Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

U.S.-Latin America Relations

This course examines the relationship between the United States and Latin America, addressing the formulation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy as well as the impact of that policy on the political, economic, and social realities in Latin America.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Transnational Security Challenges

What sorts of transnational security challenges do nation states face in the information age, and how do they manage these threats? Global threats such as nuclear proliferation, climate change, environmental degradation, refugee streams, or infectious diseases do not stop at national borders. Terrorist and criminal networks not only transcend international borders, but also go beyond traditional state jurisdictions and stove-piped hierarchies. This course analyzes the nature of the challenges, and look at the policy, legal, and institutional mechanisms the United States and other countries have found/must find to manage and counter these threats.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Politics of National Security Budgeting

This course examines in detail how the federal government determines the budgets for defense, foreign policy, homeland security, and intelligence. It also analyzes how the executive and congressional processes for allocating national security resources affect national security itself.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Bioterror in the Twenty-first Century

This course examines the potential for bioterror attack. In this twenty-first century globalized world, the proliferation of biotechnology and a new wave of terror have combined to set the conditions for an increasingly likely attack using weapons of mass destruction (WMD) including biological weapons. The course also introduces the science behind biological weapons, examines U.S. government efforts to prepare for and respond to a bioterror attack, and investigates the policy implications of this emerging threat.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Rethinking U.S. Strategy toward Iran

This course challenges students to think critically about one of America's most important contemporary foreign policy problems, how to deal with the rise of Islamic Republic of Iran. Over the last decade, Iran has emerged as a key player in the most consequential political and strategic dramas unfolding across the Middle East. The course explores in depth the Iranian challenge for American foreign policy. In particular, the course examines U.S.-Iranian engagement over the past thirty years, current policy and strategy on both the American and Iranian sides, and consideration of future options. The course also gives students the opportunity to participate in a hands-on simulation of U.S. and Iranian foreign policy decision-making and diplomatic interaction.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

National Security and Proliferation

The possibility of nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons (WMD) falling into the hands of terrorists or criminal networks is perhaps the gravest threat to U.S. national security. This course examines the particular hazards associated with each threat and what the United States is doing to defend against these threats. The course also explores the history of illicit trafficking in WMD and the prospects for the future proliferation. Meets with SIS-653 007.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Wicked Problems in National Security

This course examines specific challenges where there is no definitive formulation of the issue, yet the issue remains very significant, such as state-building (Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sudan are compared). The class also examines global issues where multiple conflicting equities are involved, such as global climate change and transitional justice. The U.S. foreign policy options for facing these challenges are explored in the context of domestic and international political constituencies.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Race and Ethnicity in the Americas

From the birth of the multitude of nations in the Americas to the present, race and ethnicity have been critical arenas to social struggle. Not a single nation in the Americas has escaped the contradictions and divisions that racial inequality and subjugation have generated although there have been a very wide number of strategies employed by both states and marginalized racial and ethnic groups to address these concerns. Meets with SIS-676 006.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

International Relations in Africa

This course provides an in-depth overview of the historical and contemporary interstate relations in Africa and situates Africa within world affairs. Political independence by the various African states launched into international politics a group of the world's poorest, weakest, and most artificial states. How have such states managed to survive and to what extent is their survival now threatened? This course comprehensively treats the interplay between domestic and international politics while also analyzing the efforts by African states to manage their external relations amid seismic shifts in the internal, regional, and global environments. The class also identifies patterns of change, examines constraints, and gives careful attention to some of the processes that influence policy outcomes. Meets with SIS-676 009.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Islamist Political Movements

The aim of this course is to recognize the great variety of groups attempting to integrate Islam into modern politics, and to gain a nuanced understanding of the political contexts which shaped their emergence. The course proceeds chronologically, exploring the crisis that emerged in Islamic political identity with the end of the Ottoman caliphate and the imposition of colonial rule in Muslim lands. It then analyzes the rise of Islamic opposition movements to secular nationalist states and finally the creation of global Islamic networks, born through Western immigration and jihad in Afghanistan. Although historical in organization, the focus is squarely on understanding the political forces and organizations shaping politics in Muslim countries and the world today. Meets with SIS-676 001.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Southeast Asia, United States, and Regional Powers

This course examines the roles and impact of the United States, Japan and China, and other regional powers on the transformation of security and economic frameworks in East and Southeast Asia from the end of the Second World War to the present. The security analysis treats developments during the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and issues in the post-Cold War era, particularly those pertaining to militant Islamic movements and non-traditional/human security challenges such as transnational labor flows, trafficking in persons, environmental degradation and natural disasters. The economic dimension highlights the impact of globalization on the region, and the emergence and evolution of regional economic cooperation. A major theme is the manner in which growing Chinese political influence and trade initiatives in recent years have impacted on long-standing American security and commercial interests, as well as on Japanese economic interests in the region. Meets with SIS-676 003.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Political Economy of MENA

This course examines the political economy of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The course introduces students to the complex sets of political and economic factors that shape state and society in the region. Topics covered include economic history and development; different models of the state; the role of culture and identity in politics; and state-society dynamics. Themes covered include the legacy of colonialism; rentier states and military autocracies; religious political and economic institutions; informal economies and grassroots mobilization in autocratic states. Meets with SIS-676 005.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

U.S. Policy toward Africa

From 1945 to 1990, American policy-makers largely treated Africa as a strategic appendage to the Cold War. After the demise of the Soviet Union, Africa entered a period of both renaissance and chaos in which U.S. policy has been searching for a new guiding purpose. This course carefully sets the historical context for current U.S.-African relations, and then surveys such potentially conflicting U.S. goals as military alliance in the global War on Terror, consolidation of ethnically-balanced democracies, reduction of poverty, increased trade and investment, and access to minerals. Students interview U.S. and African policy-makers and prepare a report on a particular country or policy.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Dialogue: Approaches and Applications

This course explores different theories and approaches to dialogue as a conflict transformation framework. It focuses on various types of identity-based conflict and the use of dialogue approaches and tools to transform and change the dynamics of ethnic, religious, and cultural conflicts. Interfaith, interethnic, and intercultural dialogue processes and case studies are explored and examined, especially their design, process, and possible impact. Meets with SIS-619 002.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Peace Education

This advanced seminar provides students with an overview of peace education in terms of the main theories, concepts, and methods associated with the field. The course covers basic definitions of peace and conflict resolution along with approaches such as nonviolence, cross-cultural understanding and peacebuilding. The process of learning emphasizes cooperative engagement and respect for diversity to create peaceful learning communities. The importance of values for social justice, ecological balance and global awareness is affirmed. Meets with SIS-619 005.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Political Economy of Mexico

Mexico, a crucial ally and neighbor of the United States, has had an uneven economic and political trajectory in its recent history. It accomplished fast economic growth with stability between 1930 and 1970, only to fall to reckless fiscal and monetary policies and in 1982 initiate the debt crisis era in Latin America. Since then, its economy has performed with mediocrity, despite reforms to restore growth. Politically, Mexico developed a unique system of governance with monopoly of power in one political party, only to become a full democracy at the start of the millennium. Deplorably, the new democratic system was unable to consolidate a solid agenda of political and economic reforms to assure its transformation into a developed country. This course explores the reasons for Mexico's standstill, its future challenges and possibilities, the implications for the welfare of its people, and for the United States as the recipient of millions of its citizens who cannot find work at home.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency

In an age of globalization but unequal distribution of economic resources and political power, insurgencies pose one of the greatest challenges to the established order, whether that order is a democracy, monarchy, dictatorship or theocracy. This course analyzes the historical roots of insurgencies and counterinsurgencies, beginning with the Roman Empire, and assesses the causes, conduct, and consequences of these actions, with an emphasis on applications since World War II. Though military aspects are included, the principal focus is on the political, economic, and social forces that have informed and directed insurgents and those who oppose them. Through an understanding of the history of this complex and often misinterpreted field, students seek to define the issues these movements pose and create a framework to assess the factors that precede their rise and shape their outcome. Meets with SIS-619 014.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Transnational Crime and Terrorism

Transnational criminals and terrorists interact, particularly in conflict regions and regions of frozen conflict. Terrorists in many regions of the world depend on organized crime to finance their activities and provide them logistical support. This course examines the diverse forms of interaction of transnational crime and corruption, with the relationship of these different groups to the state a central part of the analysis. The class looks at the security, human rights, and social consequences of this interaction. Meets with SIS-619 021.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Health in the Developing World

This course provides students with an understanding of the relationships between health and development from a variety of perspectives. Students gain knowledge of the linkages between health, socio-economic growth, and equity in different countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Attention is given to some of the most urgent public health challenges facing developing countries, including the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The course also introduces students to the skills required for planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of health programs in developing countries.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Principles of Microfinance

This course examines the traditional and innovative financial strategies that poor families use to protect their assets, manage risk, and grow their incomes. It explores how the combination of age-old social constructs and the latest technologies is revolutionizing the way poor people are accessing and leveraging financial services. In addition to introducing the basic principles of microfinance, the course presents an opportunity to discuss the vigorous debates currently taking place in the field, including the role of savings and insurance, evidence of impact, and appropriateness of profit making in the industry.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Women, Gender and Political Change: MENA

This course focuses on how the concepts of women and gender have entered historically into the formation of the modern state in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and how debates over the status of women in religious and national communities have figured centrally in the current political events and struggles. The course examines how specific popular issues (such as the wearing of the veil) fit into the broader relationship among gender, power, and politics, and explores the relationship between elements of globalization (such as the new information technology) and the struggle for human rights and equality. The analysis is based on a variety of sources, including political and literary writings, religious texts and commentaries, fiction writing and films, and blogs and Twitter.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Localizing Peace

This course is premised on a comprehensive understanding of peace that explores local capacities for peacebuilding and sustainable development in a multitude of diverse cultural and religious contexts. Peace at global, regional, and national levels is unlikely to take root unless such capacities are established, for ultimately peace must be made and practiced on a local basis. The course addresses the vital need to make active use of local peace resources and to pursue forms of local-international collaboration that sustainably yield locally valid and effective solutions, currently an emerging area in the field of conflict resolution. The course also develops practical frameworks and raises critical questions for identifying, eliciting, and tapping local resources to enhance capacity for local solutions to conflict. Meets with SIS-619 028.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Environmental Peacemaking

The focus of the emerging interdisciplinary field of environmental peacemaking is to identify ways that the environment, natural and human, provides opportunities for building bridges of collaboration between conflicting parties. In this course, students deal with concepts from ecopolitics, environmental security studies, international relations, and conflict resolution and develop an understanding of the theoretical framework informing the emerging environmental peacemaking paradigm. It also touches upon the nascent field of environmental peacebuilding, with its focus on relationship-building between conflict actors. The course examines the interactions among violence, conflict, peace, security, and the natural environment. It is structured to create the context for students to address questions including what impact violent conflict has on the environment; is environmental degradation itself a source or trigger of violent conflict; and how environmental cooperation can be used to promote peace and sustainable development. Meets with SIS-619 030.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Nationalism, Populism and Nativism

Nationalist and populist politics almost always involves commitment to a group or to the state, and almost always involve dividing up the world (or society) on the basis of identities. Both forms of mass politics are associated with political violence including war, ethnic conflict, civil war, racialization, anti-globalization, and even revolution. They are also two of the most difficult to understand, and many scholars see them as real threats to democracy. Generally speaking, both are the products of social construction and both are used to mobilize the masses in order to realize political outcomes. It is vitally important to understand that there are both right-wing and left-wing forms of nationalism and populism. This course examines these phenomena through case studies drawn from several countries including, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, United States of America, Great Britain, France, Germany, India, Nigeria, Rwanda, Egypt, and Australia.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Russia: State and Society

A comparative analytical approach to the study of Russia (and the USSR in its final years). Emphasis is on the role of Russian and Soviet traditions, political leadership, federal relations, the shaping of formal and informal political institutions, human rights, and the social and economic dynamics of political change. Meets with SIS-661 001.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Foundations of Public Diplomacy

This course provides a general introduction to the craft of public diplomacy and strategic communications. The course explores the tools available to public diplomatists including the press, electronic media, and social networks. It highlights emerging issues and challenges in an increasingly interconnected world. Students engage in comparative case studies of how other countries go about the business of projecting their values and policies using the tools of public diplomacy.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Japan: Society, Politics and Foreign Policy

This course provides a comprehensive understanding of Japan's historical background and its basic foreign policy issues. It examines significant strategic and economic debates regarding Japan's role in the international community with emphasis on Japan's relations with its Asian neighbors and the United States. Meets with SIS-676 007.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Trade and Finance Post Crisis

This course fosters critical thinking and analysis of the inter-related factors influencing global trade and finance in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008. It examines the linkages among trade, investment, government policies, and global business strategies, with particular emphasis on the tensions that have arisen in the relationship between the global capital markets and policymakers. Prerequisite: SIS-385 or ECON-370 or FIN-463 or equivalent.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

U.S. Foreign Policy toward the Middle East

The course provides students with a detailed understanding of the history of America's relations with the countries of the greater Middle East as well as of current issues in United States policy towards the region. The course not only analyses the Arab-Israeli issue in depth but also explores the domestic and international constraints which affect overall U.S. policy toward the Middle East.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Evolving Triangle: United States, India and China

This research seminar is premised on the widespread belief that the United States, India, and China are playing and will continue to play decisive roles in shaping the twenty-first century. The course explores relations among these three states, both bilaterally and multilaterally, so as to intelligently analyze how these relationships are evolving and how the international system may be changing.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Climate Change and Violent Conflict

This course examines historic and emerging issues in environmental conflict and theories regarding this complex relationship. Key areas of focus are on climate change and resource use as pathways to conflict. Case studies are used to show the policy challenges differing countries and peoples face. The course includes a focus on digital tools and web page building in exploring the topic.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova:Borderlands between Europe/Eurasia

Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova lie in a strategic region between two integration and modernization projects: European, associated with NATO, the EU, and other international organizations (Council of Europe, OSCE), and Eurasia, which Russia understands as its zone of privileged interests and to which it exports managed (sovereign) democracy and Sovietization of the security forces. The three countries have dealt with this competition between Europe and Eurasia in different ways depending on their inherited nationality problems and regionalism and the comparative strength of pro-Western and pro-Russian forces. Of the three countries, Ukraine has been the most pro-Western, Belarus the most pro-Russian, while Moldova has sought an unstable neutrality between the two. The course investigates domestic, political, and nationality questions, foreign policy orientations, relations with NATO, United States, and EU and the influence of Russia and the successes and failures of re-integration of the borderlands into Eurasia. Meets with SIS-676 010.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Politics of International Trade Policy

The theoretical argument in favor of free trade seems very strong, but states continue to impose many different barriers to trade, and inter-state disputes over trade issues are multiplying. Moreover, the general public often does not support free trade policies. More recently, there has been a remarkable private effort to make trade fairer. This course examines the real-world politics of international trade policy, with a primary focus on the United States, but also looking at other developed and developing countries, such as Europe, Japan, Brazil, India, and China. Meets with SIS-619 007.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Political Ecology of Food and Agriculture

Food presents a unique lens to examine political, cultural, and technological connections to environment and development. This course provides students with an introduction to political ecology and its approach to global food studies. Students use political ecology and social theory paradigms to examine industrial and alternative food networks, including their impacts on the environment, communities, and rural development. Students also examine how food policy and the global food trading system shape these networks and local environments, communities, and development practices.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Ethics and Identity

This course offers an in-depth analysis of critical approaches to the study of ethics in international relations. It focuses on the context of ethical relations as they emerge in conjunction with issues of identity, security, community, and war and violence. The relationship between self and other constitutes the main focus of class discussions and theoretical readings. In addition, students think about how the concept of sovereignty functions to create boundaries of inclusion and exclusion and demarcations between the inside and the outside. These delineations between inside and outside, inclusion and exclusion have profound relevance for the discussion of ethics because they involve determinations about which lives matter and why. The overall goal is to critically engage the theoretical literature addressing the self/other relationship and to consider how these ethical engagements might help develop and expand our ethical horizons.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Challenges of the Iranian Revolution and the Arab Spring

The 2009 Green Movement in Iran and the subsequent Arab Spring beginning in 2010 caught the world by surprise, loosening geopolitical and theoretical assumptions. This course analyzes the efficacy as well as the failures of pre-established theoretical frameworks, especially realism, rationalism, neoliberalism, constructivism, and postcolonialism.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Global Indians

Twenty million Indians live overseas. Their annual remittances are $55 billion. With India's rise as a global power, Indian diaspora communities are also gaining prominence economically and politically. Indians are in global business and politics. This online course explores the migration patterns and examines the contemporary status of Indian diaspora communities in three key regions of the world: United States, United Kingdom, and the Middle East (including Israel). Course themes highlight issues of identity, culture, ethnicity, and gender to examine how diaspora communities understand homeland and citizenship as they assimilate in multicultural scenarios.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Religion and Culture in Conflict Resolution

This course focuses on the impact of cultural and religious factors in peacebuilding processes. Students explore the role of cultural and religious identities in peacebuilding, and gain concrete skills and approaches to integrate with their ongoing work. Meets with SIS-051 N01 SIS-619 N01 SIS-419 N07 SIS-619 N07.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Religion and Culture in Conflict Resolution

This course focuses on the impact of cultural and religious factors in peacebuilding processes. Students explore the role of cultural and religious identities in peacebuilding, and gain concrete skills and approaches to integrate with their ongoing work. Meets with SIS-051 N01 SIS-619 N07 SIS-419 N01 SIS-619 N01.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Designing Programs for Children in Adversity

In this course students draw upon and help build a theory of change. The whole of children's issues within all societies is much greater than the sum of responses. To make a greater change and greater good for a greater number of children, it is not enough for one person, one organization, or one government to get it right. A change in the field-ecosystem-landscape-regime of child rights/child protection/child-being is needed. The course is interactive, participatory, and builds on the experiences of students, their organizations, and work in the intersecting fields of peacebuilding, rights, and development. Students help collaboratively design and refine the course content and process. Many of the non-formal/adult learning education methods and tools used in the course have emerged from work experiences in communities, societies, development, rights, and peacebuilding. Case studies and critical incidences/real life vignettes are used to broaden and deepen students' skills and knowledge and their use. Meets with SIS-051 N02 SIS-619 N02.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Trauma Sensitive Peacebuilding,Development,Humanitarian Aid

Peacebuilding, development, and humanitarian aid work engages populations that frequently have experienced historic, cumulative, and ongoing trauma as the result of persistent poverty, natural disasters, and wars. This course focuses on trauma and how greater trauma awareness affects and interfaces with peacebuilding and related activities with affected populations. Students explore the nature of trauma and resilience in relation to these fields through conceptual presentations, interactive activities, readings, and personal reflections. The course looks at how various types of trauma affect individuals, communities, and societies in their thought processes, behaviors, and physical responses. This shapes to a large degree how individuals and groups participate in peacebuilding, development, and humanitarian aid efforts, which in turn if done with a trauma-sensitive perspective can contribute to greater individual and collective resilience and wellbeing. Meets with SIS-051 N03 SIS-619 N03.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Media and Peacebuilding

The growing ubiquity of new technologies, which enabled the Arab Spring movement, underscores media development's potential as an element of revolution and for democratization. Capacity-building in journalism and innovative educational and entertainment media initiatives are now integral to many multinational peacebuilding initiatives, and they globally attract expenditures exceeding a hundred million dollars annually, delivered by professional interveners and indigenous partners. However, media and peacebuilding raises unique challenges for peacebuilders and for media professionals: media usage is a double-edge sword, free media and rule of law are necessarily symbiotic, standards and capacity are essential, much media is counter-productive to peacebuilding by corporate or state imperatives, many funded initiatives are unsustainable, and overall funding is still small compared to its impact. This course provides an introduction to the concept of media development for peacebuilding, examining predominant themes, and exploring these concepts in practice. Field experiences in conflict-stressed environments are examined, other necessary conditions for the success of media within peacebuilding interventions are explored, and the course considers lessons learned and emerging ideas. Meets with SIS-051 N04 SIS-619 N04.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Monitoring and Evaluation for Peacebuilding Programs

Monitoring and evaluation are the learning disciplines most readily available for peacebuilding practitioners. For students familiar with the theory and practice of peacebuilding, but less so with monitoring and evaluation, this introductory course provides help in acquiring tools for analysis, reflection, and learning. The course uses experiential learning activities and practical exercises to build skills and gain experience; several of which are ideal for setting the stage for participatory evaluation. Studentsl work on the theories of change either behind their own initiatives or select case studies and develop their own evaluation plans focusing on outcome level changes. Meets with SIS-051 N05 SIS-619 N05.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Women's Leadership and Peacebuilding

This course is based on the premise that gender equity is a prerequisite to any sustainable peacebuilding initiative. The course looks at the gendered dynamics of peacebuilding processes in addition to exploring the roles of women in war and peace, from perpetrator, to victim, to agents of change. Through interactive roleplays, small group work, case study analysis, and use of visual media, the course provides a wide range of tools to further understand the critical contributions of women's leadership in rebuilding war-torn societies. Meets with SIS-051 N06 SIS-619 N06.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

International Development: Novels, Film and Music

This online course offers students interested in international development a unique perspective into views from the Global South through the study of popular culture. The course uses novels, feature films, and music videos from the Global South to examine several themes in international development, including socialist and neoliberal development models, gender in development, modernization and globalization, sustainable development, and post conflict reconstruction. Such themes impact the real lives of populations from the Global South, who oftentimes record their protest and accomplishment in the popular culture of novels, films, and music. Throughout the course, students compare non-traditional texts from the Global South, while attempting to compare local, national, and international concerns from region to region.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Israel: Prospects for Peace

This course takes place in Jerusalem and focuses on the cultural and environmental diversity of Israel and the ways that it informs society, foreign policy, international security, and sustainable development. Students also hear from the many voices of Israel on these issues and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Prerequisite: application and permission of instructor and SIS Study Abroad. Meets with SIS-603 N02.

Course Level: Undergraduate

Advanced Topics in International Relations (1-6)

Malaysia and Indonesia: Globalization, Government & Security

This course examines the impact of globalization, political development and economic modernization on nation-building, identity formation, and human security in Malaysia and Indonesia. Course topics include democratic transition and consolidation, the rise of the middle class and civil society, race relations, Islamist revivalism and radicalism, environmental degradation, transnational labor migration, trafficking in persons and drugs, and emerging health epidemics. Taught in Malaysia and Indonesia. Prerequisite: application and permission of instructor and SIS Study Abroad. Meets with SIS-603 N03.