Political Science

This course examines the principal debates, features, and manifestations of Middle East politics in the 20th and 21st centuries. The course also contextualizes the Middle East as a region of the world that continually impacts on the wider international order. This course situates the Middle East, not as a single unitary manifestation of politics, but as a wider diverse and dynamic region. Political dimensions of the Middle East such as the legacy of colonialism, the democracy deficit, political economy, and contemporary conflict, as well as the role of civil society, feature as topics in the course.

This course examines a range of contemporary issues in international politics across a number of areas of economics and politics, which include events that are occurring in contemporary world politics that have significant interests for students and layperson alike.  Students get out into the real world, thinking about the wider meanings of the events that they have witnessed and are witnessing in world politics. Students question what is the relationship between IR (as a body of knowledge) and international politics (as the subject of that knowledge)? Do the IR theories make sense in terms of contemporary developments, do they shift in line with these developments or do they lag behind politics? Whilst issues form the foreground, this question forms the background to the course. 

This course provides a comprehensive insight into all things AI. It is not intended for those who wish to learn the mathematical underpinnings of the computer science or coding aspect of AI. It is for those who wish to explore how AI is affecting our world, from labor markets to politics, from business models to us as humans.

This course examines what governments do or choose not to do. It explores how public policy is formulated, implemented and evaluated, and what governance processes are typically followed. It also covers circumstances under which governments may choose to abstain from taking policy action. It approaches the study of public policy in both theory and practice and in the context of national and international politics, with both an Australian and comparative focus.

The course introduces game theory and its applications in political science to students. Topics include How to Think about Strategic Games, Games with Sequential Moves, Simultaneous-Move Games, Combining Sequential and Simultaneous Moves, Strategic Moves, Uncertainty and Information, The Prisoners' Dilemma and Repeated Games, Collective-Action Games, and Applications to Specific Strategic Situations.

This course is an undergraduate-level seminar on politics of contemporary China. Understanding politics, economy, society, and their complex relations of our neighbor, People’s Republic of China becomes indispensable for everyone no matter what you study and pursue in this globalized era. In this vein, surveying politics of China would be a priority. We try to systematically (not randomly) analyze and understand those objects through applying some theoretical frameworks of political science such as regime type, political institution, participation, contentious politics, clientelism, developmentalism, nationalism, and interactions between domestic and international politics, to them. More specifically, this course aims at (1) understanding basic political history of contemporary China; (2) theoretically and empirically exposing students to major issues and debates in the study of reform-era Chinese politics and helping students understand major characteristics of the Chinese Communist Party regime; (3) In addition to the conventional contents of “Chinese Politics” course, letting students do a “problem-solving” project from creative and multi-disciplinary perspectives of political interactions as well as politics of things; (4) and finally, encouraging students to pursue their own agendas related to contemporary China in further studies in schools and job market (and beyond).

This course is designed to familiarize students with important concepts and theories of international security studies as well as prominent security issues in the contemporary world. The first part of the course introduces the basic analytical concepts and theoretical frameworks as regards direct and indirect use of force in international politics; the second part explores strategic policy during the Cold War and the lessons that scholars have drawn from that historical period; the third part examines several security challenges at the dawn of the 21st century such as nuclear proliferation, terrorism and insurgency, and the security implications of technological change; the last part focuses on the rise of China and international security, with particular attention paid to the relationship between China and the United States, the Taiwan issue, and maritime disputes in East Asia. It is worth noting that the course will not touch upon most non-traditional security issues such as energy security, climate change, food safety, etc.

This course aims to help students acquire the basic knowledge of the development and functioning of the EU. Additionally, students are expected to analyze the EU’s role in various sectoral policies and its relationships with selected partners.

This course consists of three parts. The first part covers the basics of the EU, including major theories of European integration, its core institutions, decision-making procedures, and legal order. In the second part, this course explores the major bilateral relations between the EU and third parties in the second part. The last part focuses on selected policy areas critical to the EU’s internal stability and external posture. 

This course examines the political relationship between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous peoples of Australia as an instance of wider global relations among indigenous societies, colonial powers and contemporary national and international regimes and institutions. Students will gain an understanding of government policies and the responses to these practices by Indigenous peoples by critically evaluating the political frameworks and policy responses used to deal with Indigenous-settler relations. The course will consider - among other topics - land, citizenship and identity, self-determination, constitutional recognition, and the governance of Indigenous organizations.

The history of modern China is deeply intertwined with international law. Starting from the early 19th century, the European-originated international law made its way to the China-centered East Asian tributary system through military conquests and treaties. Over the past two centuries, international law has profoundly shaped the transformation of China in terms of building of a modern state and the national identity. The more recent decades have seen China’s increasingly active engagement with international law in terms of dispute settlement and treaty negotiation. Yet international law is still underappreciated in understanding China’s foreign relations, often being reduced to no more than legalistic cover for realpolitik by international relations scholars. Academic research on China’s foreign policy is largely devoid of serious legal analysis into China’s engagement with international law. This course sits at the intersection of international law and international relations and bears four goals in mind. First of all, the course prepares the students for understanding the fundamental concepts of international law. The second objective is to examine China’s initial encounter with the Eurocentric concepts and practices of international law and its lingering legacy. Third, it aims for surveying China’s contemporary engagement with various international legal regimes in a historical and contextualized way. Rather than highlighting China’s uniqueness in the international legal system, the course encourages comparative inquiries into China’s position on and practices of international law. Last, the course invites the students to empirically re-examine popular impressionistic discourses about China and international law by making extensive use of primary sources and incorporating competing perspectives.