Spring 2021 | POL 3835 Section 001: International Relations (49033)
- Instructor(s)
- Yoonsoo Kim (TA)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Credits:
- 3 Credits
- Grading Basis:
- Student Option
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- Completely Online
- Class Attributes:
- UMNTC Liberal Education RequirementOnline Course
- Times and Locations:
- Regular Academic Session01/19/2021 - 05/03/2021Tue, Thu 04:00PM - 05:15PMOff CampusUMN REMOTE
- Enrollment Status:
- Closed (83 of 83 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- Why do countries go to war? Are individuals, organizations, and states driven by their interests or their ideas? What role does power play in international relations and is there any role for justice in global politics? Do international laws and transnational advocacy groups matter in a world dominated by powerful states? Whose interests are served by a globalizing world economy? These questions are central to the study of international relations, yet different theoretical approaches have been developed in an attempt to answer them. Often these approaches disagree with one another, leading to markedly different policy prescriptions and predictions for future events. This course provides the conceptual and theoretical means for analyzing these issues, processes, and events in international politics. By the end of this class, you will be able to understand the assumptions, the logics, and the implications of major theories and concepts of international relations. These include realism and neorealism, liberalism and liberal institutionalism, constructivism, feminism, Marxism, and critical theory. A special effort is made to relate the course material to world events, developments, or conflicts in the past decade or so.
- Class Notes:
- This course is completely online in a synchronous format. The course will meet online at the scheduled times. http://classinfo.umn.edu/?ccreamer+POL3835+Spring2021
- Class Description:
Why do countries go to war? Are individuals, organizations, and states driven by their interests or their ideas? What role does power play in international relations and is there any role for justice in global politics? Do international laws and transnational advocacy groups matter in a world dominated by powerful states? Whose interests are served by a globalizing world economy? This course provides the conceptual and theoretical means for analyzing these issues, processes, and events in international politics. By the end of this class, you will be able to understand the assumptions, the logics, and the implications of major theories and concepts of international relations. These include realism, liberalism, institutionalism, constructivism, feminism, post-colonial theory, and neo-Marxism. A special effort is made to relate the course material to world events and developments in the past decade or so. Specific topics covered include: the ascendance of China; new technologies and national security; the future of the human rights movement and backlash against global governance; trade wars, weaponized interdependence, and pandemic politics.
- Learning Objectives:
This course places special emphasis on helping you - as a global citizen - learn to:
- synthesize and evaluate existing theoretical approaches within international relations
- identify their strengths and weaknesses
- construct an argument for why we observe particular outcomes in world politics
- Grading:
- MINI-ANALYTICAL PAPERS: 20% (two, each worth 10 points)
- ONLINE COMPREHENSION QUIZZES: 20%
- IR SIMULATION: 20%
- FINAL SIMULATION PROJECT: 20%
- ATTENDANCE & PARTICIPATION: 20%
- Exam Format:
- Weekly, online comprehension quizzes
- Class Format:
- Asynchronous lectures followed by online comprehension quizzes
- Synchronous discussion sessions on Zoom during scheduled course time (once per week)
- Asynchronous discussion activities
- Asynchronous simulation participation
- Workload:
· 45-80 Pages Reading Per Week
· Weekly Quizzes
· Weekly Discussion sessions
· 2 Take-Home Papers
· Simulation participation during last three weeks
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/49033/1213
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 23 October 2020
ClassInfo Links - Spring 2021 Political Science Classes
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