Courses

Fall 2010

IA 100 Introduction to International Relations
Coe, Mandel, Petersen
Content: An introduction to a conceptual, analytical, and historical understanding of international relations. Emphasis on the international system and the opportunities and constraints it places on state and nonstate behavior. Cooperation and conflict, sovereignty, the rich-poor gap, determinants of national power, interdependence, the process of globalization, international institutions, and the role of transnational phenomena. Designed for students who have no previous background in the study of international relations.
Prerequisite and/or restriction: None.

 

IA 211 International Organization
Petersen
Content: Examines attempts at governance in the international system, including the birth of the modern state system, the United Nations, and other international organizations. Explores competing explanations for global cooperation in conflict management, economics, and human rights.
Prerequisite and/or restriction: International Affairs 100.

 

IA 212 United States Foreign Policy
Partovi
Content: An overview of contemporary U.S. foreign policy from a historical and theoretical perspective. International, domestic, bureaucratic, and individual determinants of policy-making. New challenges and prospects for U.S. foreign policy in the post–Cold War era.
Prerequisite and/or restriction: International Affairs 100.

 

IA 244 International Affairs Practicum - International Affairs Symposium
Mandel
Content: Guided readings on the topic of the College’s annual International Affairs Symposium. Focus on key issues of controversy within contemporary international relation. Recent topics have included global terrorism, arms transfers, migration, disease, and humanitarian intervention. Discussion of the substantive issues involved, preparation of written materials, and training and guidance to shape sessions and the ways to create an effective symposium.
Prerequisite and/or restriction: International Affairs 100 and permission of instructor for International Affairs Symposium. The International Affairs Symposium section must be taken in a fall-spring sequence; it may not be started in the spring, and students enrolling in the fall must take it in the spring. The International Affairs Symposium section may be taken up to four times.

 

IA 310 International Relations Theories
Cortell
Content: Contending theories of international relations, specifically those that explain the evolution and content of world politics by reference to transnational, international, state-specific, and/or individual factors. Emphasis on the conceptual, analytical, and methodological aspects of and debates in international relations theory.
Prerequisite and/or restriction: International Affairs 100. Junior standing. Two 200-level international affairs courses.

IA 320 Democratization
Coe
Content: The international spread of democracy in the contemporary period. How variations in national institutional design and national context impact outcomes. Particular attention is given to the transition to and consolidation of democracy, instances of limited democratization, and the question of political accountability in nondemocracies.
Prerequisite and/or restriction: International Affairs 100.

 

IA 330 Global Security
Mandel
Content: Analysis of the major theories covering human, state, and international security. Emphasis on developing a probing conceptual understanding of ongoing challenges emanating from both state and nonstate sources. Explores military, economic, environmental, political, cultural dimensions. Cross-cultural security perspectives relevant to both Western and non-Western societies.
Prerequisite and/or restriction: International Affairs 100.

 

For more information, please see the L&C 2010 Catalog.