Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An inter-disciplinary course which aims to bring to bear different perspectives on problems of International policy and practice. The particular problems taken up will change over time in light of global developments and current events.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course brings together social science theory with concrete problems of international policy and practice, focusing on the development of research and writing skills relevant to defining, researching, and summarizing the key themes and challenges within diverse international issue arenas. The class prepares students for professional employment beyond academia through multiple opportunities for policy-oriented and analytical writing.

We will begin with contending theoretical approaches to thinking about international cooperation, and from there will move to the analysis of specific multilateral efforts at concrete problem-solving. The international policy issue arenas on which we will focus this term are 1) sovereign debt crises, 2) climate change, 3) United States-China-Canada relations, 4) refugees and migrants, and 5) efforts to promote ethical behavior by multinational corporations. In this writing-intensive course, there will be an early midterm covering theory and methods relevant to international issue analysis. Thereafter students will prepare two theoretically-informed policy essays relevant to two of the five focus arenas, as well as a short opinion piece, which also will be presented to the class. Common readings come from the assigned books. Students will also research their topics in both the academic literature and other credible policy-oriented sources, including the reports of international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and serious media outlets.

Please do the readings prior to class and bring a copy of the relevant texts to class. This is a seminar: I expect you to be present for every class, barring a serious emergency.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: