Political Science

The development of the Middle East and North Africa region is examined from an historical perspective. The course begins by exploring the major social, political, and cultural issues, events, and ideas which have shaped the region, primarily from the end of World War 1 until the present day. Particular attention is paid to the legacy of colonialism and the process of state-building, various inter-state conflicts and their domestic and regional consequences, the persistence of authoritarianism as well democratization efforts more recently. The course concludes by examining the Middle East and North Africa in the 21st century, including its changing place in the global political arena. The course is organized according to key events, themes as well as case studies.

This course draws on a range of political science research on European integration and European Union politics to analyze the development of the EU and how it operates today. The course addresses one of the most important questions in the study of European politics and international organization's: why did a diverse group of states construct what is currently the world’s most extensive example of international integration? This course provides an extensive overview of the contemporary EU, including its institutions and policy-making processes using approaches from modern political science. Students also assess how the EU has influenced both public opinion and party competition, and the debate concerning whether the EU suffers from a democratic deficit. 

This is a special studies course involving an internship with a corporate, public, governmental, or private organization, arranged with the Study Center Director or Liaison Officer. Specific internships vary each term and are described on a special study project form for each student. A substantial paper or series of reports is required. Units vary depending on the contact hours and method of assessment. The internship may be taken during one or more terms but the units cannot exceed a total of 12.0 for the year.

This course explores how the EU can be understood as a differentiated political system, both in relation to its member states and non-EU countries. It looks into differentiation in various forms, including variation in the extent to which states participate in EU policies (horizontal differentiation) and in the level of integration across policy areas (vertical differentiation), and it explores the drivers of such differentiation. The course also discusses the consequences of differentiation for the legitimacy of European integration.

The seminar enquires the question of how affluence translates into influence, both on the domestic and international level via the engagement with three recently published books. With Guido Alfani’s “As Gods Among Men. A History of the Rich in the West”, the course asks what makes a person rich, what the richs’ role is in society and how either changed across history. With Katharina Pistor’s “The Code of Capital. How the law creates wealth and inequality”, the course seeks to understand the law and its international application as a core mechanism that turns affluence into influence. And with Helen Thompson’s “Disorder. Hard Times in the 21st Century”, the course assesses the implications of “aristocratic excess” on contemporary democratic politics. The seminar is an introduction to the topic and does not require any previous knowledge. However, it does require a commitment to reading substantive parts of each book.

This course examines the actors, dynamics, strategies and rules of the changing international political system, and patterns of interaction among the powers.

This course introduces the current and past issues at stake in the political, legal, and cultural relations between religions and states. A subject of recurrent debate and controversy in France, laïcité (or rather, secularism) is rarely treated critically, dispassionately and from an international perspective. Such is the focus of this seminar. Depending on the areas covered, the course discusses more generally about “laïcité” (in the case of France) or “secularism” (in the case of Anglo-Saxon countries). The course is interdisciplinary, drawing on historical, political, legal, and sociological approaches. It also focuses on comparative approaches in Europe, North America, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. 

This course covers the basic principles, legal structures, and processes of governance at the EU level. The course introduces the EU's history, its main institutions and legal frameworks, the policymaking process, and the political struggles that take place around a number of issues that are relevant to the life sciences domains. The first half of the course provides a general background to the EU, including its history, main institutions, decision-making procedures, and implementation pathways. The second half of the course discusses the development of a number of relevant policy domains, including the internal market, marine policy, environmental policy, agricultural policy, and food policy. At the end of the course, students are able to explain the functioning of the EU’s main institutions and policies, use and analyze official EU documents and legislation, and critically appraise an ongoing policy debate.

This introductory course explores the origins of universal civil rights in the USA with an emphasis on historical events, review of biography and legacy of significant activists and change makers from the USA and other countries. The course also presents cases to examine the relationship between the causes triggering civil rights development, and how these events can relate to impactful social events and movements in the last decade in different regions of the world. The course intends to provide a theoretical background, a historical review of events, and a social analysis of movements that students can study by using varied resources for data collection and examination of influential media resources or independent documentation of these processes.

The conflict in and about Northern Ireland and the long peace process present a range of ongoing challenges for politics and society. This course examines a range of thematic challenges with respect to conflict, peacemaking, and peacebuilding and democratic governance in Northern Ireland. It looks as the roots of "The Troubles," the nature of the violence, the emergence of a peace process, and how this process has developed over the last thirty years. It speaks to questions such as What caused the conflict in Northern Ireland?, Why did the peace process happen?, Does power sharing work?, and How can we address the legacy of the conflict?