Fall 2016

semester status
Active

COMPARATIVE POLITICS COLLOQUIUM

Level
Semester
Fall 2016
Instructor(s)
Units
2
Number
291AS
CCN
22292
Times
Th 12:30-2:00
Location
223 Moses
Course Description

This colloquium exposes graduate students and faculty to work by leading scholars of comparative politics working in diverse substantive areas. Graduate students are expected to read circulated papers of visiting speakers ahead of the colloquium and participate actively in raising questions and making comments.  They are encouraged to meet visiting speakers in their areas of interest in group or one-on-one sessions. The schedule and links to available papers may be found at http://polisci.berkeley.edu/research-and-teaching/lectures-colloquia/comparative-politics-colloquium or http://cpd.berkeley.edu/events/comparative-politics-colloquium/"

 

NOTE: This description is from Spring 2015

Research and Writing

Level
Semester
Fall 2016
Units
4
Number
290A
CCN
22394
Times
Th 4-6
Location
202 Barrows
Course Description

The goal of this yearlong course is to provide a forum in which students propose, develop, and complete a research project that produces a journal-length paper of publishable quality. This paper will typically serve as students' second-year M.A. essay, and the course is intended as a complement to that requirement. This course is primarily oriented towards second-year Ph.D. students in any subfield (students in other years may participate with the professors’ consent). The course meets regularly during parts of the fall semester and irregularly during the spring semester. In the first few weeks of the course, we discuss the process of moving from research topic to research question; and we survey published articles by recent Ph.D. students/assistant professors, focusing on the structure and nature of the writing and presentation as well the quality of the argument and evidence. We then move to students’ research proposals for the rest of the fall semester. During the spring semester, students meet individually with the course instructors and their advisors, develop and revise drafts of their papers, and present their work at a department “APSA-style” conference. In order to complete the course and receive credit, students must complete the requirements for both semesters.

American Government and Political Field Seminar

Level
Semester
Fall 2016
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Number
271
CCN
22175
Times
Th 12-2
Location
202
Course Description

This seminar is designed to acquaint students with current research approaches in various subfields of American Politics. Particular attention will be given to debates over theory, methodology, and substance. The seminar is not designed to provide a complete survey of the field. Students planning to be examined in American Politics are expected to master recommended readings on their own and should review additional readings included in versions of this seminar offered in the past years.

Note: This description is from Fall 2015

JUNIOR SEMINAR: Fragile States

Semester
Fall 2016
Units
4
Section
9
Number
191
CCN
34169
Times
W 6-8
Location
223 Moses
Course Description

This course focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of state fragility in different parts of the world.  Students who enroll in the course should be able to propose policy options that can help fragile or failing states work on building capacity including the option of peace-building and use of foreign aid. 

The course is a hybrid of on-line and instructor led discussions. It is also a truly international collaboration. The course will be prepared faculty from four institutions, The University of California, Berkeley, Cambridge University, National University of Singapore, and the University of Tokyo.  The four universities, will collaborate in sharing a (1) a core syllabus, (2) common course materials (video, powerpoint, assignment and questions), and also prepare for (3) cross-national student groups, two from each universities to work together. The final paper will require students to work with their colleagues from these universities across the globe on group projects, possibly in a form of policy paper / recommendations that may either take form of a website presentation, power point, written paper, or a combination of the above.

Requirements

Minimum GPA: 3.5

Prerequisites

Political Science Majors of Junior and Senior status, with a minimum overall UC GPA of 3.3. Students must place themselves on the waitlist through "CalCentral" in Phase II. Selection and notification will occur in mid-August.   Priority may be given to students who have not yet taken a junior seminar.

Introduction to Computational Tools and Techniques

Level
Semester
Fall 2016
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Number
239T
CCN
20585
Times
M 2-4 and W 4-6
Location
791 Barrows
Course Description

This course will provide graduate students the critical technical skills necessary to conduct research in computational social science and digital humanities, introducing them to the basic computer literacy, programming skills, and application knowledge that students need to be successful in further methods work.

The course is divided into three main sections: skills, applications, and community engagement. The “skills” portion will introduce students to basic computer literacy, terminologies, and programming languages -
i.e. Unix Shall, R, Python, and Git. The second part of the course provides students the opportunity to use the skills they learned in part 1 towards practical applications such as automated text analysis, geospatial analysis, network analysis, data collection via APIs, crowdsourcing and online experiments, and data visualization. The third section on community engagement will introduce topics such as ethics and privacy, best practices of reproducible research, scholarly communication and collaboration, and how to further one’s research using UC Berkeley campus resources.

SELECTED TOPICS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: GENDER AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS

Semester
Fall 2016
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Number
123S
CCN
20674
Times
TuTh 2−330P
Location
170 Barrows
Course Description

Are human rights women's rights? Are women's rights human rights? This course examines the international human rights system (treaties, conventions, institutions and case law) through the lens of gender, exploring the ways in which they are organized around gendered assumptions that shape and limit their ability to reach and remedy the reality of women's lives. The course also considers the tension between international human rights law and local gender justice as well as how international human rights have evolved in response to the rise of global feminisms. The course explores these issues through a series of case studies examining such issues as sexual violence, human trafficking, religious freedom and women's access to education, health care and employment.

Subfield: International Relations

 

Note: This description is from Fall 2013

Graduate Student Instructor Training Seminar

Level
Semester
Fall 2016
Instructor(s)
Units
2
Number
375
CCN
22441
Times
Th 10-12
Location
791 Barrows
Course Description

PS 375 is a two-credit course designed for first-time Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs).  The course seeks to introduce students to practical teaching methods and to foster discussion about effective pedagogy. It also focuses on professional development, in particular on developing skills that are closely related to effective teaching such as presentation skills. The course features student presentations on selected pedagogical topics, panels on key issues related to teaching and to professional development, and discussion of weekly assignments in relation to challenges encountered by GSIs in the course of their teaching.

The Statistics of Causal Inference in the Social Science

Level
Semester
Fall 2016
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Number
C236A
CCN
33753
Times
M 4-7
Location
791 Barrows
Course Description

Approaches to causal inference using the potential outcomes framework. Covers observational studies with and without ignorable treatment assignment, randomized experiments with and without noncompliance, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, sensitivity analysis and randomization inference. Applications are drawn from a variety of fields including political science economics, sociology, public health and medicine.

Requirements

This course is room shared with Statistics  239A

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS IN POLITICAL RESEARCH

Level
Semester
Fall 2016
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Number
231A
CCN
21966
Times
W 9-12
Location
791 Barrows
Course Description

This is a rst course on statistical inference and modeling for use in social science research. It
covers probability and the theory of statistical inference, justications for and problems with common
statistical procedures, and how to apply procedures to empirical social science data to draw conclusions
relevant to positive social theory. We will pay particular attention to the motivation for statistical
inference and modeling from the standpoint of social science. Lectures and reading will primarily
cover theory and simple examples. Problem sets will cover both simple theoretical extensions and
applications of tools we develop to real data.


Required Skills. Students should have completed PS230 or its equivalent with a B or better.
Students should have a working knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, and elementary calculus. The
course is suitable for students with a large range of prior exposure to statistics and mathematics.
Students with Ph.D.-level training in mathematical statistics from a statistics department will not
nd that it pushes their capabilities; students with less background than this should nd at least
some challenges, conceptual or technical. All students capable of gaining admission to a Berkeley
Ph.D. program can fully succeed in this class regardless of prior technical preparation other than the
required skills listed above.

 

Please note that description is from Fall 2014