Political Science

This course provides a detailed but accessible introduction to the government and politics of the United Kingdom. Students study the main political institutions of the UK and how they have been affected by devolution, voter apathy, and the increasing fragmentation of the party system. Does Parliament matter or does it merely approve decisions taken elsewhere? Does the Prime Minister dominate the British system? Will Brexit lead to the break-up of the UK? Why do people vote UKIP? Students are introduced to important institutions and debates in the study of British government. They consider, in particular: the British parliamentary state and the enduring influence of the Westminster Model; the peculiar nature of the constitution; the management of the (increasingly) multi-national nature of the UK; and the explanations for and impact of the vote for Brexit.
 

After the end of the Cold War many of us hoped that the time of war and conflict was over and we could enjoy and more peaceful and perhaps prosperous times. We could not have been more wrong. The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, the subsequent Gulf War, the civil conflict in Former Yugoslavia, the war in Bosnia, the NATO strikes in Kosovo, the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and particularly in Israel, the terrorist attack on 9.11, and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and now in Iraq, are just a few examples of military activities in the last decade. In addition, we witnessed a chain of humanitarian crises' in the form of lack of access to food, water, and shelter, and often human-induced (un)natural disasters like floods and droughts in many parts of the developing world.

The courses Peace Studies I and II will provide students with an insight into the central questions, concepts, theories, and debates within contemporary peace studies. Students will read basic texts from peace researchers, politicians, peace movement representatives, social and natural scientists in order to understand the various approaches to peace; how and why conflicts occur, and finally how to deal or prevent wars. Peace studies have developed a basic core of ideas and arguments, but researchers concerned with peace and conflict issues come from a variety of fields and scientific disciplines. At first international relations and international policy, political science and historical studies might come to mind; however, scientists in sociology, anthropology, biology, psychology, economics, or environmental studies have also developed concept and theories attempting to analyze and explain potential and actual conflict situations. They have also developed ways to prevent or moderate conflicts and considered approaches to prevent them from developing into violent conflicts or open wars. Part one and two of this course attempt to cover a broad range of these approaches.

The course examines how the mass media and political elites structure public opinion and political behavior, both from a theoretical and an empirical perspective. While the majority of the course focuses on advanced industrial democracies, specific attention is given to media, elite and mass linkages in the developing world. Topics such as the persuasive effects of the media, strategic agenda setting of political elites, and electoral campaigning are covered from a multidisciplinary approach, covering work from economics, political science, and communication science. Special attention is devoted to social media and social media effects are put in a historical context. The course introduces students to a basic toolkit used by researchers to understand the relationship between the media, strategic political elites, and the public. The course covers the following topics: a historical and comparative look at political communication; media coverage and bias; political elites and electoral campaigns; the persuasion effects of the media: agenda-setting, framing, and priming; empirical analysis of media effects; and the use of social media in politics.

This course introduces the legal, regulatory, and policy issues raised by social media platforms. It provides an accessible overview of current legal issues relating to social media, with a focus on European law. The first half of the course examines how platforms and states govern online content. The second half broadens the focus to the legal and political issues raised by social media platforms' business models and ownership structures. The assigned readings and lectures provide a thorough overview of the core issues and encourage critical thinking about the underlying power structures and conflicts of interests that shape legal decisions.

This course explores the laws governing and/or related to the Internet and various forms of technology and spans numerous interrelated topics such as free speech, privacy, reproductive technologies and other medical and technological “wonders.” While the course draws extensively upon Anglo-American scholarship, legal texts, and case studies, it also introduces different philosophical foundations of free speech and other relevant concepts as various as privacy, property, and personhood, with the goal of providing conceptual tools for students to examine the laws and case studies in their home jurisdictions.

This course provides a critical introduction to French society with a strong emphasis on the debates and myths regarding French national identity (republicanism, integration). The first part of the course focuses on the main models which have been developed to account for French society (the Republic, the Education system, French Citizenship), and questions them in regard to the challenges French society had to face in the 20th century (democratization, immigration, globalization, women and LGTIQ+ movements). On the political sphere, as demonstrated by the recent presidential election, French society also confronts significant challenges with the rise of fringe parties (extreme left and, above all, the Rassemblement National). Traditional political movements (trade unions and working class actions) are equally defied by the rise of new social movements (unemployed, artists, women, gays), which put new identity (gender, sexuality, and others) at the heart of definitions within French society. The course tackles the issues of French identity politics through a focus on the media, with a true concern for their historical embeddedness, as a way to convey the complexity of events and debates that characterized French society through time.
 

The course begins by exploring the historical background of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, starting with the events which led to the creation of the state of Israel. Particular attention is paid to studying the development of the conflict over the course of the 20th century from a domestic, regional as well as international perspective. The impact of various Israeli and Palestinian movements on the conflict is studied as well as the ongoing involvement of regional and international state and non-state actors. The course concludes with an analysis of the conflict in the 21st century, which includes studying what proposals for peace have been put forward and evaluating their merits. The course is organized according to key events, themes as well as case studies.

The course examines current problems in contemporary American politics. It focuses on a number of themes such as political polarization, demographics, class, religion, voter turnout, election campaigns, and foreign politics. The themes can vary from semester to semester.

Environmental questions have been at the heart of Geography's disciplinary identity for the last century or more. The course introduces some of the questions that geographers have sought to tackle, at the same time as drawing out some of the key issues for environmental politics and policy.  How we make sense of nature matters not only for the kind of environment we want to be a part of, but also for our sense of the political possibilities within the world.  Articulating a position within such debates has been the central task of society-environment geographers for much of the discipline's existence and is the focus in this series of lectures.