Political Science

This course examines terrorist groups and individuals, terrorist origins, goals, and ideologies. It covers the structure and dynamics of terrorism along with terrorist weapons, strategies and tactics, the hot spots in which they operate and their use of the media. 

This course focuses on political parties and major policy debates in New Zealand. Topics include the ideologies and action principles of major parties, shifts in inequality and the welfare state, state funding of political parties, relations between central and local government, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and environmental policy.

This course examines the fundamentals of politics in British Columbia, both past and present, with a particular emphasis on the place of Indigenous peoples in the province’s political life. It will include the study of formal political institutions such as the provincial executive and legislature, the provincial electoral and party systems, and the evolution of the political province’s political culture and voter behavior. It will also adopt explore the dominant lines of political discourse and contention in the province, including regional divides, settler colonial relations, economic debates, and pressing for and ideas behind political parties. It will also look at pressing contemporary issues including land tenure, health and the poison drugs crisis, the environment, and issues of inclusivity in BC politics, including both their historical origins, present dynamics, and potential future resolutions. 

This course discusses the causes, consequences, and trends of conflict in the world. Topics include: types of conflict (inter-state wars, intra-state wars, terrorism, ethnic conflict, and state repression); their long-term evolution; political, economic and social causes of conflict; their consequences for the world order. 

The first part of the course deals with the historical development of European integration from WWII through to the Lisbon Treaty and the main actors that contribute to the working and functioning of the EU. The second part focuses on some key policies of the EU: students look at economic and monetary policies, justice and home affairs, the common agricultural policy, environmental and climate policy, trade, and democracy promotion. The third part looks at some current challenges and controversies that the EU is facing. Students consider whether the EU is an efficient and legitimate system, current challenges to the rule of law, Euroscepticism and the increasing domestic contestation. The class then concludes with a discussion on differentiation, (dis)integration, and the future of the EU.

This course addresses how to define and interpret key humanitarian concepts such as human rights, human security and the responsibility to protect. The course also addresses how to define democracy and study trends in democratization over the last 100 years. The class reviews the content of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Charter in some detail. The class also considers the strengths and weaknesses of the UN Security Council and discuss the possibility of UN reform. 
 

This course explores the history of political and social movements in Spain and Catalonia from medieval times to present day. Topics include: the Reconquista; formation of the Spanish state; the Spanish Civil War; the Franco era; transition to democracy; dynamics of Catalonia and the quest for autonomy.

This course employs two perspectives to understand the histories of modern Japan in the context of East Asia and globalization from the early 20th century to the present. It examines how modern boundaries, identities, and cultures are shaped in a rapidly emerging modern world order. The course also looks at how individuals respond to and are shaped by the variety of modernity(ies).

This course examines the role of gender in Western political theory and the implications for the practice of politics.

The course is designed to expose students to different styles of qualitative and mixed methods research including, among many others, comparative case studies; process tracing and historical methods; interpretive and discursive methods; social network analyses, and natural experiments. The course uses practical sessions to help students prepare their own research design into an important and real-world question of their own choosing. Participants present their research designs in the final two weeks of the class and receive feedback from their peers.

The course is divided into three parts. The first introduces the fundamentals of positivist and interpretative qualitative methods. The next investigates case selection, mixed method, and causal inference. The third considers more specific techniques including the practical considerations involved in collecting primary materials, considering logics of historical process, and designing social experiments.