Undergraduate Classes
Introduction to International Relations
While George Washington and Thomas Jefferson warned Americans against entangling global relationships, their vision now seems impossible, since the world's most pressing problems require international cooperation. Not only does international politics affect our daily lives, it does so in puzzling ways. The goal of this class is to explore puzzles in international politics, including: If war is so costly, why do countries fight? If trade is economically efficient, why do countries sometimes restrict trade? If everyone values the earth's resources, why is global cooperation over the environment so hard to achieve? We investigate these and other questions by identifying the interests, interactions, and institutions that lead to global outcomes. Actors have particular interests, but when they interact with others, they may end up with outcomes that do not reflect their interests. Global actors also work under institutions and rules that can constrain and change their behavior. By exploring the behavior that results from interests, interactions, and institutions, we explain today's events and make predictions about the future.
Does international law change how countries behave? If so, how? People have strong opinions about the effectiveness of international law. Some say that international law changes how countries act, and that countries will even do what's not in their interest so that they can honor international law. Others say that countries only act in their own interest, and that international law has little ability to meaningfully change how countries behave. Who's right?
This class explores if and how countries abide by legal principles in a world where no government can force them to do so. Some of the questions we address have clear answers: such as, does international law allow countries to provide assistance to rebel groups during civil wars? Other questions have less clear answers: for example, does human rights law permit countries to ban headscarves to foster secularism and religious freedom? This class will teach you how to read, interpret, and apply legal principles to a wide variety of political situations; some straightforward, others more complex. By exploring the influence of international law, we gain insight into the prospect of cooperation in an anarchic world.
In 1994, the country of Rwanda exploded in civil violence. Nearly one million men, women, and children were killed in a very short time period by their own countrymen. During that time, the international community debated what to do. While everyone agreed that the Rwandan genocide was horrible, countries were unable to cooperate in a meaningful way to stop the killing. Most countries did not want to suffer the costs of intervening in a humanitarian crisis. Rwanda raises a number of questions. Can we as human beings cooperate, when our self-interests are so strong? Can we work together to protect and provide common resources, without a government forcing us to do so? Or, are we so self-interested that cooperation is impossible? We address questions like these by exploring if and how countries cooperate in a world with no government. We study cooperation over a number of international issues, including peace and security, trade and development, and climate change. We conduct a simulation of international climate change negotiations to gain practical insight into the challenge of global cooperation. Finally, we assess and evaluate a number of global problems, including justice for war crimes victims, human rights promotion, and international economic development.
Advanced Seminar in Research Design
This class introduces advanced undergraduates to the study of social science. As social scientists, we identify puzzling events in politics. We construct logical stories that answer those puzzles. We develop ways to see how valid our stories are, and look for evidence that can help confirm or reject the stories. We identify the holes in the proposed stories and address alternative explanations. Finally, we draw conclusions about how right or wrong our stories are. The objective of the class is for students to start and finish an original research project.
Graduate Classes
Can countries find order in an anarchic world? If so, how? This course explores a particular type of cooperation: the constitution of global order and the international organization of states. We investigate various sources of international order, including regimes, institutions, law, and norms. We also explore how states cooperate in a number of issue arenas, such as peace and security, human rights, and environmental issues. By the end of the semester, you will be able to explain when and why countries cooperate, and how order emerges in an anarchic world. We explore the constitution of global order from the perspective of strategic choice. Strategic choice is a simple yet powerful way of looking at the world. It assumes that actors are pur- poseful, and that they make decisions by anticipating what other actors will do. This simple assumption can explain a number of global phenomena, from the formation of institutions to the decision of institutions to intervene in civil wars. However, strategic choice is not the only way of looking at the world. We will explore the limits of strategic choice, particularly by investigating the dysfunctional behavior of institutions.
Why do people use violence to pursue political goals? When asked this question, most people give straightforward answers such as “people will always fight for their religion.” But consider this: violence is costly, it often does not result in the desired political outcome, and people have a number of choices besides violence for pursuing their political goals. Further, why do states respond violently to dissident movements? This is particularly puzzling once we think about the costs of repression relative to political concessions. The unfortunate result of political violence is often civil war, which imposes enormous political, monetary, and human costs. Why can’t actors reach the outcome they will inevitably reach after a war ends, but without the pain and suffering of fighting?
This class explores the conditions under which political actors use violence, and the conditions that lead to civil war. We approach questions of conflict behavior and political violence from the perspective of strategic choice. Strategic choice explains conflict not as an accident, but as the deliberate result of choices by actors. The choice of war is not made because actors are inherently aggressive and war-mongering. Actors want to reach their preferred outcome without fighting, but various obstacles stand in the way. We discover how those obstacles render actors unable to reach and commit to peaceful agreements.
This is a foundational course for graduate students in political science, where you will learn the fundamentals of research and teaching in the social sciences. In this first semester of the PhD program, you will start to become a producer of knowledge, and this is a core class in learning how to create knowledge. It is only an introduction to the mechanisms of social science, but you will develop a way of thinking that will enable you to learn and hone research skills throughout your career.
Regression analysis is a powerful tool for understanding the world around us. This class introduces the theory, methods, and practical application of linear regression. By the end of the semester, students understand and evaluate social science research that uses regression analysis. They can use regression to address a research question of interest. Finally, students learn and apply additional techniques of statistical analysis, including logit and probit. Any regression course requires some knowledge of basic statistical concepts and techniques. We begin with a brief review of descriptive statistics, sampling distributions, statistical inference, and hypothesis testing before moving on to applied techniques. The focus is on the nature of the basic linear regression model. Regression makes several key assumptions. We examine these assumptions in depth and explore the consequences of violating them.