Spring 2019 Course Descriptions POLS 200-001 American Politics This course will examine the structure and operation of American politics. We will look at how the system was intended to operate, how it is operating and what may account for the discrepancy. The goal of the course is for students to leave it with a mastery of the fundamentals of American government and politics, and an increased ability to think and function as critical participants in the process. POLS 280-001 Introduction to Political Analysis John Wagner In this course we will explore various approaches to political research. You will learn how to think critically about political research, and how to conduct your own. For the first portion of the course, you will learn how to construct research questions, theories, and hypotheses with a scientific eye. This portion will conclude with an introduction to the quantitative and qualitative analysis of hypotheses. The second portion of the course emphasizes statistics and the application of quantitative analysis to political phenomenon. By the end of the course you should be able to evaluate empirical arguments as well as construct and test your own. POLS 280-002 Introduction to Political Analysis Wendy Hansen Discovery of causal patterns in political behavior, evaluation of the effectiveness of political reforms and campaign techniques, analysis of the logic of scientific research and related topics. No knowledge of statistics, computers or research methods assumed. POLS 300-001 T: Politics of Ethnic Groups Barbara Gomez Aguinaga This course is dedicated to the examination of minority groups within the United States. This examination will be focused on the following groups: African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans. This discussion is highly relevant given recent population shifts revealing that Latinos are the largest minority group, and that Asian Americans are the fastest growing group in the United States. You will leave this course with a firm understanding of why race and ethnicity have been fundamental components of the U.S. socio-political systems, and continue to be central to any issue concerning politics or public policy. What defines a minority group? How does pan-ethnicity and group cohesion impact the political power of these groups? And finally, has the election of the first African American President and the most racially diverse Congress in history improved substantive representation for the minority groups? A large segment of this course will be dedicated to answering these questions. POLS 300-007 Truth and Tribunals Kathy Powers The purpose of this course is to examine jus post bellum justice in the aftermath of war. How do we hold governments and non-state actors accountable for mass human rights violations? What constitutes justice, truth, reconciliation, and restoration? How does transitional justice deal with such efforts? Can such transitional justice efforts lead to democracy, peace, and/or economic development? Transitional
justice mechanisms include criminal tribunals, truth commissions, reparations programs, institutional reform, memorials, lustration programs and amnesty laws. The course begins with a brief overview of what constitutes human rights, human rights violations and war crimes. We review the basic legal instruments of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. In this course, we examine the political causes and consequences of transitional justice mechanisms as well as the politics involved in the creation, design, changes and termination of them. We consider the spread of such mechanisms globally as well as the unique regional contexts in which they have emerged. Particular attention is dedicated to global reparations efforts. POLS 316-001 Constitutional Laws Liberties This class examines how the United States Constitution deals with one of the most challenging and important issues confronting a free society: how to protect a maximum amount of personal liberty while at the same time maintaining the order without which liberty is useless. We will focus on the Bill of Rights, particularly the First and Second Amendments, its meaning and intent, and how it has been interpreted by the Supreme Court over time. It will also include examination of the Supreme Court s role in the American political process POLS 317-001 Constitutional Laws Rights No ideas are more central to American constitutionalism than Equal Protection of the Law and Due Process of Law. This course will examine what the Constitution means by those two concepts, and how the Supreme Court has interpreted them over the years. We will read and analyze the Court s treatment of such issues as racial discrimination, gender discrimination, affirmative action, marriage equality, and equal access to voting and political participation. In doing so, we hope to better understand the meaning of equality and justice in America, and the role of Supreme Court in determining those meanings. POLS 325-001 European Politics Kendra Koivu Where does the modern state come from? What are the elements of democratic political systems? How do states encourage economic development, and how do they cope with economic depression? These questions are important in both contemporary and historical discussions of political development. We will examine these questions by looking at the historical experiences of European states. This course provides both an overview of European history as well as a concentrated focus on the interlocking elements of European political systems. This course assumes no prior background in European history. POLS 376-001 Health Policy and Politics Deborah McFarlane This class provides an overview of health policy and politics in the United States. While the course focuses upon the American health care system and its politics, we also consider how health services are financed and organized in other industrialized countries. Additionally, we examine the determinants of health, which allows us to assess what health care services can and cannot accomplish. Health disparities among ethnic and social groups are also covered, and we consider the vast health disparities between nations.
POLS 400-002 Global Trends and Nat l Security Policy Deborah McFarlane Public policy, namely national security policies, increasingly will be affected by global geopolitical changes as well as national policymaking institutions. Many of these trends are changing our temporal assumptions, that is, the speed at which changes can occur. The purpose of this course is to examine some of these challenges and project their significance for the near future. The forces that make nations and regions insecure change over time. New threats, such as cyberwarfare and climate change, emerge. Other security threats may recede or accelerate, depending on the region or country in focus. Because policy decisions focus on human populations, a significant portion of the class will focus upon the interplay between demography and national security. As such, we examine the demographic divide between rich and poor nations, including youth bulges and aging populations; migration, including internally displaced persons, and urbanization, and how population affects climate change and food security. Students will use demographic and economic data from different countries and regions to assess differences in population composition and to consider their implications for security and stability. They will also make recommendations for improving national security policies and intelligence. POLS 400-004 T: Networks and Behavior Cassy Dorff Everyone has heard of Social Networks-- Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have popularized this concept within the realm of social media. Yet, networks exist in many other important socio-political areas of life as well, including pop culture, international relations, social movements, modern work environments, conflict zones and more. Network analysis allows for a way to precisely conceptualize and measure the relations, or ties, between actors, or entities, in a given environment. This course introduces students to the study and tools of network analysis. In order to create network graphs and visualizations, students will learn entry-level programming skills. Students will leave the course with a greater understanding of the interconnectedness of today's world through studying a broad range of topics including but not limited to geography, psychology, gender, politics, race, public health, violence, climate and more. Currently, this course is offered as very fast 8-week course, ending with a poster session POLS 323-001 Politics of Global Development Jami Nunez While the Western world has achieved levels of wealth, well-being and technological innovation unimaginable a century ago, many countries throughout the world continue to struggle with astonishingly high rates of poverty. Since the end of World War II, many non-western countries have experienced incredible economic growth while others have stagnated with very little change over decades. This class aims to explore this variation by examining different theories of change. We will investigate a wide array of current explanations for the variation in development across the world such as institutions, geography, culture, and the role of the West. It begins by examining the concept of development and questioning the ethical debates development raises. It then explores the evolution in thinking about how and why development occurs, both critiquing past theories and tracing how these theories have themselves shaped today s economic outcomes. The class will also examine the policy implications of various explanations to consider the opportunities each could provide in fostering greater economic and human development into the future.
POLS 495-001 Junior Honors Seminar Chris Butler In this course you will learn to conduct your own political science research. The course will also help prepare you to do an honors project and thesis in your senior year (should you wish to pursue that option). In particular, you will read and evaluate published research papers and previous honors theses; you will also undertake a small-scale individual research project and write a report based on your research. We will cover such topics as framing a question for original research, thinking theoretically, finding appropriate data, undertaking rigorous analysis, and writing for a social science audience. Excellent work in this seminar is a prerequisite for continuing in the honors sequence as a senior. POLS 512-001 Global Trends and Nat l Security Policy Deborah McFarlane Public policy, namely national security policies, increasingly will be affected by global geopolitical changes as well as national policymaking institutions. Many of these trends are changing our temporal assumptions, that is, the speed at which changes can occur. The purpose of this course is to examine some of these challenges and project their significance for the near future. The forces that make nations and regions insecure change over time. New threats, such as cyberwarfare and climate change, emerge. Other security threats may recede or accelerate, depending on the region or country in focus. Because policy decisions focus on human populations, a significant portion of the class will focus upon theinterplay between demography and national security. As such, we examine the demographic divide between rich and poor nations, including youth bulges and aging populations; migration, including internally displaced persons, and urbanization, and how population affects climate change and food security. Students will use demographic and economic data from different countries and regions to assess differences in population composition and to consider their implications for security and stability. They will also make recommendations for improving national security policies and intelligence. POLS 512-002 Qualitative Research Methods Kendra Koivu This seminar offers a broad introduction to the field of comparative methodology conventionally regarded as qualitative methods for the analysis of a relatively small number of cases. The goal of this course is to enable students to create and critique research designs in the social sciences. The content of the course is comprised of the foundations of qualitative methods, qualitative data collection, and qualitative data analysis. The course focuses on recent methodological writings, substantive examples from various subfields of political science, and classical pieces. The course also includes readings from the broader social sciences in addition to political science. The course assumes no background in qualitative methodology. POLS 521-001 Comparative Politics of Development Jami Nunez While the Western world has achieved levels of wealth, well-being and technological innovation unimaginable a century ago, many countries throughout the world continue to struggle with astonishingly high rates of poverty and stagnant growth levels. In this course, we will explore these disparities, focusing on the political aspects of development. In the first part of the course, we will engage the evolution of thought in understanding development over the past decades, including
changing conceptions of development and evolving policy approaches to poverty alleviation. In the second part of the course, we focus on distributive politics, by investigating the themes of government accountability, responsiveness, and capacity and how these affect poverty, economic growth and human development. We will consider evidence and examples from a variety of world regions, with particular emphasis on Latin America and Africa. POLS 585-001/496-001 Introduction to Game Theory Research in Political Science Chris Butler This course provides an introduction to game theory and its uses in political science research. It will cover material related to the nuts and bolts of non-cooperative game theory such as expected utility theory, Nash equilibria, subgame perfection, incomplete information, and repeated games. It will also cover the cooperative game theory topics of Nash bargaining and spatial modeling. The major project (the modeling paper) will involve taking a general strategic decision problem, simplifying some portion of it as a game model, and then describing, solving, and analyzing the game model.