Political Science

Structure and operation of United States government as well as current political issues. Basic features of political system emphasized.

Study of content and methods of political science. Includes major philosophies, institutions of government and controversial political issues.

The goal of the course will be to enable students to critically think about how the government provides services to its citizens. The course will focus on the nature and scope of public administration, organizational theory, the bureaucracy, policy implementation, and public accountability.

This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of public policy. They will be familiarized with the purpose of public policymaking, the nature of the policy process, the positivist and post-positivist approaches to policy analysis, policy implementation, and evaluation. Students will be trained to apply the theoretical knowledge learned in class to the analysis of contemporary policy debates in the United States and beyond.

Study of forces influencing relations between nations. Includes diplomacy, origins of war and international organizations.

Comparison of variety of western and non-western political structures, policies, and attitudes. Major topics include variations of democracy, activism, status and role of women and minorities, environmentalism, and economic issues.

This course will provide students who will attend the Mid-West Model United Nations Conference with information and practice in order to successfully participate in the conference. This course consists of delegate research, public speaking training, preparation for position papers, preparation for draft resolutions, and strategic training.

In this course, students will compare women’s participation in and contribution to their communities across different countries. In so doing, they will analyze how the political make-up and power structures of societies are systematically related to women’s empowerment or the lack of it. The main topics covered in this course will include women’s participation in institutional and non-institutional politics, the gendering of public policy, and the role of gender in the politics of development. Throughout the course, students will read case studies on a wide variety of important issues such as abortion laws in Ireland, sexual violence in post-conflict Sierra Leone, women-led successful microcredit movements in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and glass-ceilings in the United States. After taking this course, students should be able to critically think about women’s issues across the world and analyze the impact of political structures and institutions on the role that women play in their communities and beyond. They will also be trained to use their own identity as women to reflect on and relate to the issues surrounding women’s empowerment. Assessment techniques used in this class will include critical reaction papers, an incremental policy brief, discussion leadership, midterm, and final. This course will be appropriate for students interested in women’s empowerment, gender justice, and most importantly, human rights.

This course introduces students to the dynamics of the globalized system and empowers them to consciously reflect on their role in the international community. Ultimately, the course will provide students with the global awareness and leadership skills required for making socially responsible choices that promote sustainable development.

This course will examine the different ways in which the American electorate engages with democratic processes. Therefore, the class will heavily focus on how public opinion is formed and measured. Thereafter, it will address factors impacting political participation, including turnout, vote-choice, and electoral decision-making.

This course studies roles, effects, and problems of various international organizations. In the globalized world, each state cannot solve global problems beyond its borders. Therefore, roles and effects of international organizations have drastically increased in recent decades. Considering these new trends, this course analyzes and evaluates various international organizations through different theories of international relations and addresses problems of them and solutions for the problem.

In this course, students will learn the relations between elections and democracy in the world, paying attention to questions, such as “Why do elections matter?” etc. Students will also study elections going on in the United States and learn how important they are for their future lives, through individual research, discussions, group activities, etc.

This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of quantitative research methods used in the social sciences including political science and international relations. The course will cover the essentials of research design, descriptive statistics, and inferential statistics. Additionally, students will be trained to use SPSS for statistical analysis. This course will provide students with the skill set required for conducting original research. It will enable them to decipher and critique statistical analyses presented by scholars in social sciences. Hands-on training in SPSS will make them more marketable and prepared for future careers including graduate/law school. Assessment techniques in this course include reading quizzes, homework assignments using statistical analyses of datasets on SPSS, a midterm, and a final.

Surveys major philosophical primary texts concerning questions of justifiable fundamental social and governmental arrangements. Coverage will include such key thinkers as Plato and Machiavelli, the early modern contractarians (i.e., Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau), and Marx. Some further later developments will be considered.

This course studies the situations of the poor in the world and their relations with inequality and globalization. Various theories introduce causes of poverty and inequality and suggest solutions. Students will analyze and evaluate which theory has a higher possibility to reduce poverty and inequality than the others. This course also explores relations between poverty and environmental degradation in order to understand the impacts of globalization. Fulfills writing-intensive requirement.

This course is a basic course of the Middle Eastern politics, and students will use a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the Middle East politics, considering history, geography, international relations, economy, political economy, sociology, women's studies, religion, etc. Understanding the complexity of the area, students will study the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which is one of the most controversial conflicts in the world.

This course will introduce students to the rich scholarship on the interaction between religion and politics in the United States and beyond. The first section will focus on classic and contemporary theories regarding the rational and functional approaches to religion, secularization, religious identity, religious worldviews and doctrines, and religious extremism. The second section will compare and contrast religion’s impact on policy formulation across - and within - Christian majority states in the developed world, Muslim majority states, and states with other religious majorities. The principal goal of the course will be to enable students to think critically about the multi-faceted impacts of religion on politics across a wide variety of socio-cultural contexts. After taking this course, students should be able to think about the relationship among religion and politics within, and across different political systems. The assessment techniques used in this class will include oral participation, critical reaction papers, a literature review, a midterm, and a final.

This course will cover fundamental theories of international trade and finance, with attention to globalization, equity, development, and environmental sustainability. The questions of equity and sustainability are as important as goals of efficiency or profit. What may be best for the fast movement of capital, for example, may be the worst for sustaining basic livelihoods or the environment. The field investigates how to increase the general public good, rather than private profit, viewing the two as not necessarily incompatible, but also not automatically congruent. Fulfills writing-intensive requirement.

In this course, students will be trained to apply major theories of international relations to the analysis of the sources of U.S. foreign policy, and the consequences of those decisions for the international political system. The course content will be subdivided into three sections, namely, theoretical approaches, levels of analysis, and policy domains. Theoretical discussions will be complemented with case studies covering the role of the United States in global governance since the end of the World War II. After taking this course, students should be able to apply the grand theories of international relations to the analysis of contemporary and historical developments in world politics concerning the United States. Students’ global awareness will be enhanced by challenging them to critically think about the implications of U.S. actions for an increasingly globalized world. Fulfills writing-intensive requirement.

This course will cover fundamental theories of international trade and finance, with attention to globalization, equity, development, and environmental sustainability. The questions of equity and sustainability are as important as goals of efficiency or profit. What may be best for the fast movement of capital, for example, may be the worst for sustaining basic livelihoods or the environment. The field investigates how to increase the general public good, rather than private profit, viewing the two as not necessarily incompatible, but also not automatically congruent. Fulfills writing-intensive requirement.

This course concentrates on three Asian countries (India, China, and Japan) and the Asia/Pacific Rim. We will examine politics, governments, and societies in India, China, and Japan, including Korea and Taiwan in the discussions, and later, we will examine economic development and human development, policies for poverty reduction, and environmental policies in the Asia/Pacific Rim. This course addresses the multifaceted issues concerned with politics, economics, culture, and the society of Asia. Its thematic focus is valuing the diversity of human experience. Since one of the themes in this course is development and environmental sustainability, this course will also address the liberal studies theme of environmental consciousness.

This course is required for senior students who major in International Relations or Political Science. Students will write a thesis, including ideas and knowledge they have learned during their college education. Fulfills writing-intensive requirement.