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

This course examines the causes, dynamics, and resolution of civil wars. The first section of the course examines competing theoretical arguments regarding causes of civil war, looking at how economic and political grievances may motivate groups to rebel against the government; why political leaders may sometimes encourage violence; and what role factors such as ethnicity, national identity, and a sense of insecurity play in the initiation of internal conflict. The second section of the course looks at how civil wars are fought, with discussion of guerilla warfare, counterinsurgency strategies, terrorism, and the role of humanitarian aid in conflict settings. In the third part of the course, focusing on the resolution of internal conflicts, topics include international intervention and peacekeeping; negotiated political arrangements such as power-sharing and partition; and post-conflict justice strategies such as domestic and international trials and truth commissions. Throughout the course, we will consider specific cases of civil war - for example, wars in El Salvador, Kosovo, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Uganda.

Identity lies at the heart of political conflict. Who we are and which groups we align with influences the set of issues that we may support, and shapes our visions for just governance. In this course we examine the relationship between representative bodies, elected leaders, and identity groups to understand the effects of identity politics on political outcomes. We look for connections across categories of identity, including gender, race, class, ethnicity, national affiliation, sexual orientation, partisanship and age, in order to ask the following questions: What is an identity group and what does it mean for members of these groups to be represented in and by political institutions? What allows some some identity groups to organize around a common cause and take political action? How do electoral institutions affect the distribution of power among identity groups? And what is the impact, if any, of descriptive representation of representation on substantive outcomes, both in terms of legislation that favors the identity group, and with other aspects of political engagement?

This class explores the origins, development, and possible futures of social policy regimes in the industrialized countries, in the context of broader political and historical trends. Topics include pensions, health care, and poverty alleviation; "families" of welfare states; the relationship between labor markets and social policy; feminist and Marxist critiques of welfare states and welfare state studies. Open to graduate students and qualified undergraduates with permission of the instructor.

Individual research to be taken under direction of faculty member. Students wishing to do an independent study should contact the Political Science department.

Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: Sustainable Environmental Policy & Global Politics; Shakespeare and Political Theory.

Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: Sustainable Environmental Policy & Global Politics; Shakespeare and Political Theory.

This Fox Leadership and academically based community service seminar will use course readings and students' own observations and interviews in their service learning projects in West Philadelphia schools to analyze the causes and impact of school health and educational inequalities and efforts to address them. Course readings will include works by Jonathan Kozol, studies of health inequalities and their causes, and studies of No Child Left Behind, the CDC's School Health Index, recess, school meal, and nutrition education programs. Course speakers will help us examine the history, theories, politics and leadership behind different strategies for addressing school-based inequalities and their outcomes. Service options will focus especially on the West Philadelphia Recess Initiative. Other service options will include work with Community School Student Partnerships and the Urban Nutrition Initiative.

Survey research is a small but rich acadmic field and discipline, drawing on theory and practice from many diverse fields including political science and communication.This course canvasses the science and practice of survey methods,sampling theory, instrument development and operationalization, and the analysis and reporting of survey data. Major areas of focus include measurement and research on survey errors, application to election polling, new frontiers in data collection, overall development of data management and introductory statistics.