Undergraduate

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

For more than fifty years, the European Union has led the world’s most advanced experiment in governance beyond the nation-state.  More recently, however, the EU has become mired in financial turbulence and growing social protest.  This course takes a broad view of the promise as well as the challenges of European integration.  It looks at the EU’s institutional components, events leading to the single currency in the 1990s, enlargement eastward into the post-socialist world, and Europe’s changing role in world affairs.  These topics help us assess Europe’s ability to craft adequate responses to the changes brought by economic transformation, terrorism, multiculturalism, and worldwide financial interdependence.  Course requirements include regular attendance and participation, a midterm, several in-class quizzes, and two papers.  Although there are no formal prerequisites, some background in comparative politics or international relations or economics or European history is desirable.  Students with no prior background in any of these areas will find the course excessively difficult.

This course will focus on ancient Greek political thought. We will read Sophocles’ Antigone; selections from Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War; Plato’s Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Gorgias, and selections from Republic; and selections from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Politics. Themes will include political obligation and civil disobedience, the relation between power and justice, and the relevance of ethics to politics. Students will be expected to read thoroughly and participate frequently.

Note: This description is from Fall 2012

The promise of the American political system was that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness would flow from the a priori maxim enunciated in the Declaration of Independence that all men were created equal and endowed with inalienable rights. This class explores the root of the American rejection of an inclusive democratic government at inception, and its connection to the rejection of European political authority. The way to understand that rejection may be found in the nation's social estrangement from Europe rather than in its dream of freedom from tyranny. The gradual erosion of a balance between decentralized and centralized power can be seen in the eclipse of anti-federalism, the inclusion of slavery, and in Indian Removal. All betray aspects of a compromise with the goal of an inclusive and balanced political authority in the United States. In this class, we see how the compromises between majority rule and minority rights broke down in a way that may have limited the American Founding. By looking closely at unbalanced relationships between majority communities and frontier democrats, African slaves, and Native Americans we reveal much about the struggle for political authority in antebellum society and its unresolved quarrel with the past. The class also utilizes film clips, contemporary news clippings and articles, and as indicated above, a reader and texts (ranging from Hannah Arendt to Herman Melville). This is a class in political theory, and depends heavily on discussion of the material and keeping up with the reading.

This course falls within the American Politics subfield.

Please note the description is from Spring 2013

The course will explore some of the many intersections of the public and private sectors in "public-private partnerships."  These partnerships between government and business have become a common device of American urban politics; one that bears little relationship to traditional government contracts.  Through case studies, some successful, some not, and some for which the outcome is uncertain, it will look at the sometimes competing public policy, legal, political and financial challenges in these transactions.  The course will note the provocative implications of government in the dual role of regulator and business partner.  The cases will focus on sports stadiums/arenas, frequent occupants of this space, including the SF Giants AT&T Ballpark, the Oakland A's and Warriors searches, and the 49ers' new stadium.  It will also consider other uses on public land such as museums (the Exploratorium and the "Lucas museum") and the Drakes Bay Oyster Farm, as well as the emerging (in the United States at least) use of infrastructure "P3s".

Instructor Name:  Pamela Duffy

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP , Partner

Email: pduffy@coblentzlaw.com

Do elections produce governments that reflect the public will? Do they favor competent leaders over incompetent ones? This class introduces students to recent research on these questions, focusing on presidential elections. It explores topics such as citizens’ ability to judge politicians, whether elected leaders represent their constituents’ interests, and the degree to which public officials exploit their power to aid their reelection bids. We critically examine evidence that voters judge candidates based on superficial traits, such as their faces, that they are duped into voting against their economic interests by wedge issues, such as abortion and gay marriage, and that they are shortsighted, usually remembering only recent successes and failures by their political leaders. Through reading and writing, students will learn to evaluate research about politics and to understand the statistical tools used to study American government.

This course will introduce students to some key concepts used in contemporary comparative political analysis. It will do so through an examination of the reasons for why some modern nation states provide better living conditions for their citizens. Are these differences due to factors such as political institutions, legislative arrangements, parties and party systems, or social forces such as culture and ethnicity? Class lectures will focus on developing an understanding of how political scientists use these terms and whether they provide adequate explanations for why states vary so substantially in their performance. There will be two lectures per week and one required discussion section.

This course can satisfy either the Social & Behavioral Sciences or International Studies breadth requirement.

Please note the description is from Summer 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, the Supreme Court, political parties, elections, public opinion, and interest groups.

What are the origins and consequences of China’s extraordinary re-emergence on the world stage?  China’s rapid economic growth has in some respects confirmed the power of free markets, but at the same time it has challenged social scientists to think more deeply about the foundations and limits of the market economy.  Furthermore, China’s ever-increasing economic freedom and prosperity has been accompanied by only limited steps toward greater political freedom, contrary to the expectations of many.  This course will provide students with the foundations for understanding how China came to be where it is and the ways in which this is already affecting every sphere of human activity.

Familiarity with China (through personal experience or coursework) will help but is not required.