Political Science

The goal of this course is to increase students' cultural sensitivity through an in-depth examination of the many layers that make up French history while at the same time exposing them to how this history shaped the physical city of Paris itself. Through comparative examination of current events in France and the US, the course also sensitizes them to differences in cultural norms. Lastly, the course seeks to increase students' understanding of how a nation's “eternal values and universal truths” develop in response to a people's particular historical experiences (e.g., the place of religion in the public sphere). The assigned readings and topics in the syllabus vary from year to year in order to align them with recent major events. Past units have included a variety of topics, such as: “The Veil”, Health insurance as a social or a socialist program; Presidents and the use and extent of power/elections; Women in the public eye; War and terrorism; Income distribution and the human costs of urban development. In each unit, the current issue is paired with careful study of related moments in French history (e.g., Huguenots in the 16th c. with Muslims today; a president with Napoleon). Readings expose students to the various ways history is/can be written. Readings include: First-hand accounts and editorials; Essays by specialists in political, social, economic, and urban history; Seminal texts of reference (e.g., “The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen”). In this course students develop written and oral rhetorical skills as well as their analytical skills through class discussion on readings, in which close attention is paid to both style and the use of evidence to support an argument, in-class analysis of things like political cartoons, and the deciphering of political messages embedded in the iconography of monuments' façades. Students are presented techniques to read visual evidence. Students engage in a photo-essay project that sends them to the Invalides in small groups. The final exam tests students on their ability to compare a set of recent newspaper articles/editorials to explain the differences in American and French attitudes by providing the appropriate historical background.

This course presents a broad overview of non-profit organization management. Based on public administration and strategic management theory, it focuses on practical problem-solving ideas. Topics to be considered include: shaping an organization’s vision and mission, SWOT analysis, decision-making, establishing strategic management capacity, inter-organizational cooperation and partnership, and other management techniques. 

This seminar presents and discusses the key institutions that govern market economies, seen as political and legal constructs. The focus is on core institutions like private property rights and its alternatives, all sorts of debts, wage labor and its variants or the architecture of individual markets (like those for global commodities or microcredit). A lot of attention is given to State institutions, including indeed the courts and the law, though non-State actors also play a great role in the regulation and maintenance of markets. Their mutual relations are of course of major interest. Every lecture is based on examples drawn from either developed or developing countries, today or in the more or less distant past, accompanied by readings of an article or book chapter.

This course introduces the political and economic interaction between Mainland China and Taiwan since 1949. It covers a wide range of topics divided into three parts. The first part deals with the economic interaction between Mainland China and Taiwan, including topics such as trade, investment, production network, and people mobility. The second part deals with the political foundation of Cross-Strait economic relations, including topics such as comparing capitalism across the Strait; Taiwanese identity; Chinese nationalism, and political development in Hong Kong. The third part deals with the grand strategy adopted by either side of the Strait, including topics such as Mainland China’s Taiwan policy; Taiwan’s Mainland China policy; U.S. Cross-Strait policy; Taiwan’s international space, and the future of Cross-Strait relations.