Skip To Content Skip To Menu Skip To Footer

International Studies Current Courses

Spring 2024

Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
INST 170-01 International Relations
Instructor: Andy Wolff
Course Description:
Cross-listed with POSC 170-01. An introduction to global politics which examines the interaction of states, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in the world arena. Topics covered include traditional concerns such as war, balance of power, the UN and international law along with the more recent additions to the agenda of world politics such as international terrorism, human rights, and economic globalization. This course is cross-listed as POSC 170.
09:30 AM-10:20 AM, MWF
DENNY 304
INST 170-02 International Relations
Instructor: Kristine Mitchell
Course Description:
Cross-listed with POSC 170-02. An introduction to global politics which examines the interaction of states, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in the world arena. Topics covered include traditional concerns such as war, balance of power, the UN and international law along with the more recent additions to the agenda of world politics such as international terrorism, human rights, and economic globalization. This course is cross-listed as POSC 170.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, MR
ALTHSE 201
INST 200-01 Global Economy
Instructor: Shamma Alam
Course Description:
Cross-listed with ECON 226-01. Permission of Instructor Required. The course introduces economic theory that builds on ideas from introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics. It uses that theory as a framework for examining developments in the changing global system. Developments include the revolution in information technology; the dynamics of human population growth; the implications of climate change; challenges to human security; and emerging patterns of organizational interdependence and collaboration. Those developments provide the context for business managers and for government officials responsible for shaping strategies and implementing policies. Prerequisite: ECON 111 and 112; concurrent enrollment in ECON 112 by permission of the instructor. This course is cross-listed as ECON 226.
03:00 PM-04:15 PM, TF
ALTHSE 110
INST 260-01 History of International Relations
Instructor: Andy Wolff
Course Description:
This course is designed to give students an opportunity to apply theories of international relations to major events and issues in world history. Concepts such as balance of power, appeasement and imperialism will be studied against the backdrop of world historical events such as the Congress of Vienna, World War II, and the Algerian War. Prerequisite: INST 170 or POSC 170.
10:30 AM-11:45 AM, TR
ALTHSE 204
INST 270-01 European Union
Instructor: Kristine Mitchell
Course Description:
Cross-listed with POSC 270-01. The European Union (EU) continues to evolve, and this course will help students to contextualize the EU's development since the mid-1950s, understand the way that it currently functions, and think about how it is likely to develop in the future. Students will become familiar with the political processes and multi-level institutional structure of the EU, the relations between the EU and its member states, and contemporary EU issues. This course is cross-listed as POSC 270.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, TF
ALTHSE 201
INST 277-01 International Politics of the Middle East
Instructor: Ed Webb
Course Description:
Cross-listed with MEST 266-01 and POSC 277-01. This course examines key factors and events in the formation of the modern Middle East state system and evolving patterns of conflict and cooperation in the region. Students will apply a range of analytical approaches to issues such as the conflicts between Arabs and Israelis, Iraq's wars since 1980, and the changing place of the region in global politics and economics.Prerequisite: one course in any of International Studies, Middle East Studies, or Political Science. This course is cross-listed as POSC 277 and MEST 266.
03:00 PM-04:15 PM, MR
DENNY 203
INST 280-01 American Foreign Policy
Instructor: Rachel Jacobs
Course Description:
Cross-listed with POSC 280-01. A survey of U.S. foreign policy since World War II. American approaches to such issues as containment, detente, arms control, deterrence, international law, and foreign aid will be discussed. Students will also address issues of U.S. foreign policy formulation, including the roles of the public, Congress, and the president in the foreign policy process.Prerequisite: POSC 170 or INST 170. This course is cross-listed as POSC 280.
10:30 AM-11:45 AM, TR
DENNY 304
INST 280-02 American Foreign Policy
Instructor: Andy Wolff
Course Description:
A survey of U.S. foreign policy since World War II. American approaches to such issues as containment, detente, arms control, deterrence, international law, and foreign aid will be discussed. Students will also address issues of U.S. foreign policy formulation, including the roles of the public, Congress, and the president in the foreign policy process.Prerequisite: POSC 170 or INST 170. This course is cross-listed as POSC 280.

INST 281-01 American National Security Policy
Instructor: Andy Wolff
Course Description:
Cross-listed with POSC 281-01. Analysis of formulation and implementation of American national security policy within the context of American society and the international system. National security will not be considered simply in a military/strategic sense but as connoting the preservation of the core values of a society. Prerequisite: POSC 170 or 120 or INST 170. This course is cross-listed as POSC 281.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, MR
ALTHSE 08
INST 290-01 Human Rights
Instructor: Rachel Jacobs
Course Description:
Cross-listed with POSC 258-01. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights embodies a global consensus on the fundamental importance of human rights as a political value. But the idea and its practical applications have provoked intense controversy around the world on issues such as freedom of expression, capital punishment and torture, gender and sexuality, religious freedom, social and economic justice, and cultural and minority rights. Prerequisite: one social science course or permission of the instructor.
09:00 AM-10:15 AM, TR
DENNY 304
INST 290-02 Immigration Politics: Gender, Race and Sexuality in Contemporary Migration
Instructor: Katie Oliviero
Course Description:
Cross-listed with SOCI 310-01 and WGSS 310-01. Why do global controversies over immigration so often center on migrant women's fertility and their children's access to government benefits? Why do some countries accept LGBTQ migrants but deny them the right to adopt, use assisted reproductive technologies, or extend citizenship to their children? How are efforts to limit marriage-and-family based migration racialized and classed? What are the gendered implications when nurses are a country's central export? Could building a border wall or sending refugees back stop unwanted immigration? This course examines how intersecting gender, sexual and ethnic hierarchies shape and are shaped by immigration. Applying insights from feminist and queer theories of migration, students will explore how the gendered processes surrounding immigration craft concepts of nation, borders and citizenship. Readings and films examine how racial and sexual norms are renegotiated through the selection and regulation of immigrants. Central to our investigation is how transnational and economic forces compel migration, reshaping understandings of national belonging, workplaces, and family in the process. We will particularly consider how migrants negotiate multiple marginalizations, and in turn refashion understandings of community, identities, culture, and politics. An interdisciplinary framework combines sociological, historical, legal, activist, media, literary and artistic accounts. Prerequisite: One WGSS or SOCI course, or permission of instructor; not appropriate for first-year students.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, TF
DENNY 211
INST 290-03 Environment, Conflict and Peace
Instructor: Michael Beevers
Course Description:
Cross-listed with ENST 372-01.
09:00 AM-10:15 AM, TR
KAUF 187
INST 290-04 U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Arab World
Instructor: Magda Siekert
Course Description:
Cross-listed with MEST 233-01. Part of the Globally Integrated Program in Israel and Palestine.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, MR
DENNY 21
INST 404-01 Integrated Study
Instructor: Rachel Jacobs
Course Description:
The purpose of the course is to help students review and integrate the diverse components of the International Studies major. Prerequisites: senior standing in the INST major and prior completion of INST 401.
01:30 PM-04:30 PM, F
ALTHSE 109