagine a common future. We will partner with media and sociologists to create tested strategies that can be scaled further. Students may be trained in qualitative or quantitative research skills, depending on need and interest. This course requires instructor approval.
Prerequisite(s): You must request Customized Academic Learning using the Customized Academic Learning form found in Student Self-Service: Registration > Online Forms.
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
AS.196.600. Data-analysis for Social Science & Public Policy I. 2 Credits.
We will gain experience with data-analysis geared towards understanding the social world. Our scope ranges from simple descriptions and predictions under strong assumptions to intervention analyses that provide a more trustworthy foundation for quantifying causal effects. The course will be offered in a hybrid modality and will have a heavy focus on computation. We will alternate between discussion sessions devoted to fundamental concepts, and lab sessions devoted to a combination of web- and instructor-led data-analyses. Whenever possible, examples using both R and Stata and using a range of national and cross-national data-sources relevant to the study of democracy will be provided.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS.196.601. Data-analysis for Social Science & Public Policy II. 2 Credits.
We will gain experience with data-analysis geared towards understanding the social world. Our scope ranges from simple descriptions and predictions under strong assumptions to intervention analyses that provide a more trustworthy foundation for quantifying causal effects. The course will be offered in a hybrid modality and will have a heavy focus on computation. We will alternate between discussion sessions devoted to fundamental concepts, and lab sessions devoted to a combination of web- and instructor-led data-analyses. Whenever possible, examples using both R and Stata and using a range of national and cross-national data-sources relevant to the study of democracy will be provided.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS.196.602. Engaged Research with Community Organizers. 2 Credits.
This seminar is designed to provide students with an overview to one approach to conducting publicly-oriented, academically-rigorous, community-engaged, reflexive research with organizers. Learning how do this kind of work is a craft; as with all research, there is no formula for doing it well. Instead, researchers have to develop motivational, ethical, conceptual, and technical capacities: to do the work well, researchers must want to do the work; they must develop an ethical framework and a set of animating values; they must understand the theory and concepts that underpin reflexive research; and they must have the technical skills necessary for carrying out the research. In other words, as with many complex capabilities, there is a head, hands, and heart component to the research. This seminar is designed to introduce students to all of these aspects of the work and equip those who are interested to practice doing a concrete project. It is important to emphasize, however, that because doing this work is a craft, we expect that this is one part of on an ongoing journey— not the end.
AS.196.610. Fighting the Information War: Democracy, Autocracy & the Battle of Narratives in the 20 & 21 Century. 3 Credits.
Once, many believed the information revolution would undermine autocracies and energize democracies. Instead, we live in an era of unprecedented disinformation, propaganda and media manipulation. Can we reverse these developments? How do we fight back? This course will look at examples of propaganda and disinformation in the past, especially in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, as well as the present: Russia, Latin America, Europe, and the US. We will analyze how our information environment has been transformed, and think about how to create alternatives that will help deliberative democracy flourish.
Prerequisite(s): Students who took AS.196.364 OR AS.196.310 are not eligible to take AS.196.610.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS.196.635. Democratic Strategies in an Age of Information Conflict. 3 Credits.
This course examines how democracies can respond to propaganda, covert influence, and political warfare. Co-taught by instructors with experience in journalism, intelligence, and policy, the course combines theory with practice, asking what democratic resilience looks like in an era of global information confrontation. Drawing on historical and contemporary case studies—from World War II black radio and Cold War psyops to modern-day Ukraine and recent U.S. elections—the course explores tools and strategies that can be employed today across government, technology platforms, and civil society.
AS.196.801. Independent Study. 1 - 3 Credits.
This is an independent reading and research course at the graduate level on topics related to democracy, measurement, and/or social statistics. Registration and syllabus must be agreed upon in advance and prior to College add deadlines, and must include contact hours requisite to the credit level.