Political Science

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.

This course provides a critical understanding of the major issues currently faced by European countries, and the interplay between Member States, European institutions, global challenges and democratic legitimacy concerns. It analyzes the facts to understand the major causes and potential consequences and think of possible solutions to address challenges existing in the euro area, those created by the unprecedented migrant flows in Europe, stemming from climate change. The course also looks at the rise of Euroscepticism and the issue of democratic deficit in the European Union. The course provides a critical approach and a solid understanding of the major issues and debates on the topics covered during the class.