Political Science

In this course, students develop a wide and deep understanding of contemporary Africa, drawing on the multi-disciplinary approach of African Studies. Students learn about the historical roots of modern phenomenon on the continent and situate these within a wider global context. They develop expertise about particular countries and regions as well as on particular themes, depending on the focus of the course for the year. The substantive content of the course changes each year depending on topical issues and is taught by experts on the issue itself or on particular approaches/methods from amongst permanent and postdoctoral staff. 

This course discusses the problems and challenges inherent in the analytical framework of studying social movements and transnational actors (TNAs). It examines contemporary struggles covering diverse social mobilizations based in different parts of the world. This course explores differences and commonalities in selected fields of social justic struggles.

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to analytic political theory from the 1970s to the present day, with a focus on leading liberal theorists and their critics. It does so via a discussion of normative theorising around key topics and themes, and shows how these theories bear on various applied questions. 

This course introduces fundamental concepts in the field of political sociology and examines how social policies work today. It explores how the dynamics between the State, the market, and society have undergone significant transformations which have reshaped the concept and operation of European welfare states. The course explains the structure and changes of the European welfare states as well as the evolution of the main social policies in Spain and Catalonia in the last three decades.

The focus of this course is twofold: firstly, to study the nature of representations and the impact they have on our society through philosophy, cinema, literature, and art; and secondly, to develop a critical analysis of the image through aesthetics, political theories, cultural studies, and the philosophy of humor. It analyzes different scenarios of the image in order to circumscribe its "field of action," in particular, to understand the motives behind the objects of the representation, the impact on the spectators, and the socio-political consequences that they generate. The course discusses how technology facilitates the spread of images in our society and mirrors, to a certain extent, our way of life. It considers how, as means of communication, images convey our personal and public experiences on a daily basis, captivate our attention, influence our perception of the world, and, if images are to be considered representations, contain aesthetic and political components. 

This course analyzes U.S. foreign policy, primarily through the prism of American military power. It provides an overview of the major issues at stake regarding U.S. international action in a fragmented world. The course is divided into three main parts, each of which addresses specific questions. The first part focuses on the evolution of U.S. foreign policy, from the end of the Second World War to the post-9/11 period. The second part examines U.S. international strategy in its ideological dimension, through the major debates that surround it. Finally, the last part looks at the practice of American foreign policy and its major geopolitical challenges, particularly with regards to Russia, the Middle East, and China.

It is important to understand how public and private organizations work and how public and organizational policies are created. The course Public Administration and Organizations offers an introduction to the disciplines of Public Administration (focusing on the political science element of policymaking) and Organizational science. Central concepts and important theoretical themes are introduced, and the practical implications of theories are explored and practiced.

This course introduces students to public management, i.e., the decisions and actions of public officials in managerial roles. At the end of the course, students understand how a public manager achieves, in an effective way, at all levels of government, the goals of public policies. Course topics include an introduction to management; private versus public management; performance management in the public sector; the new public management and the public governance; citizen engagement; the creation and co-creation of public value; collaborative governance in times of uncertainty; strategic planning in the public sector: processes and tools; the strategic thinking: meaning and underlying variables; how to create an effective strategic plan; and a comparative study on international strategic plans.

One of the main features of Asian politics and government is the complex nexus of ethnicity, religion, and the state. This course focuses on the colonial formation and postcolonial continuation of these ethno-religious features of politics, known as the politics of identity in Asia. The course explains some major ethnic and religious conflicts in Asia; their impacts on national politics, party systems, state structures, and government policies; and the role of the state in this regard.