Political Science

This course provides a study of the process of formation and development of social thought in Latin America, from the establishment of nation states to the present day. It analyzes prevailing conceptual frameworks that examine the problems of greatest cultural, economic, political and social significance of Latin America. It looks at the process of evolution in its historical context, analyzing the most representative examples of each stage of its development and discussing their degree of reliability or uncertainty for the diagnosis of political, social, and economic problems of Latin America.

This course considers how colonial legacies and forms of colonial governance persist today. It does so by examining debates within anti-colonial and postcolonial theory about the aftermath of colonialism. In particular, it considers how postcolonial thought articulates conceptions of freedom, justice, the state, and democracy and how these challenge liberal and republican ideas. Moreover, the course considers how postcolonial and anti-colonial thought has influenced the formation of other critical traditions including abolitionist thought, poststructuralism, surveillance studies, and critical border studies. In doing so, critical reflections on colonialism and empire offer new ways to think about state and corporate power, political subjectivity, violence, and borders and migration.

This course looks at the politics of the welfare state in the UK in the light of the dramatic economic events since 2008, including from an international perspective, and in the context of Brexit and the current Covid-19 crisis. The role of ideology, public opinion, political actors, interest groups, and the media are considered in understanding the directions that the British welfare state took in recent years. Specific social policy areas (e.g. education, housing, benefits and the labor market, public services) are discussed in detail and current reforms are scrutinized.

Through a series of concept-letters, this course uncovers various approaches to politics. It covers a selection of classical and contemporary notions, doctrines, and various styles of reasoning, and presents their usefulness for the city. It considers what these doctrines and reasonings mean for today's citizens, and how they can be mobilized to understand political issues and act in a just, democratic, and responsible way. Beyond abstract reasoning, the course reflects on the articulation between theory and practice; deliberates contemporary social and moral problems; discusses the formal understanding of political phenomena and the way they are understood, implemented, or contested by individuals and groups; and finally, demonstrates that philosophical concepts are not only elaborated in the realm of ideas, but are inspired by and act upon in the political and social world.

This course is intended to introduce fundamental concepts and frameworks for understanding how recent changes in state governance affect democracy, and vice versa. It examines the theoretical and empirical implications of various types of ‘old’ and ‘new’ governance with special attention to Korean cases. A series of lectures offers a survey of major institutions, actors, and decision-making processes of multiple governance systems. 

This course examines human experience as a source of truth, knowledge and belief about war. Representations of human experiences of war play a significant role in human culture and society, often defining social memories and collective understandings of war. As such, this course examines how human experience is transmitted and interpreted via historical sources as well as cultural objects such as films, novels, and video games. It also engages students with key social, political, and moral arguments about the representation of war experience in the media, museums, monuments, and commemoration rituals. This is the Fall only version of the course.

This course examines the definition of propaganda and the persuasion of the masses in the contemporary world. It relies on several disciplines (history, communication, sociology, political sciences, social psychology, art history, and neuroscience) and puts into perspective the evolution of propaganda and persuasion from the "age of paper" through the "digital age." Students analyze a multitude of platforms (text, fixed images, animated images, sound, objects, and monuments) by using both a theoretical and empirical approach. Along with a methodology of writing and presentation, this course explores critical analysis in a global perspective and techniques of forming public opinion.