International Studies

This course provides an introductory survey of post-war Japanese international relations, with particular emphasis on the development of the US-Japan alliance and the evolution of relations between Japan and neighboring Asian states. It begins with a study of the making of the San Francisco System, and then concentrates on the major events that shaped the history of Japan up to the years after the Cold War. Through the analysis and explanation of historical events, particular efforts are made to place those events that relate to Japan in the context of transformations in the structure of wider international relations. 

This course develops an increased knowledge and understanding of the nature of international politics in the Asia-Pacific, and the conceptual and theoretical issues relating to those politics. It equips students with basic skills to analyze foreign policy of major powers and explain the role of regional institutions. Students discuss central concepts relevant to international politics of the region, apply theories of international relations to analyze the dynamics of Asia Pacific politics, and analyze the foreign policy of major powers in the Asia-Pacific. Discussions include the roles of ASEAN and small states in shaping regional architecture and debate effectively as a team. This course has a pre-requisite of Introduction to Public Administration & Policy (HA1003).

This course performs a comparative study of the U.S and Japan to better understand the unique challenges and opportunities their leaders face. The course covers the Presidential System on the United States and the Parliamentary System of Japan; Political Parties; Electoral Processes and Elected Members; Women in Politics, and Bureaucracy and Policymaking.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course focuses on the following themes: 

• International contest, international organization (historical view, present rules)
• European contest, single market (from 1951 to the present), Law and legal systems
• Regulatory framework of specific sectors: organization, European agencies, rules, assessment of market structures and European regulation

At the end of the module, students: are familiar with the forms and legal disciplines applicable to public intervention in the economy, with regard to relations between State and market, in the European legal order; know how to apply the relevant legal rules in simple factual situations and how to identify the interaction between various sources of European law, in particular Treaty and directives.

Focusing on the cases of Taiwan, China, South Korea, and Japan, this class explores how different governance systems address social inequalities, and how Mainland China differs from its East Asian counterparts. This course is divided into two parts. The first part consists of lectures, discussions, and a data analysis workshop aimed at helping students gain theoretical and data knowledge on governance and social inequalities in East Asia. The second part of the course introduces students to comparative methods aimed at understanding different cases using empirical studies focused on East Asia; additionally, students will be invited to present conduct their own comparisons on governance and social inequalities in East Asia.    

The course is divided in two parts. The first part of the course focuses on the concept of security applied to different sectors and case studies. Human security, food security, migration, health security, environmental security, and the protection of cultural heritage in conflict zones are analyzed through the prism of political theory and critical security studies, based on contemporary case studies. The main objective of this module is to enable students to develop analytical and critical skills in the field of security studies. The second part focuses on exploring key phenomena of cooperation and conflict among and within states and their determinants, such as inter and intra-state wars, terrorism, military alliances, and military coups, adopting a strictly quantitative perspective. 

This course explores key development challenges faced across developing countries and is divided into three sections. The first critically examines some of the major concepts, paradigms, and theories, which have attempted to define what development is, how and why it occurs (or does not), and to whose benefit. The second focuses on some of the key development challenges faced by developing countries: economic (poverty, inequality, unemployment), political (democracy, human rights, role of elites), social (religion, race/ethnicity/caste, urbanization), and natural (climate change, pollution, resource extraction, extermination of species). The final section explores possible remedies to these issues through international cooperation (trade, aid, finance, South-South cooperation), national policies (welfare schemes, laws and regulations), and micro and informal solutions. 
 

This course examines human experience as a source of truth, knowledge, and belief about war. Representations of human experiences of war play a significant role in human culture and society, often defining social memories and collective understandings of war. As such, this course examines how human experience is transmitted and interpreted via historical sources as well as cultural objects such as films, novels, and video games. It also engages students with key social, political, and moral arguments about the representation of war experience in the media, museums, monuments, and commemoration rituals. 

This course explores the related topics of war and security. It is divided into three parts. The first part looks specifically at the idea of war, particularly how the idea of war has been conceptualized within the field of strategic studies and the tactics of war. The second section considers how these traditional notions of war and security have been questioned; specifically, it looks in depth at two key issues that have challenged traditional perceptions of war and security. These are the rise of non-state threats (i.e. terrorism) and the concept of human security. The third section looks at a range of contemporary issues in security studies, such as nuclear proliferation, genocide, and cybersecurity. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. This course analyzes different aspects of global political networks in the context of entangled history. The main focus of this course concerns visions of international order after empire in the twentieth century. The five modules deal with: 1) Framing Global Visions; 2) Colonial and post-colonial networks; 3) Nationalism, self-determination and world-making; 4) International institutions; 5) International and Global Ideologies.

The first part of the course concerns an introduction to the category of the ‘global’ in historical studies in order to provide an analytical framework to ideologies and ideas of world order. The second module of the course focuses on colonial and post-colonial networks through migration, economics, and law. The third module discusses nationalist and federalist visions for global order, analyzing the relations between nationalist movements and international political spaces. The topic of the fourth module is the idea of international institutions in the twentieth century.

At the end of the course, students have acquired an understanding of the concept of entangled history centered around global political networks. Students also have familiarity with the ways in which global visions have emerged in the twentieth century, and with their critiques. Students will have gained knowledge of the ways that influential ideas and ideologies have shaped historical events and processes on global scale. Students will have identified the relevance of different traditions of global thinking including internationalist, liberal, anti-imperialist, and federal approaches. On successful completion of this module, students will be expected to have constructed a solid theoretical framework within which specific research interests could be developed.