Fall 2019

semester status
Active

JUNIOR SEMINAR: POLITICS OF INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS

Semester
Fall 2019
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
5
Number
191
CCN
17312
Times
R 3-5pm
Location
Barrows 791
Course Description
Whether seeking agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership or haggling over the terms of the Iran nuclear deal, there are always winners and losers in international negotiations. This course will examine how theories of negotiation strategy interact with political and international relations theories, helping us understand negotiation strategies and who wins and loses in international negotiations. The course will draw from a broad range of approaches, including psychology, game theory, economics, and management studies. It will also explore how theories of negotiation are applied in practice through readings  of case studies. The course will examine current events and historical negotiations, seeking to explore how a range of factors, such as domestic politics, state power, and legal frameworks affect negotiation strategies and outcomes. Students will be expected to actively engage in negotiation simulations, prepare policy memos, and conduct a research project on an international negotiation of their choosing. 
 

South Asian Politics

Level
Semester
Fall 2019
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
1
Number
245A
CCN
33026
Times
Tu 10a-12p
Location
202 Barrows
Course Description
This doctoral seminar, held jointly with Yale University, reviews major theoretical and empirical debates in the politics of India. The goal is to enhance students’ empirical knowledge of India and to explore some of the central issues that define contemporary Indian politics. The course is structured to encourage students to think about how they might design and execute research that would contribute to scholarship on the region. Major themes include the transformation of the party system, communal conflict, women in politics, the people left behind, and issues of poverty and development. Berkeley students enrolled in the seminar will have to commit to an extra hour of discussion on party politics in India since independence. 
 

History of Political Economy

Level
Semester
Fall 2019
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
2
Number
211
CCN
34073
Times
Th 10am-12:40pm
Location
2240 Piedmont Room 102
Course Description

This course will consider the history of political economy as a history of economic and political discourses from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. It will situate what it takes to be an early modern innovation with reference to ancient precedents, which will be briefly examined. Given this long span, it will obviously be highly selective in treating discursive and theoretical issues of major importance. The focus will be on three themes: the transformation of the ancient vocabulary of polis and oikos into the modern vocabulary of civil society (or economy) and state; the emergence of the concept of the self-equilibrating economy in the eighteenth century, and subsequent controversies over its normative underpinnings; the rise and fall of classical political economy and its relation to its successor schools, nineteenth-century marginalism and twenty-century welfare economics. Readings will consist mainly of original works by central figures in this historical tradition. 

This is a cross-listed/room-shared course with the Law and Political Science Departments. Students may enroll through Law (Law 217.1) or Political Science (PS 211 Sec 002). The first class will meet on Thursday, August 22. Note, this course follows the Law School's Academic Calendar. (https://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-programs/courses/academic_calendars.php)

 

COMPARATIVE POLITICS COLLOQUIUM

Level
Semester
Fall 2019
Instructor(s)
Units
2
Number
291AS
CCN
23579
Times
Th 12:30-2:00
Location
202 Barrows
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. 

NOTE: This description is from Spring 2015

Research and Writing

Level
Semester
Fall 2019
Units
4
Number
290A
CCN
19593
Times
M 4-6pm
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.

Graduate Student Instructor Training Seminar

Level
Semester
Fall 2019
Instructor(s)
Units
2
Number
375
CCN
23597
Times
W 4-6
Location
202 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.

Introduction to Computational Tools and Techniques

Level
Semester
Fall 2019
Units
4
Section
1
Number
239T
CCN
33647
Times
M 2-4 and W 2-4
Location
122 Barrows
Course Description

This course will provide graduate students the 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 currently divided into four main sections. In the first section, students learn how their computers work and communicate with other computers using git and bash. In the second, we turn our attention to the structure, analysis, and visualization of data, with an emphasis in R. In the third, students learn applications to collect new data (e.g., using APIs and webscraping). In the fourth, students learn additional means of analyzing and visualizing data, including tools like text analysis and machine learning.
 

Instructor: Julia Christensen