Course Descriptions
Core Courses
International Studies Program 201-1: Global History I
Course description: This is the first part of a double-segment course that introduces you to thinking globally, systemically, and evolutionary. We now lay the foundation of your becoming a world affairs expert, and we have to start digging very deep, perhaps down to the extinct mammoths. We shall discuss only the organizational logics of various historical systems that pre-date the modern world: tribal chiefdoms, the first temple communities, the agrarian world-empires which are traditionally called “ancient civilizations”, and their “barbarian” peripheries in the woods of Europe, the steppes of Asia, and the deserts of Arabia. In short, all the diversity of social organization and civilizations that had existed before the first European globalization of the 1500s.
International Studies Program 201-2: Global History II
Course description: This course examines the key processes of our contemporary epoch, or the 'short twentieth century' (1914 to 1991), taking them, as Stephen Jay Gould prescribed, in the whole system of relations. Starting with the mutual suicide of the Great Powers in the First World War, the class traces the effects of newer, much bigger and invavise governments and economic corporation. Students try to figure out what caused the two world wars; what were fascism, populism, the New Deal and communism; how the former colonies became independent states, and what came out of their programs of national development and modernization. The course investigates the institutions that ensured the long peace of the Cold War, and how their breakdown released the newest globalization. It also speculates what might come out of globalziation.
Political Science 240: Introduction to International Relations
Course description: The course is divided in two parts. In part I we will be primarily concerned with explaining the causes of war. The emphasis in this class will be on achieving a methodological understanding of how one might explain the outbreak of war, looking specifically at WW I, WW II, and the nuclear era. In Part II our focus turns to the interactions of economics and politics. We will specifically examine why states have divergent ways of conducting economic policy. We conclude by reviewing divergent perspectives on the future economic order.
Political Science 344: U.S. Foreign Policy
Course description: This course examines a range of topics, controversies and case studies in U.S. foreign policy, primarily but not exclusively since the end of the Cold War. Topics include 9/11 and its aftermath, the social, cultural and historical sources of U.S. foreign policy, the privatization of foreign policy, the ethics and politics of covert action and interventionism, trade and aid, norms and international institutions, the debate over U.S. political, economic and cultural hegemony, and the history and politics of U.S. engagement with the Middle East.
Economics 201: Introduction to Macroeconomics
Course description: This course is an introduction to economics with an emphasis on macroeconomics. The first part of the course will cover such topics as scarcity and choice and supply and demand. The course will then focus on the study of the aggregate economy and will cover topics such as economic growth, macroeconomic fluctuations and monetary and fiscal policy. The course will conclude with a look at the US in the world economy and will focus on topics such as international trade and exchange rates.
Upper Level Courses
Intl_Std 390:Dynamics of Terrorism and Counter-terrorism.
Winter 2009
Course description:This course will introduce students to the concepts, goals, strategies, problems, and ideologies associated with contemporary and historic terrorist groups. Emphasis will be placed on terrorist motives and on how terrorist actions have affected the course of history and current foreign and domestic policies. We will use various criteria to examine different types of terrorist organizations -- motives, means, objectives, geography, and others. Students will learn why terrorism continues to be chosen as a mechanism for change in the United States and around the world, and how governments can work to limit its effects.
Among the topics covered will be terrorist group structures, the role of the media, facts and fiction about weapons of mass destruction, the use of torture in counter-terrorism, and the impact of 9/11 on foreign and domestic policy.
Intl_Std 395: Senior Integrating Seminar: Unresolved Conflicts in a Globalized World
Winter & Spring 2009 Course description: In this seminar we will examine the issue of unresolved conflicts, a central problematique in international studies, in order to focus on the theoretical frameworks and methodologies relevant to each of the thematic clusters. This seminar offers an inter-disciplinary approach that helps students better understand the theoretical frameworks of their own thematic cluster, and allows them to learn from other disciplines.
The section on International Political Economy and Development will emphasize a particular instance of “unresolved conflicts”: the role and impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) in a globalized world. Empirical evidence confirms that FDI has in general a positive impact on economic development of receiving countries. But a case-by-case analysis reveals however several and serious tensions between economic, political and societal goals.
The section on International Security will emphasize a particular instance of unresolved conflict: violent conflicts in a global world. In the first half of the section, the issue of civil war will be used as a central example to study and analyze the different theoretical frameworks offered by different disciplines. Students will integrate the theoretical frameworks of political science, economy and sociology in order to conduct an in-class presentation of an assigned reading. Using the theoretical framework and approach of their choice, they will also carry out their own research, exploring an area of their interest. At the end of the quarter, students will come together in a conference format where they will present their final projects to the class.
The section on Culture and Society will focus on the global conflicts, as well as local conflicts that have global consequences, which have cultural characteristics such as religion, ethnicity, or identity. We will also deconstruct certain cultural dichotomies such as "we/other", "West/East", and "modern/traditional" that underpin contemporary international affairs and scholarship in international studies. Students will then integrate the theoretical frameworks of their own cluster to 1) conduct an in class presentation of an assigned reading related to a case study chosen by the respective instructor that touches on the larger problem of "unresolved conflicts," and 2) pursue a research project that draws upon regional concentration coursework and international experience as appropriate. Students come together in a conference format to present their final projects to the class.
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