Political Science

This course taught in Spanish explores political thought through a Latin American lens. The course begins with indigenous primary sources and their views on the Conquista and maintains those indigenous viewpoints through different eras in Latin American history. The course focuses primarily on the indigenous role, post-colonial impacts, and contemporary Latin America.

This course studies democratic transitions. Looking both at classical readings as well as cutting edge literature, it explores five aspects of democratization: its conditions (do societies need to be wealthy?), its endogenous dynamics (what types of regime and opposition favor a transition?), its exogenous dynamics (how does the international economy or geopolitics influence transitions?), different pathways (rupture or reform), and their legacy. These five aspects are explored throughout the course as it examines an array of case studies from different waves of democratization. It provides a comprehensive understanding of democratic transitions from an economic, social, and political lens. Drawing on a wide range of case studies, the course grapples with traditional theories of democratization both empirically and theoretically.

This course surveys and analyzes the interaction between Europe and America since 1945 in the fields of politics, economics, and culture. Special emphasis is placed on the roles of the United States, Germany, and the European Union. The first part has a time-line approach, discussing cooperation and divergence of  interests before, during, and after the Cold War and after 9/11. During the second part, the course focus on issues of common concern for the U.S. and Europe today and on challenges facing the transatlantic partnership during the era of globalization with its challenges to the common values of the “West.” Current events are discussed whenever they become relevant. The course includes a guest speaker and a visit to the German Foreign Ministry for a talk on German-American relations.

The course provides a theoretical and practical inquiry into the interface between society and politics in both developed and developing countries. Special emphasis will be on African states.  The issues addressed include the nature of power and the state, relations between the state and society, social movements, political organization and civic participation, political culture, voting behavior, democracy and economic development, nationalism, citizenship, and globalization. 

The course first offers students an introduction to the discipline of International Relations to understand some of the key questions that scholars and policy makers have focused on, and how the field has been transformed as the world has changed around them. It then studies a series of pressing contemporary issues, including war, security, development, human rights, and terrorism. These cases and questions are analyzed through different theories including realism, liberalism, constructivism, Marxism, and feminism.