Political Science

Political Psychology is an interdisciplinary academic field, dedicated to understanding political opinions and behaviors from a psychological perspective. Throughout the course, we will assess important theories and empirical studies regarding attitude formation and measurement, rationality and reasoning, information processing and cognition, affect and emotion, framing and communication, moral values, ideology, and cultural norms, group dynamics/interactions and social identities, personality, socialization, repression&violence, etc. and their demonstrations in various aspects of politics.

The course is designed to prepare students for leadership in a globally interdependent and culturally diverse workforce. Throughout the course, students are challenged to question, think, and respond thoughtfully to the issues they observe and encounter in the internship setting, and the designated city in general. Students have the opportunity to cultivate the leadership skills as defined by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), such as critical thinking, teamwork, and diversity. Assignments focus on building a portfolio that highlights those competencies and their application to workplace skills. The hybrid nature of the course allows students to develop their skills in a self-paced environment with face-to-face meetings and check-ins to frame their intercultural internship experience. Students complete 45 hours of in-person and asynchronous online learning activities and 225-300 hours at their internship placement.

This course looks at the evolution of modern China's political and economic system; the Chinese state in comparative perspective; issues and problems of China's political and economic development. This course explains the Chinese political system and state administration, the characteristics of China's socialist market economy, and analyses the role of the Communist Party of China. Students assess different theoretical approaches used in current research on modern China, and develop and present individual research interests on China's political system.

This seminar is for students who are interested in political methodology, a subfield of political science focused on the development of quantitative tools for political analysis as well as their innovative applications. Building upon the basic statistical and data analytic skills acquired in Statistics I/II, students deepen their understanding of statistical methods and implementation essential for the quantitative analysis of political data through lectures, computer lab exercises, data examples, and in-depth discussions. 

Students are assumed to have good mastery of the topics covered in Statistics I and II. It is strongly recommended that students review the materials from these courses before the class begins.

This course explores factual knowledge of contemporary public policy in Japan and contemplates the key policy challenges of the field. Students are expected to independently analyze and understand the characteristics and nature of public policy in the context of contemporary public policy.

This course introduces students to theories of foreign policy that explain U.S. behavior, ranging from military conflict to secret diplomacy. The course is organized into three sections. The first part gives an overview of American grand strategy and values. The second section follows an actor-specific approach, focusing on how crucial actors such as the President and Congress shape American foreign policy. Last, the issue-oriented section will be concluded with a wargaming exercise. Following the lectures on these topics, the instructor will design group exercises and offer materials for course discussion, including detailed case studies of important episodes in U.S. diplomatic and military history.

In the discipline of International Relations, there are different perspectives on how and why war occurs. This course takes students through different perspectives on different conflicts, from interstate war to civil war to insurgencies and beyond. Students also consider some developments in warfare – for example the introduction of drones or the violent potential of cyberattacks – and how these affect war.

This course analyzes the processes, systems, structures, events, and actors from the Second World War to the present. It focuses on understanding the meaning, evolution, dynamics of the Postwar world, as well as identifying the main causes, consequences and implications. 

The course is an introduction to politics in a globalized world, with a focus on how political science tries to understand and explain cross-country and cross-time differences. The course begins by introducing students to some of the main empirical variations in political behavior, political institutions, and outcomes across the world, focusing mainly on democratic and partially democratic countries (in both the developed and developing world), and introduces students to some of the basic theoretical ideas and research methods in political science. Each subsequent week is devoted to a substantive topic, where a more detailed analysis of political behavior, political institutions, or political outcomes are presented and various theoretical explanations are assessed.

This course tackles a central political and social issue of our times: the role of emotions such as hatred, anger, patriotism, shame, and offence in our politics and society. Students investigate questions such as, what is the social and moral value – or disvalue – of these emotions? When are these instrumentally beneficial, and when are they corrosive of our democratic culture or society? Informed by contemporary work in psychology, ethics, feminist philosophy, and political philosophy, this course explores a range of emotions.