Courses

Prerequisites: PHYS S1202. May be taken before or concurrently with this course. Laboratory for PHYS 1202X. Assignments to laboratory sections are made after the first lecture. NOTE: Labs meet one day a week (Mon, Tues, Wed or Thurs) 1:00pm - 4:00pm only. There are no evening lab sections.

Prerequisites: PHYS S1202. May be taken before or concurrently with this course. Laboratory for PHYS 1202X. Assignments to laboratory sections are made after the first lecture. NOTE: Labs meet one day a week (Mon, Tues, Wed or Thurs) 1:00pm - 4:00pm only. There are no evening lab sections.

This course introduces students to international relations through the lens of world order— how it emerged, how it operates, and why it is now under strain. Students examine how power, institutions, law, domestic politics, and leadership shape cooperation and conflict among states. Rather than treating international relations as abstract theory, the course emphasizes concrete puzzles: why wars occur despite their costs, why democracies rarely fight one another, and why rules sometimes constrain powerful states and sometimes fail, and international law is often weaker than many might expect. The course also explores competing visions of world order, including American, European, Chinese, Islamic, African, and Non-Aligned perspectives, especially in the context of deglobalization. In the final weeks, students apply these ideas to the U.S.–China rivalry and to existential challenges such as nuclear war and environmental stress. The course is designed for students from all majors and emphasizes analytical reading, clear argumentation, and informed discussion of contemporary global politics. 

This course introduces students to international relations through the lens of world order— how it emerged, how it operates, and why it is now under strain. Students examine how power, institutions, law, domestic politics, and leadership shape cooperation and conflict among states. Rather than treating international relations as abstract theory, the course emphasizes concrete puzzles: why wars occur despite their costs, why democracies rarely fight one another, and why rules sometimes constrain powerful states and sometimes fail, and international law is often weaker than many might expect. The course also explores competing visions of world order, including American, European, Chinese, Islamic, African, and Non-Aligned perspectives, especially in the context of deglobalization. In the final weeks, students apply these ideas to the U.S.–China rivalry and to existential challenges such as nuclear war and environmental stress. The course is designed for students from all majors and emphasizes analytical reading, clear argumentation, and informed discussion of contemporary global politics. 

Political theory examines the ideas and institutions that shape political life.  This course introduces key texts and arguments about the best way to organize political power, how it should be used, and for what purpose.

We will address these larger questions by studying how major thinkers, ancient and modern, analyzed political diversity, division, and conflict.  What are the sources of conflicting identities, interests, passions, and values in politics?  How can partisanship and contestation avoid degenerating into open war and unjust domination?  Which institutions, laws, and practices are best able to manage conflict consistent with other political goals, such as freedom, equality, justice?  

Course goals: Demonstrate broad knowledge of key texts, thinkers, concepts, and debates in the history of political thought; compare, contrast, and classify definitions of diversity and their political significance; interpret texts and reconstruct their core arguments and concepts; evaluate arguments, concepts, and theories in terms of consistency, plausibility, and desirability; develop persuasive interpretations and arguments through textual analysis; present and defend ideas and arguments clearly in writing and discussion.

In this course, students will gain familiarity with some of the major questions and theoretical frameworks in the American Politics subfield of political science and learn how to think theoretically and empirically about politics.

The course provides a broad overview of the comparative politics subfield by focusing on important substantive questions about the world today.  Particular attention will be paid to understanding differences between democracies and autocracies, on one hand, and between different forms of democracy, on the other.  What influences whether countries become and/or stay democratic?  On this basis, should we expect China to democratize?  Why do we care if a country is democratic or not?  Do democracies perform better (or worse) than non-democracies in policy areas of importance?  What is “good representation” and how do political institutions affect the prospects for achieving it?  How does the choice of democratic institutions influence the prospects for stable and successful democracy?  Are there particular institutional forms that are appropriate in particular contexts (such as ethnically divided Iraq), or do cultural factors overwhelm institutional considerations? 

In addressing these broad questions, the course has three ancillary goals.  The first is to teach students how to pose and evaluate falsifiable theoretical arguments about substantive questions of interest.  The second is to introduce the quantitative, formal and qualitative methodologies that political scientists use to develop and evaluate arguments.  Finally, the course will require students to develop knowledge of the political systems of a number of foreign countries.

Why do countries go to war? What conditions foster international cooperation? How do alliances between countries function? How are countries affected by global trade and investment, and in turn how does the political economy of individual countries shape international conflict and cooperation? How do ideas and culture (including both positive ideas like human rights and negative ideas like racism) affect international politics? What role do individuals and groups play in shaping international politics? What explains the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic? Why isn’t there significant cooperation on climate change, and can a new global cooperation emerge? What issues have garnered international attention, and how has that shaped the countries’ cooperation? What causes terrorism? Is the proliferation of nuclear (or cyber) weapons a threat to peace, and if so, how should the world response? Does UN peacekeeping work?

In this course we will begin to grapple with these questions. We will use theories developed by philosophers, political scientists and policy analysts, and we will examine the historical roots of today’s problems, in order to explain and predict the patterns of international politics and the possibilities for change. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to choose and develop their own theories to explain events.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the semester, students will accomplish the following:

• Demonstrate broad factual and causal knowledge of important current and historical issues in international relations.
• Apply contending theories from the political science literature and the policy world to analyze, compare, and evaluate events and trends in international relations.
• Assess the value of competing theories in explaining events.
• Synthesize facts and arguments across cases in order to reason critically and argue creatively, through both oral discussions in section and written essays.

Why do countries go to war? What conditions foster international cooperation? How do alliances between countries function? How are countries affected by global trade and investment, and in turn how does the political economy of individual countries shape international conflict and cooperation? How do ideas and culture (including both positive ideas like human rights and negative ideas like racism) affect international politics? What role do individuals and groups play in shaping international politics? What explains the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic? Why isn’t there significant cooperation on climate change, and can a new global cooperation emerge? What issues have garnered international attention, and how has that shaped the countries’ cooperation? What causes terrorism? Is the proliferation of nuclear (or cyber) weapons a threat to peace, and if so, how should the world response? Does UN peacekeeping work?

In this course we will begin to grapple with these questions. We will use theories developed by philosophers, political scientists and policy analysts, and we will examine the historical roots of today’s problems, in order to explain and predict the patterns of international politics and the possibilities for change. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to choose and develop their own theories to explain events.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the semester, students will accomplish the following:

• Demonstrate broad factual and causal knowledge of important current and historical issues in international relations.
• Apply contending theories from the political science literature and the policy world to analyze, compare, and evaluate events and trends in international relations.
• Assess the value of competing theories in explaining events.
• Synthesize facts and arguments across cases in order to reason critically and argue creatively, through both oral discussions in section and written essays.