Global and Thematic Issues

The course is an historical and cross-cultural examination of women's issues.  The approach is multidisciplinary and draws on the humanities, social sciences, life/physical sciences, and other fields of study. The course is based on research that views women from their own perspectives rather than from the points of view of what men have traditionally studied, claimed, or written about women.  The course examines historical and intellectual roots in worldwide movements for social change and equality.   The course also offers a holistic approach to the study of fundamental issues of sex and gender how they have been reflected in culture and history, how they shape social, political, economic and institutional organization as well as personal experience and perception, and how they interact with issues of race, ethnicity, and class.

What is democracy? Why is democracy desirable? Is ti desirable? How has democracy evolved over time? What causes countries to democratize -- does democracy come from within a country or from global influences? How do countries transition to democracy? Is democracy better suited to some peoples than others? How does democracy vary across world regions? Who benefits from it, and who loses? What are the alternatives?

This course addresses these and other questions in a comparative context. Students are expected to leave the course with a critical, nuanced view of democracy as well as knowledge of both democratic and non-democratic countries. We will keep tabs on elections from around the world as we examine key theories related to democracy. Above all, I want students to understand more fully why we have democracy and why people fight to create it, but also to recognize its shortcomings. Democracy is not the only thing that matters in politics, but it matters a great deal. I hope this course encourages you to value democracy and consider how to contribute to its strength in wherever you find yourself.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

This course introduces historical complexities and issues, and various constraints that have shaped the lives and struggles of East Asian women from the “pre-modern period” to the present, in their dealings with the questions of their own culture and, later, modernity. Literary works and films will be widely used. 

This course uses ethnographic case studies to understand how sex, gender, and sexuality are socially constructed in different societies around the world and how these social constructions generate different identities, social categories, and relations of power. The course uses analytical tools of Anthropology to understand the cultural logic behind practices and beliefs that are informed by culturally specific sex/gender/sexuality systems; how those cultural logics and practices are related to relations of power between individuals; how they become embedded in institutions of the state that affect the way rights are distributed and often violated; and what happens when they come into contact through various types of transnational movements of people and ideas. The course will also expose students to debates about how we use these understandings of the cultural logics of gendered practices and ideologies in order to address specific examples of gender/sexuality discrimination, gender violence, and international human rights discourse and policies.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

What is the state?  How is it organized?  How do different countries select leaders, where is power located, who rules, and who is excluded?  Under what conditions do people obey the state, resist it, or transform it?  Which societal configurations challenge state control?  How do states gain the legitimacy to rule?

INTS/POLI 365, State - Society Relations in Comparative Context, provides students with a conceptual understanding of the composition of states in diverse societal contexts.  The course begins with a discussion of regimes, leading to the first assignment, in which students assess the regime of a country of their choice.  The second part of the course is concerned with defining the state and understanding its institutions.  This will motivate the second assignment, in which students will design what they feel to be an ideal institutional configuration for their country.  The third part of the course pushes back, looking at societies and how they undermine your designs.  Your third paper will consider resistance from various societal forces.  You will then assemble and revise your three papers to form a broader paper on state / society relations.

Students will develop a heightened understanding of democratic and non-democratic regimes, how electoral systems turn votes into seats, the tradeoffs in different systems, and how these systems interact with a myriad of societal forces that may resist the state (sometimes for good reason).

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

The course provides a multidisciplinary glimpse into the various ways that Islam manifests itself politically around the world. Part One looks to the faith – the scripture and organization of Islam. Part Two looks to the rise of Islamic politics in the post-colonial world. Then, the course will shift to discuss five manifestations which speak to the Janus-faced, conservative and progressive, nature of Political Islam: violence, simmering wars, Sharia Law, social justice, and human rights. The course concludes by considering democracy in the ongoing evolution of Political Islam. The primary objective of this course is to help students understand the fragmented, even contradictory nature of Political Islam. Even terms such as jihad or sharia contain diverse messages, from demanding violence to promoting education. Students are expected to overcome images of Islam as monolithic, and instead to look to Islam as a living religion, one struggling with the same social issues facing all other world faiths.

This course seeks to unravel the Janus-faced nature of Political Buddhism. It provides a multidisciplinary glimpse into the ways that Buddhism manifests itself politically around the world. Part One looks to the faith – the beliefs, scripture and organization of Buddhism. Part Two looks to the rise of Buddhist politics in the post-colonial world. Part Three, the heart of the course, looks at key themes in Political Buddhism, such as democracy, war, gender, and other political issues. This course is more about the intersections between faith and politics more than it is about the faith in and of itself. Students are expected to overcome images of Buddhism as monolithic and as necessarily peaceful, even if it does contain a great wealth of peaceful, non-violent teachings. Buddhism is a living religion, one struggling with the same social issues facing all world faiths.

Through lectures, discussion, student presentations, and other pedagogies, this class aims to achieve four primary objectives: 1) To explore the role that disease and medicine played in important historical events; 2) to study the social, institutional and cultural dimensions of disease, ailments and medicine in today’s global societies; 3) to become familiar with some of the basic mechanics of epidemic diseases, such as smallpox, influenza, yellow fever, cholera, bubonic plague, syphilis, AIDS and Covid-19; 4) and to understand how some of the most important policy debates in international studies take (or should take) infectious diseases into consideration. Western (bio-)medicine is emphasized, but Eastern traditions and alternative medicine are not excluded. Students interested in careers in medicine, public health, and global health policy may consider this class.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

European empires created the historical context out of which the United States emerged. Since the US attained national independence, it has pursued its own imperial and colonial ambitions around the world. Many of the twenty-first century's international arrangements--from the United Nations to the global trade system--reflect this imperial history, at least in part. However, although often described as a global hegemon, the US, in fact, must negotiate its power as it frequently encounters resistance at home and abroad. Investigating the imperial and colonial dimensions of contemporary life and understanding the resources of hope and resistance in the cultures of people all around the world are central themes of this seminar. Students read current and classic scholarship in the traditions of Critical Ethnic Studies, Imperial Studies, Postcolonial Studies, and Settler Colonial Studies to interpret both empire and the cultural dynamics of power and resistance of colonized peoples. While course content focuses special attention on the US, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, the themes and methods of the course are global, and students are free to write their final research paper comparing any region of the world.