Course Catalog

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Course Catalog

FOUNDATIONS OF MODERN POLITICS (PO1011)

What is politics - the quest for the common good or who gets what, when, and how? We study what defines politics in the modern age: states and nations in the international system, collective action and representation in mass societies, trajectories of democracy and dictatorship, politics and development in the context of capitalism. The course will introduce the student to the concerns, the language and the methods of Political Science.

CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL POLITICS (PO1012)

This course examines key analytical and normative challenges of the present: global rebalancing and the emergence or reemergence of postcolonial states, uneven development, the role of culture in world politics, the future of the nation state, the global environmental imperative, mass forced and free migrations, the new landscape of armed conflict, the sources and implications of sharpening social divides, and the challenges to liberal-democratic theory and practice.

FIRSTBRIDGE IN POLITICS (PO1099)

Firstbridge courses are offered to degree seeking freshmen and registration is done via webform in pre-arrival checklist.

TOPICS IN POLITICS (PO1910)

Topics vary by semester

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY (PO2003)

Political philosophy forms that branch of philosophy that reflects on the specificity of the political. Why are humans, as Aristotle argued, political animals? How are they political? What are the means and ends of the political, and how best does one organize the political with such questions in mind? The course offers a topic-oriented approach to the fundamental problems underlying political theory and practice.

POLITICAL ECON. OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (PO2005)

Offers a comparative introduction to the political systems of developing countries through the study of decolonization, nation-building, political institutions, and economy. Studies problems of political culture, leadership, representation, and the place of developing countries in the world system.

INTRO TO POLIT'L GEOGRAPHY & GEOPOLITICS (PO2012)

This course investigates how political processes shape human geography and, conversely, how assumptions about places underpin world politics. It presents the main theories of political geography, as well as essential concepts and terminology. It points to the historical contingency of political identities and organizations and reveals how major world events as well as spaces are shaped by everyday politics.

COMPARATIVE POLITICS (PO2015)

This course introduces students to the comparative study of politics, focusing on political behavior and the structures and practices that political systems have in common and those that distinguish them. We study different forms of democratic and authoritarian rule, state-society relationships, and key issues of political economy like development and welfare states. While the emphasis is on domestic features, we also analyze the impacts of globalization on national politics.

WORLD POLITICS (PO2031)

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.

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (PO2032)

Studies the origins, politics, structures, and impact of international organizations with a focus on the United Nations group, specialized agencies, regional organizations, and international administration. Discusses the UN role in peacekeeping, decolonization, refugees, social and health problems, trade and monetary policy, development, technology transfer, and UN reform as well as new developments since the end of the Cold War.