International Relations Program - Watson Institute for International Studies

Senior Seminars 2008-2009

International Relations concentrators are required to take a capstone course. In IR, the capstone is an INTL 1800 seminar or an approved INTL XLIST seminar. Only seminars taken junior or senior year meet the IR seminar requirement. Because senior seminars are often taught by visiting scholars, the list of offerings is subject to change right up to the beginning of the semester. Enrollment in ALL INTL 1800 seminars is limited to 20 students. Permission of the instructor is required.

The courses below fulfill the IR seminar requirement.

Semester I (Fall 2008)

Last updated: 10/31/08

INTL 1800J Identity, Rights and Conflict
V. Nesiah, P hour

The seminar will engage with debates over identity and rights. The course studies the international human rights field’s engagement with questions of identity and justice in relation to contemporary debates on culture and nation. Course material will include theoretical material on the normative, legal and policy challenges that inhere in grappling with collective claims for recognition and redistribution, along side case studies from around the world, from Rwanda to India to the US. The case studies will provide a window into a range of issues that include minority rights and multiculturalism, the self-determination claims of indigenous peoples and minority nationalisms, transitional justice and legacies of racial violence and genocide.

INTL 1800L International Law of Sustainable Development
I. Porras, Q hour
Designed to introduce students to the basic issues and concepts particular to international environmental law and sustainable development and explore the underlying conflicts. At the heart of the subject are issues of global justice and the special challenges posed to the international community by shared and finite natural resources. We will focus on the institutional legal frameworks that have been developed to protect the global commons; on the relationship between consumption, pollution, and the liberalization of trade; on the tension between the desire to protect the environment and the developmental aspirations of the South; and we will examine the respective role and responsibilities of governments, international institutions, private economic actors and non governmental organizations in characterizing and addressing issues of importance to sustainable development. No law background is assumed. Seminar should be of interest to students interested in international law, environmental protection, development and globalization.

INTL 1800Q The Nuclear Revolution Revisited
C. Kelleher, N hour

Explores the next phase of the nuclear revolution and its political, military, and economic implications in the next two decades.

After a decade and more during which the issues posed by nuclear weapons were largely eclipsed by concerns over ethnic wars and the threat of terrorism, there is renewed serious interest in the goal of nuclear disarmament. In January 2007 the Wall Street Journal published an important article by George Schultz, William Perry, Henry Kissinger, and Sam Nunn calling for a world free of nuclear weapons and outlining a series of steps toward reaching that goal. Their initiative has galvanized a new discussion of nuclear disarmament and the alternate paths to its achievement. Moreover, a number of governments, including those of Britain, France, and Norway, have offered specific new proposals for further cuts in nuclear weapons, improvements in verification technology, and safeguards for nuclear fuel stockpiles.

INTL 1800R Post-Soviet States From the Past into the Future
S. Khrushchev, O hour

Examines in historical context the emergence of the new post-Soviet states from the disintegrating USSR, the development of their foreign policies, and the evolution of their mutual relations in the political, economic, security, and environmental spheres. Devotes special attention to the functioning of the Community of Independent States and other multilateral institutions.

INTL 1800S The Vietnam War Revisited
J. Blight; j. lang, M hour
The U.S. war in Vietnam was the greatest foreign policy disaster in American history. Millions of Vietnamese, and tens of thousands of Americans, were killed due to the escalation of the warin the 1960s. Students in the seminar will consider why President John F. Kennedy chose not to send U.S. combat troops to Vietnam, and why his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, chose to “Americanize” the war. Students will also be encouraged to compare the Vietnam war with the U.S. war in Iraq, and the possibility of a war between the U.S. and Iran.

POLS 1820U Language Policy and Politics in Linguistically Plural Divided Societies

N. Stultz, P hour

Focusing initially on the experiences with this matter in South Africa, Canada and the United States, the object of this senior seminar will be to come to understand which factors tend generally in states such as these to contribute to linguistic peace and effectiveness, and which other factors have a contrary result. Students will individually write a research paper examining this same issue in a fourth (i.e., different) context of their own choosing.

INTL 1800W Population and Environment in China
L. Jiang, M hour CANCELLED
Adopting a multidisciplinary approach and covering extensive recent literature, this course explores the changing interrelationships between population and environment in China, and its global implications.

POLS 1820Y Politics in Israel

A. Zuckerman, Q hour

Examines fundamental themes in Israeli politics: democracy and the Jewish state; Zionism; ethnic conflict among Jews and between Jews and Arabs; the place of religion, foreign policy, and the prospects for peace and war. Prerequisites: POLS 0200 or an appropriate course on Israel.

PPAI 1701C Corporate Power and Global Order. Regulation and Policy in its Transnational Economic Sphere

D. Danielson, Q hour

Introduces students to the legal architecture of the global trading system. In the first part, we will explore some of the diverse legal regimes that shape and are shaped by the behavior of transnational economic actors, with attention to the perspectives of transnational regulators, corporate managers, and activists. In the second part, we will look at basic trade theory and concepts as well as the GATT/WTO regime. Finally, we will consider case studies presenting complex business/social/policy problems from perspectives gained in the course.

Semester II (Spring 2009)

Last updated: 10/31/08

INTL 1800D The Chinese Democracy Movement in the 20th cent.
W. Xu, N hour
Surveys the Chinese democracy movement in the 20th century and up to the present. Examines key leaders, events and development, including the Chinese Democracy Wall movement and the Chinese democratic party. Taught in Chinese. Readings in English and Chinese. Advanced Chinese necessary.

INTL 1800N Global Media: History/Theory/Production
J. Der Derian, N hour. CANCELLED
This course explores the historical and contemporary roles of media in international affairs, both as a source of information and, increasingly, as an important medium of war and diplomacy.

INTL1800T Fundamentals of American Legal Thought and their International Impact
Y. Blank, M hour. PENDING CCC APPROVAL
American hegemony in the legal field since WW-II was achieved not only through the dissemination of specific legal doctrines and institutions, but also by setting a framework of basic ideas about law. What is the role of law in society, what is the relation between politics and law, what is the nature of the legal process, what should be the guiding principles of legal interpretation and judicial reasoning, and what is the role of the various legal institutions of the state?

INTL 1800U Political Community Beyond the State: Challenges, Changes and Choices in a Globalizing Era

N. Shah, Q hour

In the midst of heightened levels of globalization, or even simply growing ‘global’ awareness, the horizon of politics is contested terrain. The course examines calls for a new ‘global’ political theory and structures of global governance. We will examine how these projects are aimed simultaneously at resisting and reformulating the principles, norms and institutions of the sovereign state.

INTL1800X Gender and Work in the New Economy
K. Rittich, M hour

Considers the challenges of regulating work in a world where both work and the workplace have been ‘feminized, production and investment crosses borders; and standard, long-term employment relationships are increasingly displaced by shorter, contractual and more precarious forms of work. We will consider the trend toward flexible work and the issues it raises concerning both equality and efficiency of work.

INTL1800Y Human Rights: From Politics to Law

D. Davis, Q hour

Employing a concept development by John and Jean Comaroff, that of “from warfare to lawfare”, this course examines the manner (1) in which the human rights discourse spawned after World War II has seemingly replaced the political arena with the courtroom and (2) the manner in which law as opposed to unfettered power has become the key element of social control. Through an examination of human rights as contained in international instruments and domestic constitutions, the course will explore the nature, cause and effects of this move, as well as its significance for the parallel move of globalization.

INTL1800Z Transnational Law and Global Business Regulation
R. Wai, P hour
Examines the complex legal environment that structures business transactions that cross national boundaries. Using the frame of global legal pluralism, the course will introduce the various sources of relevant norms, including domestic private law (especially contract laws), domestic public law (such as consumer protection statutes), private international law, and public international law. Examines the growing importance of non-state sources of relevant norms including lex mercatoria and transnational codes of conduct. Focuses on the role of these plural norms in facilitating but also regulating economic globalization.

INTL1801A International Law and the Third World

B. Singh Chimni, O hour

The course objectives are to introduce students to the nature, sources, and structure of public international law; to provide students an intro to the main subject areas of international law and to familiarize them with contemporary developments; and to explore themes/issues of public international law from the perspective of third world countries and peoples.

INTL1801C Globalization and Sovereignty

S. Barkin, P hour

Understanding the relationship between sovereignty and globalization is a necessary step in understanding broader patterns of contemporary global politics. Are processes of globalization necessarily antithetical to sovereign statehood? To what extent is globalization actually undermining sovereignty? And to the extent that it is, is it a good thing or a bad thing? Through what normative lenses should we be viewing the relationship between these two concepts? This course is designed to provide students with the theoretical background and analytical tools with which to address these questions.

DEVL 1800C - Labor Regulation and Globalization

D. Davis, O hour

Explores the current debates concerning the scope and role of labor law in the contact of a number of developed and developing economies. In all these economies, the "Fordist" model of life-long full time employment is giving way to a wide range of forms of paid employment. The current systems of labor law - legislated protection (minimum standards and employment security) and the promotion of collective bargaining - are premised on this model. The seminar will examine the change in the nature, legal form and organization of work challenges, the reasons, and implications as well as the reach and relevance of these current labor law systems.

POLS 1821Q The United States in World Politics

L. Miller, P hour
Examines major aspects of American foreign policy after the Cold War and 9/11 in terms of domestic and international challenge. Discussion of the United States as "empire" and "republic" with independent research and a foreign policy game. Emphasis is on the connections between the processes of policy making and the substance of policies pursued.

POLS 1821X The Politics of Social Welfare in the Middle East

M. Cammett, Q hour

Explores the relationship between citizenship and social welfare, focusing on the Middle East. The first section of the course examines the concept of citizenship and the relationship between state institutions and the relationship between state institutions and civil society organizations in social service provision. The second part explores these themes in selected Middle Eastern countries, where Islamist and other politico-religious movements are key providers of social services.

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