Undergraduate

Why are some post-communist countries more politically and economically successful than others? What underlies the many conflicts in this region? What can happen in the future, and what can we learn from the East European experience? This course is designed to help you answer these and similar questions. Topics include state-socialism and its collapse, the emergence of ethnic and religious conflict, the transitions to democracy and market economics, entry into NATO and the European Union, democratic backsliding, and Russia's conflict with Ukraine.

This course is an introduction to the methods employed in empirical political science research. We will cover basic topics in research design, statistics, and formal modeling, considering many examples along the way. The two primary goals of the course are: (1) to provide students with analytic tools that will help them to understand how political scientists do empirical research, and (2) to improve students' ability to pose and answer research questions on their own. There are no prerequisites.

Note: Course description is from Fall 2013

This class is an introduction to the American political system. The course is designed to make you think about the logic of our government's institutions, and the consequences - both intended and unintended - of these institutions for the political behavior of citizens, legislators, and other political leaders and activists. Topics to be covered include the Constitution, American political culture, civil rights, the presidency, Congress, Supreme Court, political parties, elections, public opinion, and interest groups.

Please note the description is from Spring 2014

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

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.