Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: Race Development and American International Relations, Hegel and Marx, and Logic of the West.

This seminar will examine the theme of power as it engages questions of sex andgender. Subsidiary themes that will be developed over the course of the semester include: the modernism/ postmodernism debate as it particularly relates to feminism; the intersectionality of race, gender, sexuality and class and how feminists can and do talk about "women"; the relevance of feminist theory to policy issues, and which theoretical approaches are the most appropriate or have the most powerful potential. The readings will start with "foundational" texts in feminist theory-- texts that anyone who wants to work in or teach feminist theory needs to have in their repertoire, they set out the background and history of contemporary feminist theory, and they operate from a variety of disciplinary frameworks. We then will move onto some newer scholarship and some more specific political issues and topics, depending on what students in the course are interested in studying. This course is open to undergraduates who have had some prior course work in feminist theory, gender and sexuality studies, and/or political theory, in consultation with the professor.

Course examines Russian politics, with an eye to how political, economic and social changes have been engineered, experienced, and perceived by Russians. For those with graduate standing or advanced background in Russian studies, graduate credit is available for additional readings and research to be discussed with the professor. For either version, the goal is to gain an in-depth understanding of contemporary Russia, its regime, its economy, its society, and its foreign policy (the latter being especially critical against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine).
This process begins with a consideration of the historical inheritance bequeathed by the Soviet era. Thus, the first part of the course examines the origins and evolution of the Soviet regime from Lenin to Gorbachev. The point is not to master historical details but to grasp the continuities and changes in political dynamics, social conditions, and planned economic development, since some of these would shape aspects of the post-Soviet transition. The second part delves into the evolution of Russia's politics, economics, society and foreign policy, first during the early years of transition under Boris Yeltsin (1992-99), and then primarily under Vladimir Putin (2000- ). In this section, we cover Russia’s state and political system, the fluctuations in economic growth, changing social conditions over time, as well as foreign policy. In the process, we will also consider the origins and role of oligarchs, patterns of political protest, social/demographic trends and the management of Russia’s energy resources. We will also seek to better understand the shifts in Russia’s foreign policy over time and the sources of the sharp decline in US-Russia relations, with a focus on the conditions leading up to the Ukraine war and the increasing alienation of Russia from the West. In all these domains, we will consider what the empirical evidence suggests about Russia relative to conventional images as presented in the West and also in comparison to the trajectories of other non-Western countries (e.g. China, Turkey, India). 

This course invites graduate students and advanced undergraduates with prior authorization to explore scholarship and primary materials on the transnational dimensions of black social movements. Recent phenomena such as the world- wide protest against the extrajudicial killing of George Floyd and the political assassination of Rio de Janeiro city council member Marielle Franco are two examples of the ways in which events involving black death in one locale resonate in multiple sites across the globe. Uprisings and demonstrations seemingly divided by language, culture and nation-state find common cause in collective action in response to patterns and instances of injustice and inequality. Course materials provide documentary evidence and analysis of the transnational circuitry of black social movement networks that have arisen in response to racisms targeting black and brown population. Members of scheduled castes in India, aboriginal populations in Australia and New Zealand, and Afro-descendent populations in the Americas and Europe, have become agents of change and forged substantive alliances and strategic coalitions with other social movement tendencies. Scholarship from social movement theory, Black Studies, comparative history and political theory help constitute the core reading for this course. Film, documentary narrative and autobiography will supplement reading assignments.

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than International Relations. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Consult the political science department or Paideia program for detailed descriptions. More than one course make be taken in a given semester.

Consult the political science department or Paideia program for detailed descriptions. More than one course make be taken in a given semester.

Consult department for detailed descriptions. Recent topics include: Globalization; Race & Criminal Justice; Democracy & Markets in Postcommunist Europe.

Law, Religion, and Politics addresses the contemporary interplay between government, religion, and politics with focus on the legislative and Supreme Court forces that are re-defining the free exercise of religion and the separation of church and state. Due to the rise in statutory, extreme religious liberty statutes at the federal and state levels, the drive to establish "religious autonomy," and the concomitant push to undermine the separation of church and state, the balance of power between religion, government, and the people has shifted dramatically. The seminar will survey the leading Supreme Court cases and then be organized around specific contemporary issues including abortion and contraception, vaccination and healthcare, discrimination against LGBTQ couples and individuals, discrimination against church employees, and clergy sex abuse.

The purpose of this course is to explore the political dynamics that shape the debate, enactment, and implementation of policies to address climate change. By reading the latest research on the political determinants of climate policy, the course will help students develop a nuanced understanding of the ideas, institutions, and behaviors that structure the climate policy process. We will focus primarily on climate policy and politics in the United States, while occasionally incorporating comparative perspectives to provide insight into the US case. Throughout the course, we will discuss why climate policies are designed in particular ways; when and why policies pass or fail to pass; how various institutional, organizational, and public interests influence the climate policy process; and what questions remain unanswered about how to address the problem of climate change.