Political Science

This course provides a foundational understanding of international relations and foreign policy analysis from both a theoretical and historical perspective. The first part of the course provides an overview of the origins and historical evolution of international systems in world history, shedding light on the emergence of a global international system. It then examines how historians and political scientists approach the study of international politics, seeking to identify differences, potential overlaps, and mutual synergies. The second part of the course explores the diverse set of theories that can be leveraged to make sense of international politics, namely realism, liberalism, constructivism, the “English School,” and critical approaches to international relations. The third part of the course investigates the wide range of domestic and international factors that influence foreign policy decision-making processes, including individual decision-makers, group dynamics among senior advisors, bureaucratic politics, domestic politics, and the role of societal actors in shaping foreign policy outcomes. The final part of the course zooms in on the sources and methods of inquiry in the study of foreign policy and international relations. It discusses the methodological issues related to empirical research on foreign policy and international relations, looking in particular at archival research and interviews with foreign policymakers. 

This seminar studies the successes of LGBTQI rights activism globally with an in-depth focus on issue areas that afford a broad overview of international LGBTQI policy. The first section of the course focuses on the new theoretical frameworks in political science, sociology, and international relations that deal with sexuality and LGBTQI issues. In the second part of the course, an examination of global aspects of sexuality and LGBTQI issues allows students to look at how LGBTQI rights arrive in the diplomatic arena, and how they affect international organizations' policies. In the third section, case studies from various parts of the world are discussed through the lenses of the international developments in LGBTQI issues. The main objective is to make students understand and criticize the increasingly important role LGBTQI issues play in international relations and development policies.

The goals and contents of this course can be summarized as; to identify the academic differences between the study of foreign policy analysis (FPA) and that of international relations (IR); to enhance the academic knowledge of the decision-making process of foreign policy and the roles of main actors who participate in it; to understand the changed or continued environmental situations in Korean foreign policy; to analyze the domestic and international political meanings of Korean foreign policies; and to understand the historical backgrounds of Korean foreign policies. 

Assessment: Midterm (35%), Final (30%), Presentation and Final Report (15%), Assignments (10%), Attendance (10%)

This course focuses on the politics and government of the contemporary Russian Federation. The format of the course varies each year but follows the following general outline. It first analyses the nature of a Soviet "legacy." It then looks in detail at Russian state and institution-building. Foci generally include party systems, civil society, nationalism and social movements, comparative post-Soviet government, and the international relations of the post-Soviet space.

Recent years have seen a debate about the waning of war, though for millions of people around the world, wars and violence are part of their everyday lives, with implications far beyond the war-torn states’ borders. This course explores major trends in warfare (types of wars, the actors engaged in wars, targets in wars, funding of warfare, technology of warfare), theories explaining these trends, the relationship between warfare and state-building, and ethical questions concerning how wars are fought.

This course provides a general introduction to the field of comparative politics. The purpose of this course is to increase the level of systematic perspective and understanding of dynamic modern politics through a review of various theories and issues of comparative politics. It focuses on academic study as well as practical application to the real political world. 

The course introduces and discusses basic building blocks of International Relations theories and major analytical frameworks. It discusses ways to explain and interpret international political events. The unique aspect of this course is to blend theories with international security issues in depth. This is a graduate reading seminar that requires students’ active participation in verbal and written forms. The objectives of this course are (a) to understand mainstream theories of International Relations; (b) to examine the explanatory power of these theories; (c) discuss how to apply them to the study of international politics; and (c) to demonstrate how these theories can be used to analyze issues in international security.