In this course we explore the relations between science and politics. Are science and politics two distinct domains of life, and if so, what differentiates them? How do they interact? We know that policies can be based on scientific research, and that scientific priorities can be shaped by political motives. But does scientific research ever resemble politics? Can politics affect, not just scientific objectives, but the very content of knowledge or truth? We will explore these questions by studying two major theorists of science and politics: Michel Foucault and Bruno Latour.

(Offered as POSC 366 and LJST 366 Analytic Seminar) By exposing structures of domination and coercion and undermining the beliefs and values which sustain them, Marxists seek to pave the way towards radical social transformation. Tensions arise between revolutionary politics and the “rule of law"; liberals revere and authoritarians impose. The Marxist critique of capitalism necessarily involves inquiry into law, since legal relations are mutually constitutive with other social relations and law is a crucial component in the totality of capitalist social relations.

Other than war, punishment is the most dramatic manifestation of state power. Whom a society punishes and how it punishes are key political questions as well as indicators of a state's character. The character of punishment in the United States has been shaped, throughout American history, by race and racism. This course considers the connections between punishment, race, and politics in this country. We will ask how far we have come in the journey from lynch mobs to the killing state.

(Offered as POSC 307 and SWAG 307) The global energy boom has increased states’ dependency on commodities across the world. From the Arctic to the Amazon, nation-states are putting large territories up for sale in an effort to turn nature into ‘quick cash.’ The unparalleled levels of extraction are accompanied by unparalleled violence against women, with levels of femicide on the rise in most of the world. Governments have expanded the extractive frontier, mining highlands, damming rivers, and clearing forests without prior consultation.

A growing number of International Relations (IR) scholars and foreign policy experts have begun to characterize current Great Power relations as having many fundamental features of a “New Cold War” while other IR scholars and policy experts insist that this Cold War label is a distortion of reality. This course will analyze today’s Great Power relations and review the explanatory value of this Cold War analogy.

Russia was among the first nations in the world to face political terrorism when in the 1870s the leftist People's Will group launched the hunt for Tsar Alexander II. The terrorist trend continued into the twentieth century; in 1918, the Socialist Revolutionary Party attempted to assassinate Lenin. Eradicated by Stalin, terrorism resurfaced in the 1990s, when Russia found itself under attack by Chechen separatists.

(Offered as POSC 269 and ASLC 269) This course aims to equip students with conceptual and theoretical abilities that are essential for understanding the complex but fascinating world of public policy. Theoretical knowledge will be illustrated through 11 real-world policy cases from the Asian context, covering a wide range of areas including health care, poverty alleviation, rural development, technology innovation, and education.

The course offers a comprehensive understanding of the intricate relationship between politics and the global economy. Why do some states receive benefits from globalization while others do not? We begin by examining key political economy theories and institutions that facilitated globalization both pre- and post-World War II and delve into the reasons behind the rise of economic nationalism in the Western world and beyond.

This course is a survey of some consequential ancient writings on enduring questions in political theory, such as democracy, authority, justice, freedom, and power. Among those whose writings we may explore are Aeschylus, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Paul. Focus will be on close reading of texts, supplemented by key secondary sources.

Requisite: Recommended prior coursework; Introduction to Political Theory. Limited to 30 students. Spring semester. Professor Dumm.

How to handle overenrollment: Priority to second-year students.

This class offers an introduction to the study of international relations. In its exploration of both classic and cutting-edge research, the class sheds light on enduring debates in studies of global politics, addressing foundational puzzles in international relations, including: when are countries more likely to cooperate while facing global crises? When do crises ignite nationalism, thus pushing countries to compete for resources? When is global trade more likely to come to a halt, and why?