Course Catalog

This course analyses the basic setting, structure and dynamics of world politics with emphasis on current global problems, practices and processes. In doing so, it introduces the major theoretical approaches to international politics, and uses theory as a methodological tool for analyzing sources of change and causes of conflict and/or cooperation in the global arena.

As in the US, European governance is modeled on capitalism, rights, and democracy. European nations and the European Union, however, approach these topics distinctly. This course, with a focus on the European Union and France in comparative perspective to the US, explores contemporary challenges across three foundational policy fields: governance and citizenship; the environment; and business. Faculty experts and guest lecturers work closely with students to understand the contradictory mechanisms at work in these three policy spheres, querying which political strategies are best adapted for the successful future consolidation of Europe. The aim of the course is to provide students with a sophisticated understanding of European policy modeling and contemporary challenges to the European Union.

Discusses the growth of the United States as an urban, industrialized society and a global power. Themes include patterns and problems of immigration, the ending of the frontier, the emergence of labor and social movements, and cultural evolution. Examines how the rise of the US as a dominant world power in the 20th century has influenced social and political life there.

This course examines the nature of knowledge claims in political science: how we know what we know and how certain we are. Research schools, the nature of description and explanation in political science, and basis issues of quantitative analysis will form the core elements of this course, while substantive themes may vary each year.