Political Science

This course introduces game theory and its application to political science. Students study game theory through the concepts of Nash Equilibrium, Subgame Perfect Equilibrium, and Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium, as well as strategic-form, extensive-form, and repeated games. Sessions involve presenting (and practicing) game-theoretic techniques before applying them to specific political science questions.

Although there is no prerequisite knowledge for this class, it may be helpful to have taken at least a course in statistics or probability theory.

This course examines the Spanish political system and its evolution, and compares and contrasts it to other systems of the world. It is divided into three parts: institutional framework, elections, and political culture.

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.