Political Science

This course covers readings and analysis of ideas, theories, and contemporary issues in international relations. This course develops reading, analytical, and critical skills as well as improves the abilities to present, argue, write, and critique. Students classify Political Science concepts and theories, International Relations theories, and global and domestic political situations.

Building on USSCPOL23, this course offers a deeper understanding of the sub-discipline of International Relations, focusing on its main concepts, issues, theories, and approaches. The question that guides the course is: At a time of significant change and instability, what theoretical approaches to the study of international relations are helpful toward understanding current problems of global and regional order? In this course, the focus is on understanding the changing world order. Examine the problem of order through various theoretical lenses, from realism and liberalism to constructivism, Marxism, and beyond. Be challenged to employ these tools toward thinking about how global and regional structures, which help shape how states cooperate and compete, might be reimagined for a changing world. At least one of the following course modules must be completed: [UCSSCPOL23] International Relations: dimensions of world politics or [UCSSCPOL25] Political Economy of the Global South

This course covers the constitutional law and how the government has been structured and operates under a written constitution in Taiwan. This course aims to guide students through the intricacies of constitutional law using accessible language and engaging examples. The course will cover as many articles of the constitution as possible, with in-depth analysis of important Supreme Court interpretations, aiming to combine the strengths of both the continental and common law systems, ensuring both breadth and depth.

The course focuses on the significance of rhetoric for human rights and democracy. The course provides tools to communicate opinions in societal contexts in a respectful, authentic, and effective manner, considering different opinions and interests. Students practice effectively listening to, formulating, and delivering messages.

This course examines theories and concepts related to political development in Southeast Asia, focusing on the factors that explain variations in political, economic, and social progress across the region. Weekly themes highlight different countries, exploring influences such as colonialism, economic development, ethnic identity, religion, and culture. The course also addresses key questions, including why some nations democratize while others do not, the challenges of democratic consolidation, and the processes of autocratization in Southeast Asia.

This course develops foundational skills in statistical reasoning and data analysis, with an emphasis on parameter estimation and model interpretation. Throughout the semester, students will learn how to estimate and interpret key statistical parameters that describe both individual variables and relationships between variables. 

This course proposes a critical approach to the political geography of Mexico: a political, analytical and denouncing position, which understands that neither geography univocally conditions the political nor is the political foreign to spatialization. It provides theoretical and methodological tools to understand how power is exercised in and from space, and how that exercise has configured Mexican political geography in its historical, corporal and structural dimension. In this framework, the traditional categories of analysis - such as the State, territory, sovereignty or scale - are questioned from an analysis of power that allows to problematize its constitution, its contingency and its spatial production. This course invites one to think about the geographies of power in Mexico not as fixed and neutral expressions, but as fields crossed by violence, desire, inequality and resistance. The analysis starts from the spatial, products of power relations in constant (re)production, tense by daily struggles that seek to dispute the very meaning of what we call geography.

This course examines the unique political economy of the United States in drawing primarily—but not exclusively—on comparative political economy (CPE) scholarship to explore how the American economy functions, how it compares to its (mainly European) peers, and why it remains so. The course consists of three interconnected main parts. The first part discusses the basic logic behind the comparative analysis of capitalism and trace the ideational roots of contemporary approaches in comparative political economy, providing a foundational understanding of key debates in CPE. The second and third part of the seminar are dedicated to the dominant theoretical frameworks for the comparative analysis of capitalism in the last decades, with a particular focus on the United States. By integrating theoretical perspectives with in-depth comparative analysis, this course equips students with the tools to critically assess the evolution of the American model of capitalism, engage critically with contemporary economic challenges, and understand how national political economies mediate and respond to the global forces shaping today’s capitalism.

This course introduces students to the scientific study of International Relations (IR). It explores the principles that shape international politics and illustrates these principles with examples drawn from history and contemporary international affairs. More specifically, the course aims to introduce students to the major concepts and key theories of IR, develop their skills to critically analyze and evaluate theoretical propositions, and generally increase their awareness and understanding of current international affairs. To achieve these goals, students (1) discuss the evolution of the study of cooperation and conflict, (2) acquire the necessary formal theoretical tools (e.g., spatial modeling, game theory) and empirical methods of analysis to systematically dissect the patterns of cooperation and conflict in IR, and (3) examine specific instances of cooperation and conflict in a variety of issue areas, i.e., study such phenomena as war, terrorism, trade, international investment and monetary relations, and the protection of human rights and the global environment.

This course provides an introduction to the Politics and Government of Ireland. On successful completion of this course, students should be able to: Identify features of Irish political political culture and how they shape the workings of institutional processes in Irish politics; Evaluate the workings of Irish political institutions; Critique the role of political institutions; Propose potential solutions to the problems raised or weaknesses identified; Demonstrate an understanding of the Irish party system; Analyze the role of women in Irish politics and the conditions that shape women's access into political life; and demonstrate the ability to conduct independent research and engage with course materials and recommended readings.