International Studies

This course is designed to familiarize students with important concepts and theories of international security studies as well as prominent security issues in the contemporary world. The first part of the course introduces the basic analytical concepts and theoretical frameworks as regards direct and indirect use of force in international politics; the second part explores strategic policy during the Cold War and the lessons that scholars have drawn from that historical period; the third part examines several security challenges at the dawn of the 21st century such as nuclear proliferation, terrorism and insurgency, and the security implications of technological change; the last part focuses on the rise of China and international security, with particular attention paid to the relationship between China and the United States, the Taiwan issue, and maritime disputes in East Asia. It is worth noting that the course will not touch upon most non-traditional security issues such as energy security, climate change, food safety, etc.

The course is divided into two main sections. Following a brief historical introduction to the discipline, students explore classical concepts and theories of IR, including power and anarchy (realism), cooperation and human rights (liberalism), norms and identity (constructivism), followed by critical perspectives on global politics such as class and dependencies (Marxism), gender and the patriarchy (feminism), and exploitation and orientalism (postcolonialism). In the second section of the course, students investigate pressing global issues like terrorism, AI, and the climate crisis, which have fundamentally altered the conduct of international politics. Finally, the course concludes with a discussion of future (im)possibilities for global politics. 

This course incorporates the key concepts of global citizenship, conflict resolution, diversity, human rights, interdependence, social justice, sustainable development, politics, diversity, values and perceptions and fake news. It builds knowledge and understanding, as well as develop critical opinions and analysis in English. The course is designed for group and pair work, with the teacher serving as the facilitator guiding students through news media.

International trade as a field of economics has changed a lot in the past two decades. Previously, we employ some toy models to understand the principles of international trade. These principles are insightful, but they cannot provide us tools to understand the issues in practice. The recent decades development in international trade has shifted the focus from the earlier intensely discussed principles to more practical, sophisticate observations in international trade. We employ recently available data at firm level or transaction level to understand trade intermediary, finance, R&D, resource allocation, firm dynamics, offshoring, etc. These recent developments in international research is important for us to fully understand how a world with open economies works and how some most important movements of factors, goods and services affect our welfare. The objective of this course is to guide undergraduate students from understanding some basic international economics principles to try to investigate and understand how exactly international trade in practice is conducted and shape the world.

The course is based on a religious studies perspective to discuss the concepts of antisemitism and islamophobia concept which refers to fears and prejudices relating to Jews, Judaism, Muslims, and Islam. By focusing on the historical, theological/ideological, political, and cultural aspects of antisemitism and islamophobia, the historical roots and the contemporary forms of these fears and prejudices are explored. The course starts by problematizing the concepts of antisemitism and islamophobia and continues by analyzing how these concepts have been used to designate "the enemy" and in processes of religious, cultural, and political "alienation". Thereafter, the historical roots and ideological contexts in which antisemitism and islamophobia arise and develop are studied. The course concludes by focusing on modern and contemporary manifestations of antisemitism and islamophobia, such as, how conspiracy theories are used to heighten hostility towards Jews and Muslims today.

This undergraduate lecture course is designed to survey major topics of the international relations of the People’s Republic of China with a specific focus on Chinese perspective. With a brief introduction of major theoretical perspective on foreign policy studies, the main body of the course is organized around special topics of Chinese foreign policies, including the Chinese historical legacy and its impact on China’s foreign policy, nationalism and public opinion in contemporary China, mechanism of China’s foreign-policy decision-making, leaders and their styles, China’s attitudes towards global governance, the economic dimension of China’s interactions with the outside world, public diplomacy and China’s soft power and China’s policy towards peripheral countries, (in particular, the Northeast Asia and the South China Sea). This course pays attention to the application of different international relations theories to the problems under study. The course aims to acquaint students with knowledge of China’s involvement in world affairs in historical and contemporary perspectives and train them with an analytical understanding of the dynamics of China’s foreign policy.

This course provides a largely non-technical introduction to the basic concepts and methods used by economists to understand and explain the features of the world economy today. Students explore globalization of trade and finance; the emergence of global value chains and the rise of China and India; and the winners and losers of globalization within rich and developing economies.

With globalization, the Internet, and the general shrinking of time and space, cross- cultural interaction has become a necessity in people’s everyday lives. This course is designed to interrogate different aspects of cross-cultural communication and cultural differences: family life, social relationships, the workplace, government, education, gender, romance, and religion. Throughout exploring these topics, we will strive to engage in personal self-reflection, hands-on experience, and to understand the connections to larger social structures.

This course examines the global politics of trade, development, and the environment against the background of continued economic globalization and the emergence of new forms of global governance. 

This course is designed to familiarize students with important concepts and theories of international security studies as well as prominent security issues in the contemporary world. The first part of the course introduces the basic analytical concepts and theoretical frameworks as regards direct and indirect use of force in international politics; the second part explores strategic policy during the Cold War and the lessons that scholars have drawn from that historical period; the third part examines several security challenges at the dawn of the 21st century such as nuclear proliferation, terrorism and insurgency, and the security implications of technological change; the last part focuses on the rise of China and international security, with particular attention paid to the relationship between China and the United States, the Taiwan issue, and maritime disputes in East Asia. It is worth noting that the course will not touch upon most non-traditional security issues such as energy security, climate change, food safety, etc.