Political Science

This course examines the theories of knowledge and methods of inquiry appropriate to studying politics. It introduces alternative perspectives of the social sciences and to the empirical, critical, and analytical skills they imply. It pays particular attention to the basics of good research and skills essential to conducting independent research.

This is a special studies course with projects arranged between the student and faculty member. The specific topics of study vary each term and are described on a special study project form for each student. The number of units varies with the student's project, contact hours, and method of assessment, as defined on the student's special study project form.

This course examines how PPA practitioners and researchers make sense of big data. It covers introductory programming for data science, data collection, data visualization, and machine learning.

This course explores the geopolitical past, present, and future of African foreign policy and international relations. Through the complex analysis of African's geopolitical policy regime, it considers how the country's geography supports and complicates its political role and status in the global community. Furthermore, through analyzing international development policy in the region, the course explores how exploitation, war, and regional instability continue to lead to unfortunate political, economic, and social consequences.

This course introduces Soviet and post-Soviet politics and external policies, with a special emphasis on domestic developments in Russia and Ukraine, and the impact on Moscow's foreign behavior. The key paradigm is the close interaction between internal and external factors. The course addresses the building and unbuilding of an empire: from the Tsarist empire to the USSR; the fall of the USSR to the consolidation of new independent republics in Europe; Gorbachev and Yeltsin's reforms to Putin's authoritarianism; and partnership to confrontation with Western countries. Topics also include Russia's wars: Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, and Ukraine; the major issues of democracy versus autocracy; Russian post-Soviet identity; European security; economic challenges; Russia-West relations; and the future of Ukraine and Russia.