Course Offerings by term

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.

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.

The course provides a perspective on major currents of recent political thought in the context of the economy. It considers the spectrum of thinking from libertarianism through classical and progressive liberalism, focusing on distinctions between economic and political liberty, social justice, and democratic citizenship. The course considers lastly contemporary concerns with international distributive justice.

This course examines the role of marine environments and fresh waters from the perspective of international security, conflict and cooperation, international law, economics, and environmental safety and culture. Topics include water scarcity, access to sanitation and health, water and gender, capacity-building, financing, valuation, integrated water resources management, trans-boundary water issues, environment and biodiversity, and disaster prevention.