International Studies

The history of modern China is deeply intertwined with international law. Starting from the early 19th century, the European-originated international law made its way to the China-centered East Asian tributary system through military conquests and treaties. Over the past two centuries, international law has profoundly shaped the transformation of China in terms of building of a modern state and the national identity. The more recent decades have seen China’s increasingly active engagement with international law in terms of dispute settlement and treaty negotiation. Yet international law is still underappreciated in understanding China’s foreign relations, often being reduced to no more than legalistic cover for realpolitik by international relations scholars. Academic research on China’s foreign policy is largely devoid of serious legal analysis into China’s engagement with international law. This course sits at the intersection of international law and international relations and bears four goals in mind. First of all, the course prepares the students for understanding the fundamental concepts of international law. The second objective is to examine China’s initial encounter with the Eurocentric concepts and practices of international law and its lingering legacy. Third, it aims for surveying China’s contemporary engagement with various international legal regimes in a historical and contextualized way. Rather than highlighting China’s uniqueness in the international legal system, the course encourages comparative inquiries into China’s position on and practices of international law. Last, the course invites the students to empirically re-examine popular impressionistic discourses about China and international law by making extensive use of primary sources and incorporating competing perspectives.

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 covers keystone technologies from bioweapons to killer robots to provide insight into pressing political questions such as: What role does technology play in warfare and in international security? How have the tools of war changed – and what do those changes mean for the laws, norms, ethics, conduct, and strategy of conflict? How can we combat the national and international security risks of emerging technologies?

This course offers a study of trade policy, including the foundations of the multilateral trading system, as well as the main elements of preferential trade agreements. It discusses aspects related to the growing internationalization and interdependence of the world economy.

This course introduces Japan’s global political and security role, starting with the pre-1945 and Cold War era legacies, and then focuses on the Post-Cold-War era. It examines Japan’s shift from security isolationism during the Cold War to security engagement, its championing of regional multilateralism in East Asia, its emergence as a global power in development aid, its contributions to UN peacekeeping and non-traditional security in areas such as humanitarian and disaster relief (HaDR), counter-piracy, maritime security, and counter-pandemic measures. It focuses on Japan’s relationships with the US, China, Korea, ASEAN, and Europe, and considers how Japan’s foreign policy institutions, including those making security and development aid policy, have changed during the Abe administration. The course concludes with a summary looking at Japan’s trajectory as a middle power.

Recent decades have witnessed China’s rapid growth and its massive infrastructure finance in the developing world. This brought a new round of discussion on what development is. How should we understand development policy in the context of a changing world order? This course provides students with the historical, political, economic, and institutional context to understand international development policy. The course aims to give students exposure to on- going policy debates on international development as well as the conceptual and theoretical framework to understand development issues. The course allows students to discuss and explore China’s changing role in international development and its impact on regional and international orders. Topics to be covered include (but not limited to): history of development, industrialization, poverty reduction, aid and development finance, energy and environment, international development institutions, South-South cooperation, and China and global development order.

This course discusses the problems and challenges inherent in the analytical framework of studying social movements and transnational actors (TNAs). It examines contemporary struggles covering diverse social mobilizations based in different parts of the world. This course explores differences and commonalities in selected fields of social justic struggles.

This course provides a critical overview of the functioning of intergovernmental organizations, with a specific focus on their relevance, role, and contribution in the face of a shifting global landscape. Through a series of case studies and scenarios, it introduces the broad notion of multilateralism and how to identify legal issues, analyze problems, and formulate an informed perspective on intergovernmental organizations.

This course provides an introduction to the field of international development, focusing on community development and the impact of development interventions on disadvantaged individuals and communities. The course discusses the development of development theory since the 20th century; the various world events which led to changes in development theory and were significantly affected by them; and influential approaches to development practice. Historically, the course provides a broad understanding of power relations between the developed and the developing worlds since the 15th century; discusses the links between conflict, governances, and development; and examines various approaches to governance and their implications on development. Building on the understanding that communities are the key for achieving sustainable positive advancement in human development, the course focuses on theories and approaches which are relevant to community development, including the Capability Approach and the Assets Based Approach to development.

This course studies a range of key historical problems and conceptual questions relating to the colonial and postcolonial experience. Focus is placed on the characteristics of capitalism, imperialism, and modernity, and students also examine the making of the modern world. Students gain an overview of European expansion, the slave economy, the development of wage labor, industrial growth, imperialism, creation of the modern state, genocide, development, anti-colonialism, and the creation of the “third world.” Students are exposed to a long-term, historical view within which the material of subsequent development studies courses may be usefully contextualized. Assessment is based fully on a final essay.