International Studies

Topics in this international relations course include: problems arising from environmental degradation; regulatory agreements; the roles of various actors; effectiveness of environmental regimes; the challenges of reaching international agreements for regulation; decision-making processes in the environmental field at the international level; the influence of non-government actors, companies, and advocacy groups on environmental legislation; the relationship between the environment, economy, and sustainable development.

This course provides an introduction to African studies, especially to the Southern African Countries. While the African continent has significant legal, political and economic challenges, students are rarely introduced to the attempts of African states to set up structures to confront those challenges through regional integration. This course introduces students to the various legal, political, and economic regional integration initiatives in the emerging Southern African region.

The course features presentations from Ambassadors and Embassy officials of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), focusing on the variety of the economy and politics of the SADC region, as well as the relationship between Japan and each respective SADC state.  

This course discusses the concept of emerging countries and the transition of developing countries to emerging countries and on to developed countries. It provides an overview of economics, state and political institutions, and challenges of emerging countries.

This course introduces international education and development through three lenses. The course first examines why education is seen as important for development, drawing upon economic, rights-based, and socio-cultural perspectives. It then examines the way education is measured and targets are set for development. The course provides grounding in education and international development, with a particular focus on the challenges facing resource-constrained and rapidly expanding educational systems. 

This course discusses the issues European migration policies seek to address, from curbing irregular migration and increasing migrant returns, to attracting talents and making asylum systems work. It explores the range of actors who shape this agenda and how policies at EU and EU Member State levels are intertwined. The course critically assesses the main migration issues in Europe, examines the trade-offs faced by European policymakers, analyzes how migration policies are designed and implemented, and outlines the effects European migration policies have on countries of origin and transit.

This course uses the lens of the category of small states to critically think about key concepts in political science, such as sovereignty, independence/dependence, security, and power. It first introduces the concept of small states, its historical development, and the field of small state studies. It then discusses common characteristics and challenges of, as well as the heterogeneity among, small and microstates. Finally, it turns to specific issues of importance to small states, including their role in international organizations such as the United Nations or the European Union, security and defense, climate change, and economic development.

This course offers a study of international relations and trends in the evolution and development of events and processes of global and national significance. It examines the most probable courses of action as well as their implications and consequences. Based on this, students generate, design, and propose timely and appropriate measures, policies and actions.

In this course, students study postcolonial regions in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. The course discusses questions such as: what makes a region; who makes a region; how has the experience of colonialism shaped the region; what are the models of regional cooperation and integration, and whose models are they; and how do regions interact with postcolonial global structures and dynamics? Students are encouraged to compare different regional experiences and draw from this breadth of knowledge to critically evaluate the concepts and theories discussed in class.

This course discusses the evolution of terrorism from the 20th century to the present day, through an analysis of international relations that specifies the characteristics of terrorist movements and groups, the nature of their demands, and the threats they pose. The triple dimension - local, regional, and international - is at the heart of the analysis of the motivations and logics behind the operationalization of this radical form of political violence. The gradual development of the fight against terrorism in terms of repression, criminal law and the judiciary enable reflection on the democratic governance of anti-terrorist policies and their impact on our individual freedoms.

This course raises the question: do we have an ethical responsibility to help migrants and refugees? and develops an in-depth response through Community Engaged Research (CER). It is a multi-disciplinary academic immersion in the topic beginning with workshopping community engagement as a practice. Students work in small groups to undertake community engagement with an organization, movement, or individual working publicly to address migration-related issues.  The written, multi-media, or performative project is completed in close collaboration with that social organization, movement, institution, or individual. By combining academic study and community engagement, students develop their vision and response to the issue of migration, even as they negotiate with the community organization/movement/individual regarding the substance, form, and goals of the project to be carried out. The course builds on several introductory questions: How did we get ourselves into this situation? What is driving migration and what is driving our countries’ policies of inhumanity? Why is this such a difficult and sensitive issue? What responses have there been from social movements, civic and human rights organizations and citizens? How do these draw on and transform much older traditions of sanctuary, refuge, hospitality, and human community?