This seminar offers graduate students an introduction to the subfield of international relations labeled strategic studies (or security studies). In addition to exploring key theoretical issues, we consider their usefulness for understanding relevant events in international politics since World War II. Although the course emphasizes the distinctive features of great power strategy in the nuclear age, we also look at the continuing role of conventional forces, the strategic choices of lesser powers, and selected security problems in the post-Cold War world (e.g., proliferation, terrorism).

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.

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 course provides an introduction to non-cooperative game theory and its applications to political science. The goal of the course is to provide students with the background and understanding necessary to read published game-theoretic work in political science journals. To that end, the course covers the basic concepts of game theory, including Nash equilibrium and its main refinements, simultaneous and sequential games, repeated games, evolutionary game theory, and games of incomplete and private information. In addition, we will cover some of the central models used in political science, notably models of public choice (such as the median voter theorem) and models of bargaining.

This course will present an in-depth examination of political, economic and social change in post-Soviet Russia within a historical context. After a breif discussion of contemporary problems in Russia, the first half of the course will delve into the rise of communism in 1917, the evolution of the Soviet regime, and the tensions between ideology and practice over the seventy years of communist rule up until 1985. The second part of the course will begin with an examination of the Gorbachev period and the competing interpretations of how the events between 1985 and 1991 may have contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. We will then proceed to make sense of the continuities and changes in politics, economics and society in contemporary Russia. Important topics will include the confrontations accompanying the adoption of a new constitution, the emergence of competing ideologies and parties, the struggle over economic privatization, the question of federalism and nationalism, social and political implicatons of economic reform, and prospects for Russia's future in the post-Yeltsin era. This course may also be taken as a graduate seminar (PSCI 517) with the permission of the instructor and the completion of additional requirements.

This course will present an in-depth examination of political, economic and social change in post-Soviet Russia within a historical context. After a breif discussion of contemporary problems in Russia, the first half of the course will delve into the rise of communism in 1917, the evolution of the Soviet regime, and the tensions between ideology and practice over the seventy years of communist rule up until 1985. The second part of the course will begin with an examination of the Gorbachev period and the competing interpretations of how the events between 1985 and 1991 may have contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. We will then proceed to make sense of the continuities and changes in politics, economics and society in contemporary Russia. Important topics will include the confrontations accompanying the adoption of a new constitution, the emergence of competing ideologies and parties, the struggle over economic privatization, the question of federalism and nationalism, social and political implicatons of economic reform, and prospects for Russia's future in the post-Yeltsin era. This course may also be taken as a graduate seminar (PSCI 517) with the permission of the instructor and the completion of additional requirements.