Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po)

This course introduces a computational approach to the sociology of ideas. It is structured around a classic research question in the social sciences requiring the collection of data relevant to the circulation of bodies and ideas between France and the USA in order to study these datasets and produce insights relevant to the research question. The educational objective of the course is to immerse students in the practice of research in computational social sciences through a variety of tools presented in class. It does so while maintaining a shared object of study. This year, the course studies Franco-American academic and intellectual exchanges since 1945. French scientists and intellectuals have long benefited from the hospitality of American institutions. These exchanges have led to an intense circulation of knowledge, the transformation of both U.S. and French academic scenes and the achievement of lasting results. They have transformed American universities to some extent, and, to a greater extent, they have affected French institutions through both brain drain and reverse brain drain. Yet, unlike larger diasporas (Chinese, Indian, or post-Soviet), the Franco-American scientific exchange has never been systematically studied. This course fills this gap by devising a methodology to study three dimensions - Mobility: French academics in the U.S., American academics in France; collaboration: Franco-American partnerships; and influence/attraction: French ideas on American campuses, American ideas on French campuses.

This course explores urbanization and cities not just as a technical issue or a set of rules for organizing space, but as a powerful, political tool for addressing global challenges. It investigates the city as a site of conflict and potential "repair"—social, ecological, and democratic. By critically examining historical models, contemporary crises, and emerging practices—from tactical urbanism to proximity—the course ask if and how urban planning can contribute to a more just, sustainable, and inclusive future. In the first part of the course, Paris is our field of visits and experimentation. Seeing how Paris may help to interrogate cities from elsewhere, and vice versa. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to understand the political, social, and ecological role of urban planning; critically analyze past and present models of urban development; evaluate tools and practices for creating more equitable and sustainable cities; and articulate a vision of the city as a space for social and environmental repair.

This course examines the fundamentals of European integration from an economic, social and political perspectives, with emphasis on both microeconomics and macroeconomics. It mobilizes a very limited mathematical formalized demonstration yet is significantly backed by data collection and analysis. It examines a variety of key EU policies: competition, industry, trade, agricultural, regional, monetary and fiscal policy. Finally, the course offers a thorough analysis of the multilateralism crisis and the war in Ukraine (among economic sanctions efficiency). Various course topics are illustrated with press releases on the latest news or interesting scientific articles and deepened through group presentations, group case studies and an individual term paper.

This course provides a broad, interdisciplinary overview of the study of what has been interchangeably called nonviolent social movements, nonviolent civil resistance, nonviolent activism, and strategic nonviolence. It explores questions surrounding the ethics of nonviolent activism, when and where it has been used, the conditions under which it is more or less effective, and its consequences for local communities, state polities, and the international system. The course draws from seminal texts, historical accounts, cutting-edge social science research, and guest speakers. Students gain a foundational understanding of both the normative and empirical debates surrounding the practice of nonviolent activism, a familiarity with key cases in which it has been used, and an understanding of how this form of civic engagement is resourced. The course entails substantial discussion in class.

This course examines the intricate relationship between large urban areas, climate change, and the governance of risks, crises, and disasters from a geographic and political science perspective. The unique vulnerabilities of urban areas to the impacts of climate change is examined, alongside an analysis of the pivotal role of politics and policy in mitigating and responding to these challenges. The course delves into the political, social, and environmental dimensions of global cities' challenges in facing a changing environment and the policies and governance strategies for promoting sustainability and resilience. It explores how the existing frameworks, tools and instruments dealing with risk, crisis and disasters, may be used in the context of climate change risks. The course explores risk, crisis, disaster and climate adaptation governance with a multi-level perspective, from international negotiations to local implementation and contestations. Each session is dedicated to discussing key notions through text analysis, providing the opportunity to work on case studies in groups.

Money is not just an economic tool: it is a form of power shaped by law. This course uncovers how the legal architecture underpinning the euro structures monetary policy, markets, and sovereignty. By analyzing the design of the Eurosystem and the role of the ECB, students learn to see monetary law as a crucial arena in which the dynamics of integration, power, and inequality are structured and contested. Combining legal analysis with political economy and history, the course equips future policymakers to think (critically) about monetary governance.

This course presents the issues associated with tax fraud from both a budgetary and financial point of view and from a political and democratic point of view. By using and abusing legal loopholes, tax fraud threatens the rule of law. Governments must find ways of ensuring that the rule of law prevails over the lure. After a brief introduction and presentation of the main actors in this field, the course is divided into three parts: tax fraud as a breach to fiscal justice; tax fraud as a threat to public order; foreseeable solutions. The European Union is the main area of analysis, although extra-European comparisons may be made during this seminar.

This course offers an introduction to the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It covers the Court's role within the broader framework of international justice, its history, legal structure, and organs, the sources of law it applies, and the procedures governing contentious cases and advisory opinions. The course also introduces incidental proceedings, enforcement, and requests for revision of judgments. It involves an analysis of the Court's current docket and of its jurisprudence through the study of landmark cases that have shaped its history and the history of international law more broadly.

This course covers the issues surrounding public policy on internal security in France, at a time when these questions are at the heart of public debate. It introduces the often overlooked actors responsible for implementing these public policies, as well as their diverse and complex missions and the challenges they face today—and those that await them tomorrow.

This course offers a chronological overview—from the Enlightenment to the Dreyfus Affair, from May 1968 to contemporary “culture wars”—and addresses the dynamics of the French intellectual, scientific, and artistic fields, the relationships between religion and science, between science and ideologies, sociology and the commitments of intellectuals and artists, the metabolism of intellectual debates—from publishers to the media and social networks. It covers various areas of intellectual history (history of intellectuals, political ideas—liberalism, Marxism, etc., theoretical bodies of work—positivism, structuralism, post-structuralism, etc., and artistic productions), in light of new approaches in the humanities and social sciences (social history of ideas, sociology of intellectuals, Science Studies, gender, transnational history). Precise knowledge of the French political and intellectual context are required.