Spring 2018

Dissertation Writing Workshop for students in all empirical subfields.   Students working on all phases of their dissertations, from prospectus to post field work writing and post-research article preparation, are welcome.

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. 

NOTE: This description is from Spring 2015

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

This course explores the characteristics, causes, and consequences of insurgency wars. Irregular warfare between insurgent and state forces has been the dominant form of armed conflict since the end of World War II. Yet, international relations scholars paid little attention to these “small wars” before U.S.-led operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This course provides an overview of the history behind insurgency wars and debates the primary theories that try to explain guerrilla and counterinsurgent behavior. We will explore the underlying political, social, economic, and cultural factors that lead to rebellion, the competing strategic approaches to conducting insurgency and counterinsurgency, the immediate and long-term consequences of this type of political violence, and policy options for intervention prior and during small wars. Our empirical focus will be on conflicts in the 19th and 20th centuries, with particular attention to the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. 

Instructor: Jason Klocek

This course is a workshop for discussing work-in-progress in moral, political, and legal theory. The workshop creates a space for students to engage directly with philosophers, political theorists, and legal scholars working on normative questions toward the goal of fostering critical thinking about concepts of value and developing analytical thinking and writing skills. Another aim is to bring together people from different disciplines and perspectives who have strong normative interests or who speak to issues philosophers and theorists should know something about. In Spring 2018, the theme will be democracy. The list of invited speakers is below.

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-programs/courses/academic_calendars.php

Personality factors in political behavior; psychological roots of decision-making; leadership;psychological sources of political belief; conflict theory.

This one-unit course will feature a guest speaker each week discussing an issue currently in the news. The class is open to all students, and there are no prerequisites. The class is offered Pass/Not Pass, based on a final examination. May be repeated for credit.

This course does not count as an upper division Political Science requirement.