Course
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PS
104A
International Relations
|
|
|
Professor |
Augustine Hungwe |
|
|
CRN |
97169 |
|
|
Schedule |
Mon Wed
9:00 – 10:20 am ASP 302 |
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|
Distribution |
Social Science |
|
Cross-listed:
Global & Int’l Studies, Human
Rights
This course will focus on the major theories and
concepts in international relations. We will start the semester looking
at the major schools of international relations theory: realism,
liberalism, and constructivism. What are the implications of these
theories for foreign policy decision making (and for the future of the
world!)? The course will also look at international organizations,
including the UN and WTO, and how foreign policy is carried out. We will
end the semester by looking at some of the “hot” issues in the world today
including: terrorism, preventive war, the rise of China, and the spread of
democracy. The goal of the class is to see how (or if) theories of
international relations can explain how organizations function and how foreign
policy is made and to see what answers theory can provide for how to deal with
the problems of a “post 9/11 world.” Authors to be read include:
Thucydides, Morgenthau, Russett, Huntington, and Mearsheimer, among many
others.
Course
|
PS
104 B
International Relations
|
|
|
Professor |
Sanjib Baruah |
|
|
CRN |
97170 |
|
|
Schedule |
Mon Wed 10:30 - 11:50 am RKC 200 |
|
|
Distribution |
Social Science |
|
Cross-listed:
Global & Int’l Studies, Human
Rights
This course will focus on the major theories and
concepts in international relations. We will start the semester looking
at the major schools of international relations theory: realism,
liberalism, and constructivism. What are the implications of these
theories for foreign policy decision making (and for the future of the
world!)? The course will also look at international organizations,
including the UN and WTO, and how foreign policy is carried out. We will
end the semester by looking at some of the “hot” issues in the world today
including: terrorism, preventive war, the rise of China, and the spread of
democracy. The goal of the class is to see how (or if) theories of
international relations can explain how organizations function and how foreign
policy is made and to see what answers theory can provide for how to deal with
the problems of a “post 9/11 world.” Authors to be read include:
Thucydides, Morgenthau, Russett, Huntington, and Mearsheimer, among many
others.
Course
|
PS
105
Introduction to Comparative Government
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|
|
Professor |
Takeshi Ito |
|
|
CRN |
97173 |
|
|
Schedule |
Tu Th
4:00 – 5:20 pm OLIN 202 |
|
|
Distribution |
Social Science |
|
Related
interest: Global & Int'l Studies
This course introduces students to important
concepts, themes, and approaches in the comparative study of politics.
The course is organized around questions that reflect both interesting
phenomena and puzzles that call for some kind of explanation. First, we
begin our intellectual journey by exploring the key analytical frameworks in
comparative politics that shape political systems and outcomes:
interests, identity, and institutions. Then, we examine themes
surrounding political regime and processes through the study of politics in
selected countries. Topics include democracy, dictatorship, the economic
role of the state, political parties and interest groups, as well as the issues
of institutional design (parliamentarism vs. presidentialism, proportional vs.
majoritarian, federalism and decentralization). By the end of the course,
the student will have acquired a broad perspective of the field of Comparative Politics
and some basic analytical frameworks to examine a wide range of political
phenomena.
Course
|
PS
115
Introduction to Political Thinking
|
|
|
Professor |
Roger Berkowitz |
|
|
CRN |
97168 |
|
|
Schedule |
Mon Wed 12 noon-1:20 pm RKC 101 |
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|
Distribution |
Social Science |
|
From Plato to Nietzsche, great thinkers in the
Western tradition have asked about the nature and practice of political
action. Thinking about politics is,
knowingly or not, conducted against the background of this shared tradition.
This is no less true of political thought that aims to break away from “the
classics” than of political thought that finds in them a constant resource for
both critical and constructive thinking. This course explores fundamental
questions of politics through a core body of writings. At its center will be a
sustained reading of Plato’s Republic. Thinking with Plato and also with
complementary texts from Sophocles, Nietzsche, Thoreau, and Marx, we reflect
upon key political concepts such as justice, democracy, and “the individual”.
We also explore such enduring questions as the relationship between the state
and the individual; the conditions for peaceful political order; and the
connection between morality and politics. This course is required for all
political studies majors.
Course
|
PS
122
American Politics: Issues and Institutions
|
|
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Professor |
Mark Lindeman |
|
|
CRN |
97171 |
|
|
Schedule |
Tu Th 1:00 -2:20 pm RKC 102 |
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|
Distribution |
Social Science |
|
Cross-listed: American Studies
This course introduces students to the basic
institutions and processes of American government. The class is meant to
provide students with a grasp of the fundamental dynamics of American politics
and the skills to be an effective participant in and critic of the political
process. During the semester, we will examine how the government works,
interpret current political developments and debates, and consider how to
influence the government at various levels.
Course
|
PS
135
Theories and Practices of Development
|
|
|
Professor |
Takeshi Ito |
|
|
CRN |
97870 |
|
|
Schedule |
Tu Th
2:30 – 3:50 pm OLIN 301 |
|
|
Distribution |
Social Science |
|
Today, globalization shapes development, and vice
versa. The growing flows of goods, money, information, and people
influence the approaches to and strategies of development. This course is
designed to provide an overview of the theories and practices of development
and globalization. In so doing, this course aims to achieve two
goals. First, by reviewing a series of key concepts such as colonialism,
Cold War, dependency theory, state-led development, Washington consensus,
structural adjustment, and neoliberalism, this course explores ways in which
development has been conceptualized, defined, and practiced for over three
centuries. Second, this course examines the effects of development and
globalization on the Third World. In particular, it focuses on the social
dimension: freedom, inequality, exclusion, human rights, and environmental
degradation. The course draws on politics, economics, sociology,
anthropology, and history to discuss the problems and prospects of
international development. By the end of the course, students will
have acquired key analytical tools to critically think about the First World's
relationships with the Third World.
Course
|
PS
214 U. S. / Latin American Relations
|
|
|
Professor |
Omar Encarnacion |
|
|
CRN |
97491 |
|
|
Schedule |
Mon Wed 12:00 – 1:20 pm OLIN 201 |
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Distribution |
Social Science |
|
Cross-listed: American Studies; GISP; LAIS
Related interest: Human Rights
A comprehensive examination of the relationships
between the United States and the nations of Latin America, how this process
was affected by historical and ideological events, and what possibilities exist
for its future. The course is divided into three sections: first, historical
overview of the events that shaped U.S.-Latin American relations, emphasizing
U.S. military interventions in Latin America, U.S. attempts to establish
political and economic hegemony, and U.S. efforts to export democratic
government; second, an examination of the principal issues that currently
dominate the relations between the U.S. and its southern neighbors: economic
integration, trade, drugs, and immigration; third, a close look at the
relationships between the United States and three countries of special interest
to it and its domestic politics: Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Course
|
PS
239
United Nations and Model UN
|
|
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Professor |
Jonathan Becker |
|
|
CRN |
97177 |
|
|
Schedule |
Wed 4:30 -5:50 pm OLIN 201 |
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|
Distribution |
N/A
|
|
Cross-listed: GISP; Human Rights
1
credit* The course will be divided into two parts. The
first part will explore the history of the United Nations and will introduce
students to its structure and principal aims. It will also focus on the role of
specialized agencies and the ways in which alliances impact on the UN’s
day-to-day operations. The second part of the course will focus on an assigned
country (for each Model UN, each college is assigned a country to represent:
this year Bard represented Azerbaijan
and Moldova). It will entail a study of the country’s history, politics and
economics and will conclude with the writing of ‘position papers’ that reflect
that country’s approach to issues confronting the UN. In addition, there will
be a public speaking component. Students taking the course will have the
opportunity to participate in a Model United Nations. Students wishing to participate should e-mail [email protected] with 1-2
paragraphs indicating why they would like to participate.
*One credit per semester, two-credit course.
Students must take both halves to obtain credit.
Course
|
PS
247
American Foreign Policy Traditions
|
|
|
Professor |
Walter Mead |
|
|
CRN |
97009 |
|
|
Schedule |
Th 7:00 -9:20 pm OLIN 202 |
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Distribution |
History |
|
Cross-listed: Global & Int’l Studies, Human Rights
PIE Core Course
This course will be an introduction to the history
of American foreign policy and to the connections between foreign policy and
domestic policy that developed from the founding of America through the
Spanish-American War. Students will be introduced to the principal
geopolitical, economic and ideological pillars that have shaped American
strategic thought. Particular attention will be devoted to how popular
religious, cultural and political movements have attempted to influence American
foreign policy, including anti-war movements: What, for example, are the
similarities between today’s anti-war movements and those that have existed
since the country's founding? In the context of the course, students will be
asked to read key documents that have defined American foreign policy. In the
Spring Semester there will be an opportunity to continue this study in a
related course that focuses on the history of American foreign policy from the
Spanish-American war to the present.
Course
|
PS
255
The Politics of Russia and the
Soviet Successor States
|
|
|
Professor |
Jonathan Becker |
|
|
CRN |
97174 |
|
|
Schedule |
Mon Wed 10:30 - 11:50 am PRE 128 |
|
|
Distribution |
Social Science |
|
Cross-listed: GISP; Russian/Eurasian Studies
This course examines the monumental political,
social and economic changes that have swept Russia since 1985. We will ask a
number of inter-related questions: Why did Communism collapse? What political,
economic, social and historical factors explain the relative difficulties of
Russia’s post-Communist transition? Where is Putin’s Russia heading? What role
did the United States play in the collapse of Communism and the apparent
failure of Russia’s transition? In answering these questions we will examine
political, social and economic structures, the mass media, legal systems, and
societal attitudes. We explore the transformation of Russia not only through
academic books and articles, but also through literature, film, and the
speeches and writings of political figures. The course attempts to put the
Russian transformation in perspective through a selective examination of
changes in neighboring countries, including Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, and the
Baltic States.
Course
|
PS
260
Environmental Politics in the U. S.
|
|
|
Professor |
Mark Lindeman |
|
|
CRN |
97178 |
|
|
Schedule |
Wed Fr 12 noon-1:20 pm OLIN 202 |
|
|
Distribution |
Social Science |
|
Cross-listed: American Studies; Environmental
Studies, Social Policy
Environmental politics involve many crucial themes
in American politics: How does government regulation work and fail to work? How
do competing interests and values shape policy outcomes? How do federal, state,
and local governments interact? How do policymakers grapple with (or evade)
complex technical issues? Why is political powerlessness hazardous to one's health?
What role does the United States play in international politics, and why? What
do the American people really value, and what do they really understand? How do
social movements and activists try to change "the system"? We will
consider major issues in American environmental politics, including toxic waste
and environmental justice, climate change and energy policy, wilderness
conservation, endangered species protection, and others.
Course
|
PS
268
Revenge and the Law
|
|
|
Professor |
Roger Berkowitz |
|
|
CRN |
97176 |
|
|
Schedule |
Tu Th 1:00 -2:20 pm OLIN 201 |
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|
Distribution |
Social Science |
|
Cross-listed: Human Rights
To speak of revenge in a
course on law is to lay bare an open wound at the heart of law. On the one
hand, law is built upon the exclusion of vengeance. On the other hand, revenge
remains a constant presence in criminal law. In spite of the best efforts of
philosophers, moralists, and jurists to banish it, revenge remains an
irrepressible social and legal force. This course asks the question: Can
revenge be a just motive for criminal punishment? By considering those in the
victims’ rights movements who argue for the importance and justice of
“legalizing” and thus legitimating revenge, we ask whether justice is actually
something other than legalized revenge. To do so, we explore the phenomenon of
revenge as it has been practiced, imagined, and conceived throughout history.
Through a close reading of texts, films, and works of art, we will ask: why
does revenge persist as an ideal of justice despite the best efforts of lawyers
to banish it?
Course
|
PS
274
Politics of Globalization
|
|
|
Professor |
Sanjib Baruah |
|
|
CRN |
97175 |
|
|
Schedule |
Mon Wed 3:00 -4:20 pm OLIN 304 |
|
|
Distribution |
Social Science |
|
Cross-listed: Environmental Studies, GISP, Human Rights,
STS
Advocates of
free markets see globalization as a positive force which can generate
employment and raise the world’s living standards. Critics see it as an excuse for the exploitation of workers and
the expropriation of resources of poor countries, environmental degradation, cultural homogenization and a race to
the bottom in living standards. The
course will be framed by the question:
what is new about globalization and what is not? If globalization is new, what does one make
of earlier historical processes that
were global in scope, e.g. western colonial expansion, global networks of production and
exchange, the settling of entire
continents by peoples from another continent,
the slave trade, pre-modern
empires or attempts to create universal communities of faith? Does globalization describe a distinct and
linear process of social change taking place in our time? We will read about globalization – old and
new. We will conclude with a discussion
exploring the causes and consequences of September 11th and
ask: is it possible that we are seeing
yet another historical phase of a period of intensive global interaction being
checked by countervailing forces generated by the forces of globalization?
Course
|
PS
327
American Politics Seminar:
Religion and Politics
|
|
|
Professor |
Mark Lindeman |
|
|
CRN |
97179 |
|
|
Schedule |
Wed 1:30 -3:50 pm OLIN 307 |
|
|
Distribution |
Social Science
/Rethinking Difference |
|
Cross-listed:
American Studies, Religion; Social Policy
This course illustrates the application of various
research methods to a major theme in American politics: the impact of religious
identities, movements, and divides – including the apparent contemporary
cleavage between religious and secular Americans. We will consider, for
instance, Supreme Court rulings, oral history and other historical accounts,
quantitative public opinion analysis, and empirical tests of hypotheses about
how divergent religious beliefs play out in public policy debates. Topics
include the role of religious beliefs and institutions in major social
movements such as the civil rights and anti-abortion movements; and
contemporary debates about the proper relationship between “church and state.”
Texts will include portions of George Lakoff’s Moral Politics, James
Morone’s Hellfire Nation, Stephen Carter’s The Culture of Disbelief,
Pat Robertson’s The New World Order, Donna Minkowitz’s Ferocious
Romance, Bruce Bawer’s Stealing Jesus, Kristin Luker’s Abortion
and the Politics of Motherhood, and others. Students will write
responses to readings and make oral presentations about topics relevant to the
major theme of the course. Students will also write research papers,
which (by arrangement with the instructor) may treat any topic in American
politics.
Course
|
PS
330 Politics of Democratization
|
|
|
Professor |
Omar Encarnacion |
|
|
CRN |
97492 |
|
|
Schedule |
Tu 9:30 – 11:50 am OLIN 307 |
|
|
Distribution |
Social Science |
|
Cross-listed: GISP, Human Rights
The American invasion of Iraq and the attempt to
implant democracy in the very heart of the Middle East has awakened interest in
the politics of democratization. Underlying this interest is a cluster of
questions and inquiries such as what makes for a successful transition from
dictatorship to democracy? Can democracy be successfully imposed from the outside?
What kind of governing institutions (parliamentary versus presidential, for
instance) are best suited for a new democracy? Is the stability and longevity
of democracy the result of structural factors such as the level of social and
economic development, the density of civil society or the talents of
politicians? These questions are examined in this seminar through the lenses of
the expansive literature on democratization accumulated since the late 1970s.
The course is divided into three main sections. The first looks at key concepts
in the study of democratization. The second examines theoretical approaches to
understanding the sources of democratic stability and performance. The final
section examines the politics of democratization in four distinct historical
and geographic settings: Spain, Brazil, Russia and Iraq.
Course
|
PS
361
The Great Asian Transformation
|
|
|
Professor |
Sanjib Baruah |
|
|
CRN |
97180 |
|
|
Schedule |
Tu 9:30 - 11:50 am HEG 300 |
|
|
Distribution |
Social Science |
|
Cross-listed: Asian Studies, GISP
There has been much interest lately in what appears
to be a global shift in economic power towards Asia. The dramatic
economic growth of Asian countries -- notably of China and India -- undoubtedly
will have consequences for global politics. But it would be misleading to view
it entirely through traditional state-centric lenses, for there is a change in
the spatial organization of the world economy. After all, manufacturing in Asia
is incorporated into the global supply chains of transnational companies, and
for many such companies a technology hub in Asia is a link in a global
innovation chain. It has also become difficult to draw sharp lines
between countries and their neighborhoods. A number of East Asian countries and
the overseas Chinese for instance, are a part of the story of China's
transformation. The course will look closely at these dimensions of the Asian
transformation and ask a few long-term questions: Can this pattern be
sustained? What are its consequences for the well being of the people in the
region and elsewhere? How would one make sense of this shift in world
historical terms?