Political Science

This course familiarizes students with: the epidemiology of mortality and disease; the determinants of health; the ageing of society and its implications for medical care; the unequal distribution of health; moral issues in public health; the economics of public health; health systems analysis; public health genomics; markets and public health; public health disasters. Students become familiar with public policymaking, including: the various components of public policy (values, objectives, instruments, policy paradigm); the concept of the policy cycle (problem recognition and definition, agenda building, policy formation, policy implementation, policy evaluation and feedback); theoretical approaches of public policy making (rational model, political model, institutionalist model); stakeholder and policy community analysis; types of state-society relationships (elitist model, pluralist model, corporatist model, regulatory agency model, communitarian model); the role of power in public policymaking.

Is politics possible beyond the nation-state? Will wars and conflicts ever become obsolete? This course introduces students to theories of International Relations (IR) and contemporary issues of Global Politics. It explores the historical and conceptual foundations of the field and investigates challenges currently shaping global politics. The course is divided into two main sections. Following a brief historical introduction to the discipline, students explore classical concepts and theories of IR, including power and anarchy (Realism), cooperation and human rights (Liberalism), norms and identity (Constructivism), followed by critical perspectives on global politics such as class and dependencies (Marxism), gender and the patriarchy (Feminism), and exploitation and orientalism (Postcolonialism). In the second section of the course, students investigate pressing global issues like terrorism, AI, and the climate crisis, which have fundamentally altered the conduct of international politics. The course concludes with a discussion of future (im)possibilities for global politics. 

In September 2016, Taiwan's government launched the “New Southbound Policy” initiative to enhance cooperation with eighteen countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Australasia with the aim of reducing its dependence on mainland China. In the context of the “New Southbound Policy,” it is important for Taiwan to enhance its understanding of the region, particularly beyond mainland China and East Asian neighbors such as Japan and Korea. The first part of the course focuses on the international politics of the region, exploring how the Asia-Pacific has evolved in the context of the struggle against colonialism, the Cold War, the post-Cold War period, and the rise of China. The second part of the course is based on student presentations on the domestic politics of the countries in the region. Topics are agreed between the instructor and the students.