Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po)

What are the roots of the animosity between liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans in the United States? To what extent are we predisposed to racism and xenophobia and what can we do to remedy it? Why are our minds so prone to conspiratorial thinking? Why are political activists often hypocritical? Why do we often not practice the principles we preach (eat less meat)? Those questions lie at the core of political psychology, a field at the crossroads of cognitive and social science, to which this course introduces. The course emphasizes that human cognition is shaped by social goals of influencing others, fitting in tribes, and enhancing our personal reputations. It also strives to explain political behaviors from the "proximal" level of analysis (psychological mechanisms and social influences) but also from the "ultimate" level of analysis (the evolutionary selection pressures that shaped our minds through natural selection).

This course introduces the foundations of international human rights law. It covers ongoing debates and key substantive issues, as well as the institutional framework for the protection of human rights, while critically examining international human rights instruments. The course equips students with conceptual, practical and analytical tools necessary for effective human rights research to prepare for advanced study in the field through more specialized topics, including but not limited to international criminal law, transitional justice, and international refugee law.

This course is part of the “ethical turn” in literary studies. It posits that reading great works of fiction offers us a vicarious moral and political experience that can be discussed collectively. Learning to debate fiction means confronting our interpretations of the characters' motivations, analyzing the effects of narrative devices on us, and comparing our spontaneous judgments. It means using great works as a vehicle for genuine democratic conversation about our political disagreements and differences in moral sensibilities. The theme that serves as the guiding thread is the dilemmas faced and choices made by fictional characters. Because literature is also an archive of moral sensibilities that are no longer our own, the effort to comment on and give meaning to dilemmas that we no longer understand can shed light on our own values.

This course explores the mutually interacting dynamics between the technical and political dimensions of nuclear technology — particularly nuclear weapons, nuclear power, and the nuclear fuel cycle — and how they have evolved within various national and international historical frameworks. Of particular interest is the question of how much the technical possibilities constrain political choices, and how political choices enable or disable various technical possibilities, and the degree to which the technical and political worlds are “co-produced” simultaneously. This course draws upon and features perspectives from the history of nuclear weapons, international relations, and science and technology studies. Each session features a mixture of discussion and lecture.

This course explores what gender studies—and feminist studies in particular—teach us about the international sphere, and how they lead us to reexamine traditional subjects such as war, power, and security. To this end, the course uses a selection of foundational and more recent texts to introduce these fields, their questions, and their methods. Sessions are structured around interactive activities (oral exercises, both individual and group, and discussions) and lectures on feminist or gender studies in international relations. Focused on examining diverse cases and contexts, the course analyzes social movements (the #MeToo movement, the Iranian uprising, eco-feminism) and international public policies, whether originating from states (France’s “feminist diplomacy” or the projection of U.S. military power worldwide) or from international organizations (UN documents or European Union policies).

Today, the European Union tends to elicit, at best, indifference and boredom, and at worst, rejection. That is why it is urgent to consider ways to foster a sense of European identity, to give substance to this Europe that is perceived as too distant and too abstract. For Europe does indeed exist; it is present in our shared history, in a common past, in cultural references so obvious that we no longer see them. This course (re)discovers literary and audiovisual works, analyzes them, and discusses them in order to build a shared reflection on the nature of European identity. Sessions begin with students’ oral presentations on the selected works, followed by a class discussion on the lessons to be drawn from these works and the avenues for reflection they offer for thinking about the construction of a sense of European belonging.

This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the politics, strategy, and international security implications of nuclear weapons. Beginning with the science and history behind the bomb's invention, the course explores how nuclear weapons have shaped global politics from Hiroshima to the contemporary era of multipolar nuclear rivalry. Through close engagement with foundational texts and contemporary policy debates, it examines the logic of deterrence, the strategic dilemmas of extended deterrence, and the evolving architecture of non-proliferation and arms control. The course applies these frameworks to key cases—such as NATO, Iran, Russia, China, and France—to assess the challenges of escalation, proliferation, and technological change in the emerging nuclear age. Emphasis is placed on bridging theory and practice, enabling students to critically assess how nuclear weapons continue to structure conflict, diplomacy, and international order in the 21st century.

Educational inequalities are often explained through individual factors such as talent, effort, or motivation. This course shows instead that achievement is socially patterned and rooted in unequal resources, expectations, and institutional structures. It reviews major sociological approaches—cultural reproduction, rational-choice models, tracking and maintained inequality, and out-of-school effects. Sessions combine theory with hands-on analyses of a simplified PISA dataset in Jamovi. Students learn to read research articles, build hypotheses, and conduct basic descriptive and multivariate analyses to understand how social background shapes school outcomes.

This course examines contemporary trends in socio-economic inequalities across Western countries and explores their political implications. It analyzes inequalities in social mobility, income, and wealth; poverty and labor market integration, urban segregation, as well as health inequalities. Particular attention is given to the mediating role of educational systems, labor market institutions, and welfare states. The course contrasts institutionalist approaches to inequality with structural explanations that emphasize the impact of globalization and technological change. Finally, it discusses how these empirical patterns relate to evolving political attitudes and preferences, including the decline of traditional class voting and the rise of populist parties.

This course is designed to help students get to know and better understand the capital of Paris. Much has been said, written, and heard about Paris, yet the capital remains a place of mystery. In fact, Paris is three cities in one: an international city, a national city, and the city where Parisians live their daily lives. We know what happens there, but do we know what is at stake behind the cultural representations of Paris, its social change, the public action that takes place there, and its electoral geography? Who are the Parisians during the 2026 municipal elections? These questions are all mysteries to be solved. This course draws on a variety of approaches (culture, cinema, history, geography, sociology) and relies on the curiosity and sagacity of students to solve these puzzles, as they write and present their electoral program as candidates in the 2026 Paris municipal elections.