Political Science

This course gives a broad understanding of European politics. The course is organized thematically, covering issues such as federalism and devolution, the executive and legislature, political parties, elections and voting systems, the media, civil society, and race and ethnicity. Particular attention is paid to the comparative study of different European countries across these issue areas. The final four weeks of the course are devoted to group presentations on some of the major contemporary issues in European politics, with topics to be agreed between the instructor and students (possible topics may include immigration, the Greece crisis, Brexit, the rise of the far right, other topics may be suggested by the instructor or students).

This course addresses the transformation of world order which underlines a return to great power competition. It examines how the inertia of international structures is met with a deregulation of competition, inside and outside of the boundaries of international law. The course investigates the global struggle between peer and near-peer competitors expressed at the world level and its impacts on regional and local stability. It addresses the growing phenomenon of assertive emerging powers encountering self-questioning Europe and the United States and the return of political rivalry and military frictions. The course analyzes its historicity, comprehends its current trends, and projects its prospects through an inter-disciplinary approach.

This course traces the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, from the beginnings of their tense wartime alliance until the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe in 1989. The early part of the course concentrates predominantly on the Soviet-US confrontation in Europe following the establishment and consolidation of Communist regimes in Eastern and Central Europe from 1944-48. Particular attention is paid to the events of February 1948 in Czechoslovakia and to the Berlin Airlift crisis of 1949. The period of the relaxation of East-West tensions which followed Stalin's death in 1953 is examined through a focus on negotiations over the fate of Austria and Germany, and the upheavals in Poland and Hungary in 1956. From its European beginnings, the course branches out to consider the Cold War in its global context, especially in its relationship to Third World nationalism, non-alignment, and anti-imperialism. The final weeks examine the crushing of the Prague Spring, the period of Détente, and the sudden and largely unanticipated end to the conflict in the 1980s, with a particular emphasis on the revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989.

This course provides an introduction to the field of game theory and how it is used to study strategic interaction in politics. Game theory uses mathematical models to describe and understand political and social phenomena. The emphasis is on the basics of modeling, model building skills, and problem solving