Political Science

This course explores how sex is implicated in international politics. It is centered on showing how sex, gender, and sexuality structure understandings and practices of foreign policy, statehood, conflict, political violence, social movements, and the like. To do this, the course traces how debates over "normal" and "traditional" sexual orientation and gender expression have come into international politics and how the current "culture war" around queer rights and protections has come to play a significant role in (re)negotiating international order. Throughout the course, it asks how gender and sexuality, both of which are racialized and classed, are used to construct and maintain power; how in some cases sexuality and gender are mobilized to legitimize certain foreign and domestic policies. The course divides into two parts. The first half of the course focuses on theoretical and conceptual debates about sex(uality). The second half of the course focuses on mobilizing this theoretical and conceptual work to study queer issues in world politics.

This course provides an overview of multilateralism and international organizations after World War II, examining collaboration between countries in areas such as peace and security, human rights, and monetary policy and economics. Students are introduced to the concept of world order and global governance through multilateralism and will examine the history, structures, and functions of international organizations including the role of major powers and other countries in the international arena.

This course introduces political philosophy. It covers the main concepts, issues, and questions raised in political philosophy, to acquire a general and analytic understanding of the central topics in political philosophy.

This seminar examines the role of diasporas as non-state actors in the transnational realm. We will look at conceptual and theoretical approaches to diaspora policies as well as empirical cases of diaspora engagement in international policies. A special focus will be laid on postcolonial perspectives on diasporas as political agents and challenges they might pose for the study of international relations as well as for policy practices.

This course explores industrial security and current geopolitical aspects minimizing the influence of fake news and corruption and providing efficient tools through intelligence analysis. It offers an introduction to the activities and attitudes of intelligence analysts in the field of business, non-governmental institutions and administration.

This course approaches human rights from the perspective of peace. After an introduction, it examines peace and human rights from both theoretical and practical perspectives. 

The course covers the following topics:

• What is Peace?
• What is Human Rights?
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Law
• United Nations and Human Rights
• "Responsibility to Protect"
• Gender, Peace and Human Rights
• Statelessness
• Human Rights in Japan
• Post-Anthropocene Perspectives of Peace and Human Rights: Rights of Nature?
• Why Peace? Why Human Rights?

This course provides conceptual frameworks that students may find useful in analyzing various types of peace initiatives including humanitarian assistance. Students examine a wide range of debates about peacebuilding and humanitarian intervention, and analyze a variety of intermediary efforts by the UN, NGOs and other relevant institutions. This course is offered in collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Japan--a humanitarian organization working in conflict zones. Humanitarian experts from the MSF will share their practical and hands-on experience in the field of peacebuilding and humanitarian aid, while the professor will offer theoretical discussions relevant to the theme and lead group work and simulation exercises, which aim to facilitate students' understanding of the topics introduced by the MSF experts.

The extensive independent study field research paper produced by the student is both the centerpiece of the intern's professional engagement and the culmination of the academic achievements of the semester. During the preparatory session, IFE teaches the methodological guidelines and principles to which students are expected to adhere in the development of their written research. Students work individually with a research advisor from their field. The first task is to identify a topic, following guidelines established by IFE for research topic choice. The subject must be tied in a useful and complementary way to the student-intern's responsibilities, as well as to the core concerns of the host organization. The research question should be designed to draw as much as possible on resources available to the intern via the internship (data, documents, interviews, observations, seminars and the like). Students begin to focus on this project after the first 2-3 weeks on the internship. Each internship agreement signed with an organization makes explicit mention of this program requirement, and this is the culminating element of their semester. Once the topic is identified, students meet individually, as regularly as they wish, with their IFE research advisor to generate a research question from the topic, develop an outline, identify sources and research methods, and discuss drafts submitted by the student. The research advisor also helps students prepare for the oral defense of their work which takes place a month before the end of the program and the due date of the paper. The purpose of this exercise is to help students evaluate their progress and diagnose the weak points in their outline and arguments. Rather than an extraneous burden added to the intern's other duties, the field research project grows out of the internship through a useful and rewarding synergy of internship and research. The Field Study and Internship model results in well-trained student-interns fully engaged in mission-driven internships in their field, while exploring a critical problem guided by an experienced research advisor.

The course examines how Europe (the EU, in particular) and Spain have responded to social inequalities, global pandemic pressures, gender inequality, migrations, nationalism(s), climate change, and sustainability. It provides a critical overview of these current challenges at the transnational, regional and national level. The course combines analytical tools and categories stemming from political science, international relations, economics, European Integration studies, public policies analysis and development economics.