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Josef Korbel School of International Studies

BA Course Descriptions


INTS 1500 Contmp Issues Global Economy (5 credits)
Introduction to a range of pressing problems and debates in today's global economy, such as global economy, global markets and the global commons. Students will have a good understanding of the policy challenges posed by global economic integration and theoretical framkeworks for understanding the functioning of the global economy.
INTS 1700 Intro International Politics (5 credits)
Central concepts and major theories to assist in organizing an understanding of international politics including balance of power, international organizations, foreign policy decision making, and conflict theory; application of current topics.
INTS 2030 International Violence (5 credits)
Violence and conflict have long plagued human history. This course will examine the evolution of violence from interstate war to non-state actors as well as violence within societies. Further, we will focus on other aspects of international violence including the major theories of international conflict and the causes of violence from a “levels of analysis” approach, in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of violence and the ways in which it works within the international realm of politics and life.
INTS 2040 International Organization (5 credits)
The number of international organizations has grown tremendously since World War II and as a result they have had a major impact on the nature of international politics and international society. This course will analyze, on a comparative basis, the reasons for the growth of these organizations, the motivations for their establishment, their structures and organizational dynamics, and the patterns of internal and external interactions. In this course we will focus on not only the United Nations and its various organs, but also the WTO, NATO, European Union, OPEC, OAS, to name a few.
INTS 2050 Ethics & Int'l Politics (5 credits)
An explanation of the moral implications of intervention in the internal affairs of another nation, the use of force in international politics, responsibility toward global health and hunger issues.
INTS 2080 News of the World (5 credits)
This course aims to explore the relationship of the media to international affairs. It begins with a look at how technological developments have made information networks more accessible than ever to ever-larger numbers of information consumers. What is the agenda-setting function of the press and what is the impact of the communications revolution on how “newsworthy” issues get covered? What is the relationship of media to government, in the West and in such countries such as China and Saudi Arabia? How have new communications technologies influenced international relations? Globalization may offer non-state actors an increasing number of opportunities to participate in foreign affairs, but to what extent do their actions really matter when it comes to making policy? Media play a crucial role in how nations perceive and communicate with each other. This course also provides an overview of the role media plays in international conflict, including war, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, and as a tool of public diplomacy. The course is conducted as a seminar with lectures and discussion. Discussion will spring from responses to weekly readings, student reports on media coverage of various “current events” topics, and, in some cases, documentary films. Students will read widely from the mainstream and alternative media.
INTS 2150 Global Environment (5 credits)
This course explores the nature of some environmental problems, such as stratospheric ozone depletion, deforestation, and climate change; and examines critically existing international agreements designed to address these problems. Besides providing students with material about all these issues, the course puts an emphasis on helping the students develop their research skills in environmental issues, including how best to find information about them. The hope is that this course will just be the beginning, not the end, of students education about global environmental policy.
INTS 2210 Anarchy or Order? Wrld Politcs (5 credits)
World politics is characterized by the absence of any overarching governmental authority; the "sovereignty" of individual states creates an international anarchy. This anarchy creates a permissive environment that influences how states and other global actors relate to each other. While violence, domination, and exploitation can be linked to this international anarchy, peaceful and voluntary cooperation are associated with it as well. As a result, a significant degree of order can often be identified within this anarchy. This course introduces the evolution of the modern international system and provides an overview of the major concepts and theoretical approaches used in the study of world politics. Students will examine the strengths and weaknesses of Realist, Liberal, and Marxist approaches and apply explanations from these approaches to assess the causes and consequences of war, globalization of markets and culture, environmental problems, and conflicts over international justice and human rights. The principle aim of the course is to provide an analytical framework to understand and evaluate international events and issues.
INTS 2250 Model United Nations (2 to 5 credits)
This course will introduce students to the United Nations System and the world of international diplomacy through preparation for several Model United Nations simulations. Students will research current issues before the UN from the perspective of other countries. Students will then represent these countries as diplomats at regional and national collegiate conferences, including the National Model UN in New York. Students will also participate in the Model Arab League at Metropolitan State College and the Rocky Mountain Model UN hosted by DU. No previous experience with Model United Nations or international studies is necessary.
INTS 2260 Politics of China and Japan (5 credits)
INTS 2270 Sustainable Energy (5 credits)
Events from sky-rocketing oil prices in the summer of 2008 to the upcoming climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009 have pushed energy onto the policy agenda. This course examines the political and policy problems, national and international, involved in trying to create a sustainable energy system. We begin by learning about how to think about energy as a system, how it is made up interlinked technological, political, social, and economic components. After discussing what is unsustainable about the current system, we delve into the challenges of changing the system to a more sustainable one. In addition to learning about some alternative energy technologies, we study how different countries, and international agreements, are trying to push the system into a new direction. This field is moving very rapidly. For that reason, students learn about diverse sources of information on energy and energy policy, from mass media to think tank and government reports to more traditional journal articles and books.
INTS 2300 Conflict Resolution (5 credits)
Exploration of peaceful, nonviolent mechanisms of bargaining and negotiation. Examination of levels of conflict and resolution setting between nations and ethnic groups, within community settings and in personal relationships. What universal principles apply to these conflicts and what kinds of negotiation works best to produce successful settlement in different settings.
INTS 2320 European Union (5 credits)
Some observers argue that European economic integration is quickly leading to the creation of a European super-state for the first time in history. Using approaches from both international and comparative political economy, this course will examine the extent to which this is true. Four issue areas to explore are the introduction of a common currency (the Euro), trade, the welfare state and European Union enlargement. Throughout, the course will address whether changes in European economic arrangements in fact lead to cross-national harmonization, or whether the political consequences are rather new manifestations of national styles.
INTS 2335 Mapping 21st Century Issues (5 credits)
Maps were once regarded as precious documents that only the monarchy and nobility possessed and understood. While today, most people have access to maps, very few understand how they are used and how they can be interpreted. Far from being neutral tools, maps and geography can be instruments of communication, persuasion and power. While not assuming the role of cartographers, you will become sophisticated students of global events through a greater knowledge of the countries of the world. Issues like ethnicity, resources and war will be analyzed from region to region in hopes of building a more thorough awareness of global events.
INTS 2350 Sex & Class in Latin America (4 credits)
This course explores the various roles of women in Latin America as well as the changing nature of these roles. Students will focus on a number of topics relating to sex and class, especially the intersection of the two. In particular, the emphasis here is on survival strategies, productive and reproductive roles, gender relations, and female political participation.
INTS 2370 Global Political Economy (5 credits)
Provides theoretical discourse on the political and economic dynamics of markets and governments, the changing economic and political role of the US in the international arena and the post-Cold War trend towards globalization while focusing on the tension between national security and the global economy.
INTS 2376 The Vietnam War (5 credits)
Focusing on the Vietnam War from various disciplines and perspectives. We look at military aspects of the war, popular culture and literary cinematic visions of the war.
INTS 2420 International Trafficking (5 credits)
Despite efforts of the international community, the trafficking of persons continues to be a problem that plagues the world. People from all walks of life are trafficked everyday for the purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labor, or organ removal. Though no one society or group of people is immune to this crime, women and children are the ones who are disproportionately trafficked. Given this reality, this course will examine trafficking with a focus on women and children. We will discuss the different types and patterns of trafficking and the effects they have at the individual, state and global level.
INTS 2470 Crime & International Politics (5 credits)
How do feature films depict international relations? This course attempts to answer the question by looking at topics such as war, ethics, and international behavior, freedom, nationalism, crisis management, and power politics. We will proceed on two levels. The first is metaphoric in which we explore crime films which deal with personality and decision making in anarchic and unpredictable environments, the nature of loyalty, and possibilities of violence. The second deals specifically with how films promote certain readings of international events which may or may not be true. The power of film both worries historians and students of international affairs because it has much greater impact on the viewer than the writing of professional. Perhaps this has always been true (after all, William Shakespeare has influenced our picture of English history), but media power today may have an even greater capacity to distort. Using films and segments of film shown in class, we will study how films depict American Foreign Policy, imperialism and cultural interchange, and slavery and freedom, in addition to readings which will further illuminate these themes.
INTS 2480 Religion & Int'l Politics (5 credits)
Ata a time when religion plays such an important role in international relations it is remarkable how little attention has been paid to it by scholars in International Politics. As has been the case through much of human history, religion has shaped and formed war, ethnic cleansing, and the formation of the nation state. In this course, we examine the role of religion in international relations. The course also deals with two other topics of importance that are often absent from the field: extra legal justice on the international scene and the meaning and reasons for intelligence failure.
INTS 2500 Int'l Health & Development (5 credits)
Health and development are held to be symbiotic in the production of economic and human well-being. However, the concept of health varies across context, institutions, geographies, and scale. This course will focus on the meaning, measurement, financing and delivery of ‘health care’ and the interaction of human well-being with other aspects of development.
INTS 2510 Bugs, Behaviors and Borders (5 credits)
As the world becomes a smaller place through globalization, population shifts, environmental changes and technological expansion, the likelihood of emergence and spread of diseases and adverse health conditions becomes a stark reality. "Disease knows no borders" is not simply a tired platitude, but rather a call to action for health care delivery professionals, as well as political, social, religious, economic and development leaders. This course focuses on major challenges in global health including the most virulent diseases, actors and actions, influences of culture, money religion and socialization, and implications for the future.
INTS 2520 Development, Rights & Freedom (5 credits)
This course is designed to help you understand key political and economic forces shaping the world. Students examine theories and recent re-structuring of international production trade and aid; the structure and behavior of global organizations. Students adopt a low-income nation to play the role of its CEO.
INTS 2570 Exp. Virtue? Promo Dem Abroad (5 credits)
Today, more than 88 of 191 countries in the world are nominally democracies, and another 53 are deemed by researchers to be "partial" democracies. Simply, more countries are now putatively democratic than ever before. The course explores democratization - the means and methods by which countries in recent years have moved from a non-democratic to democratic regime type. What theories, concepts, and methods should be used to understand democracy and democratization in today's complex, multiethnic societies? Should the United States and its allies promote democracy around the world?
INTS 2600 Terrorism and U.S. Security (5 credits)
Our full docket in international security for the 21st century includes international crime, nuclear testing and weapons proliferation, chemical and biological weapons, military uses of space, arms control, national and ethnic strife, terrorism, war. Videos and simulations make these international security issues real!
INTS 2610 International Economics (5 credits)
This is a course that surveys the principle types of international economic activities, their benefits for individual national economies, and the problems that they have sometimes created for those economies. We will thus examine the patterns of international trade and the changes in its volume over time, the protectionist measures that are commonly used, and various international trade agreements. We will also study the international monetary system, mechanisms that determine exchange rates between different national currencies, the international capital market, and the international debt problem. Throughout the course, international economic relations between the United States and other countries will be used as illustrations.
INTS 2675 US Foreign Pol in War & Peace (5 credits)
While some scholars assumed that the world would be more peaceful after the end of the Cold War and issues of war and peace less immediate, this seems not to have been the case. The United States, as the world’s only super power, has fought various wars in the Persian Gulf and one in Afghanistan in recent decades and been involved in major and minor ways in conflicts around the Globe. Understanding United States foreign policy has become acute for all citizens and it is with this in mind that this course, United States Foreign Policy in War and Peace is offered. The “Prologue” for our exploration of the United States foreign policy is World War II and our longest serving president, Franklin Roosevelt. In the Post-War years we examine the origins of the Cold War and, in particular, the role of the United States’ foreign policy as it intervenes in countries because of its conflict with the Soviet Union. Korea will be covered in depth because it is our first military response to fear of expanding communism. A major part of the course focuses on two complex stories: the triumph of Fidel Castro in Cuba and American involvement in the Vietnam War. Although these events take place in different corners of the globe, they are connected in many ways in the minds of U.S. policy makers. Vietnam can be viewed as America’s last Asian war as we switch our attention to the Middle East, more specifically the Persian Gulf. Here we will study, arguably the most important event in that region of the world, the Iranian Revolution of 1979 which spawns three wars, which I have relabeled the First, Second, and Third Persian Gulf Wars. This is a history course but with an important difference. Along the way, we will be examining which theories of international politics: i.e.: realism, democratic peace theory, or “something else” which explains why the United States is acting as it does in the foreign policy arena.
INTS 2700 Topics in Intn'l Studies (5 credits)
INTS 2701 Topics in Int'l Studies (5 credits)
INTS 2702 Topics in Int'l Studies (5 credits)
INTS 2703 Topics in Int'l Studies (5 credits)
INTS 2704 Topics in Int'l Studies (5 credits)
INTS 2708 Contemp U.S. Foreign Policy (5 credits)
When the United States first won its independence, its leaders sought to avoid at all costs the countless problems awaiting any country engaging in foreign affairs. Indeed, John Quincy Adams, in 1821, warned the United States of the dangers of "going abroad in search of monsters to destroy." In September of 2002, however, as American forces occupied one country and prepared to invade another, the Bush Administration released its National Security Strategy of the United States, which states: "To contend with uncertainty and to meet the many challenges we face, the United States will require bases and stations within and beyond Western Europe and Northeast Asia, as well as temporary access arrangements for long-distance deployment of U.S. forces." How did we go from isolation to empire? In this course, we will attempt to answer this question by exploring the progression of American foreign policy from its emergence out of isolation to its current stage of interventionist superpower. We will also identify and discuss key issues that are driving America's conduct abroad as well as evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the given policies addressing these important issues. By the end of the class, students should have a solid knowledge of the major themes and developments in the history of American foreign policy as well as the ability to critically reflect upon on-going foreign policy debates.
INTS 2715 Intro Comparative Politics (5 credits)
This course offers an introduction to the comparative study of political systems throughout the world. In the years following World War II, social scientists traveled extensively to newly decolonized regions of the world to examine societies there. Many found conditions so distinct from those of the western world that they warranted new models of political development. The distinguishing of development patterns in remote regions from those of western nations became the origin of modern comparative politics. The course considers both the impact of internal and external variables on political development. Internal or "domestic" variables include ideology, geography, economics and culture, while external variables include "globalization" and international conflict. Class includes understanding and critique of models of political development including classical liberal, authoritarian, communist, post-communist, "late" development, and social democratic models. It also includes discussion of possible new models in light of globalization and other factors.
INTS 2770 Intro to International Law (5 credits)
This course aims to introduce students to the basic contours, tenets, and principles of international law (IL). Topics considered include IL's history; subjects, including states, peoples/nations, individuals, and international organizations; the interplay of international and municipal law; the developing law of state responsibility; and contemporary topical issues and developments in international law such as human rights and humanitarian law; international environmental law; inter-state courts and tribunals; the International Criminal Court; and the use of force.
INTS 2840 Introduction to Human Rights (5 credits)
At every stage of history, voices of protest against oppression have been heard; in every age, visions of human liberation have also been eclipsed. As we moved to modern times, these voices and visions have been transplanted into programs of social action, and at times incorporated into the constitutions of states. Yes despotic regimes, wars, natural disasters and civil strife have periodically crushed the very foundations of rights acquired across the centuries or replaced old liberties with new concepts of rights. The aftermath of the world wars, and more recently of the could war witnessed upheavals among historically competing visions of rights. Today, from the International Women's Conference to the debate over humanitarian intervention, interest in human rights is evidently strong and growing. To help informing the resurgent debate over conflicting perspectives on rights, this course will focus on human rights as understood throughout history by its chief adherents. Students will learn about the key international legal documents and mechanisms to protect human rights, as a preliminary foundation to tackle contemporary issues. They will investigate human rights abuses today and how human rights organizations are combating these violations and other oppression.
INTS 2860 Contagious Diseases/Int'l Pol (5 credits)
Diseases do not respect international borders. When the Black Death arrived in Europe it came to Italy in a relatively leisurely fashion: by boat. Today, air travel and the sheer volume of people crossing international borders means that germs and viruses can find fertile new turf in hours. This course looks at the history of contagious diseases, the interstices between social science and medicine and medical assessment of contagious diseases both today and in the future. This course is features guest lectures by experts in international relations and public health.
INTS 2900 International Arms Trade (5 credits)
A term coined to focus on profiteers selling weapons that were later used in mass killings of World War I brings our attention to a very lucrative global arms trade that today focuses advance technologies to even more effective but destructive purposes. Beyond economic gain and technology spin-offs, advocates national arsenals as contributing to security: if you want peace, then prepare for war is their view.
INTS 2925 Arms Control & the Nuclear Age (5 credits)
Historical efforts to limit or eliminate armaments were given new impetus by the advent of the nuclear age in 1945. Yet despite important achievements in the limitation of some types of weapons, two nations (the United States and Russia) retain capabilities sufficient to destroy human civilization, and an increasing number of actors are developing weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them. The spectel of a future attack by Al Qaeda with mass destruction weapons, the ongoing risk of nuclear war between India and Pakistan, the recent United States withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and the apparent U.S. willingness to go to war if necessary to disarm Iraq, all dramatize the need to understand the role of arms control in the search for international security.
INTS 2930 Latin Amer Cult, Polit, & Soc (5 credits)
This course is dedicated to a search for the cultural and social continuity that can inform and transcend the economic and political disunity and fragmentation of the Latin American world. Despite the huge historical obstacles related to the long authoritarian traditions of the Pre-Colombian and Iberian Empires, a genuine rediscovery of cultural and social values can provide Latin America with the necessary economic and political convergence to successfully implement models of development related to its own cultural actuality.
INTS 2950 WTO & Globalization (5 credits)
A world upside down: study of the background of events at Battle of Seattle, protests in Davos and review a growing world-wide anti-globalization protest movements, and their place with in globalization issue.
INTS 2975 21st Cent Global Governance (5 credits)
In the 21st century, more and more international cooperation will be required to confront problems of international independence, many of which arise from globalization (increased trade, migration, and communication). This course examines problems that spill across international boundaries and can't be solved by governments acting alone. From weapons of mass destruction to infectious diseases, from global climate change to preserving the world's commons (oceans, Antarctica), there are many modern issues that require international cooperation and collective solutions. This course investigates contemporary challenges that require international cooperation, and analyzes what are known as transnational issues, their importance for global society, and the international "regime" that has development in recent years to manage them. The course ends with a look at future directions in global governance.
INTS 2992 Directed Study (1 to 10 credits)
INTS 3000 Research Methodologies (4 credits)
This course is designed for advanced undergraduates, especially honors students, and dual degree students who intend to write a thesis. It will function as an overview of general methodologies related to independent scholarly research in international affairs and in the social sciences. At the end of the course students will have a basic understanding of the appropriate methods for dealing with their studies and interests in International Studies, based on a broad overview of both qualitative and quantitative social science methodologies. In addition, students will develop a thesis proposal for their INTS thesis project.
INTS 3001 Research Design (4 or 5 credits)
This course is designed for those students working on a larger research project, particularly honors students. The purpose of this class is to aid students in the process of and the understanding about how to craft a research proposal/design that will serve as the backbone of their research project/thesis. Though this course will often function like a workshop, we will discuss how to come up with an issue area and a more narrowed topic (including research questions), the nature and role of literature reviews, and the other major components of a traditional research proposal. The overall objective of this course will be to lead students to a final research proposal which they can present to a faculty member with whom they would like to work on their thesis.
INTS 3020 Intro to Mid Est/Islamic Poltc (5 credits)
The contemporary politics of the Middle East cannot be understood without some debate of the West's relationship with the region and the associated view of the Orient that grew out of this relationship. In light of this reality, the state system that has emerged in the region since the demise of colonialism forms a suitable framework in which to understand the major themes of this course. The first major theme to be discussed is the impact of colonialism on the region, particularly in the latter half of the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century. In this section of the course we explore the nature of political rule and government and the prevailing economic motive behind this imperial and colonial relationship. The second theme of this course explores political ideologies, both secular and religious. A historical overview of this development will be explored in the context of current theories of nationalism posited by authors such as Benedict Anderson, Eric Hobsbawm and Ernest Gellner. The final section of this course briefly explores the theme of democratization and its discontents in the Middle East. The focus is on recent debates about democratization that have been promoted from outside the region as a means of combating tyranny within the region, particularly the perceived anti-democratic nature of political Islam.
INTS 3030 Sports & Int'l Politics (5 credits)
From ancient times to the 21st century, international sports have been infused with distinctly political significance. When the torch is lit and the play begins there is much more at stake than the simple winners and losers in the athletic disciplines - global sports is a deep-seated competition for national pride. This course explores the complex interplay between sports and international politics in the past and present.
INTS 3031 Olympics & International Peace (5 credits)
This course features applied research on the intersection between sports and international politics in the Olympic Movement. The course addresses the question: Does the Olympic movement contribute to international peace? If so, how can we tangibly determine the impact and contribution athletes, games, and cross-cultural interactions make to international peace? How can the Olympic Movement's contribution to peace be strengthened?
INTS 3165 Communism to Capitalism (5 credits)
The early 20th century saw the first transitions to socialism (or communism) with the political success of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. As there were no models for such a transition from a market economy (or capitalism), it was mostly a stab into the unknown. As history has made clear, that ‘stab into the unknown’ went badly – economically, socially, politically. Then at the end the 20th century, communism collapsed quickly and dramatically with a few notable exceptions. And just as there were no blueprints for the transition from Capitalism to Communism, there are no blueprints for the transition from Communism back to Capitalism, although 20 years later, we do have a fair number of case studies. The two most famous case studies contrast the transition from administration command-style communism to market capitalism in Russia and China. The Russian transition was quite bumpy and at a certain moment during the late 1990s it was not at all clear that Russia itself would survive as a nation. It is rather startling how much stronger the country is economically today. China’s transition, while also turbulent in some respects, has, to date, been far smoother. This course explores, compares and contrasts the Russian and Chinese transition models looking at developments in both the political (levels of democratization) and economic (relations between markets and states) realms.
INTS 3170 Rich States, Poor States (5 credits)
We will begin with a problem that seems to be on everyone’s agenda these days: immigration. It is not our goal to set policy or to resolve the often times ferocious disputes that have become common, but to deepen our understanding of how we arrived at a point where millions of illegal aliens have resettled in Europe and the United States in hopes of a better life. From there we will examine issues such as disease, geography, culture, demographic structuralism, imperialism, revolution and a host of other topics in an attempt to understand our large question: Why are some nations rich and others very poor? And the corollary questions here is, of course, what can be done about it?
INTS 3171 Political Economy of the EU (5 credits)
Some observers argue that European economic integration is quickly leading to the creation of a European super-state for the first time in history. Using approaches from both international and comparative political economy, this course examines the extent to which this is true. To unpack the debate, we explore four issue areas, including the introduction of a common currency (the Euro); the Common Agricultural Policy and global trade; European Union enlargement; and the evolutions of a common defense policy. Throughout, the course addresses whether changes in the European economic arrangements in fact lead to cross-national harmonization, or whether the political consequences are rather new manifestations of national styles.
INTS 3230 Social Change in Latin America (5 credits)
This class looks at three issues that are emblematic of the crisis facing the region in the 21st Century, and the grassroots responses and strategies emerging from them. The issues are 1) Amazonian Development, 2) The Global Factory, and 3) Coffee and the Global Economy.
INTS 3235 Gender and Intl Relations (5 credits)
In the field of International Politics, gender is a highly useful and highly contested lens for analyzing international phenomenon. Though gender is often used interchangeably with the category “woman,” particularly in some feminist literature, the concept of gender goes far beyond that of women and encompasses things such as masculinities, femininities, heterosexuality and homosexuality. In light of the multiple aspects of gender, this course will explore the meanings of gender, including feminism, and their relationships to international affairs. The first half of the course will examine various conceptualizations of gender and feminism and why it is useful for International Politics. In particular, this part of the course will consider gender as identity as it relates to masculinities, femininities and queer theory and practice. The second part of the course will consider how gender and these gender identities bear on different areas in international relations including: the state and nationalism; war and security; international political economy; and, foreign policy. The overall purpose of this course will be to introduce students to the different meanings behind gender and how to use gender lenses in their analyses of International Politics. Upon completing the course, students will have a better understanding of the significance of gender and its causes and effects in the international sphere and its usefulness to the study and practice of IP and related subfields
INTS 3240 Gender & the Global Economy (5 credits)
This course will explore the cultural, social, and political-economic bases for the positioning of women and men in the global economy. We will examine labor relations in "off-shore" manufacturing (both large and small scale), urban informal sectors, and rural economic development (global agriculture, forestry, and aqua-culture). We will also explore the gendered divisions of labor and economic decision-making within households and community-based institutions. We will explore ways in which gender ideologies and social norms influence divisions of labor in both household and transnational economies. And we will examine ways in which the division of labor in transnational economies can influence gender ideologies and the social and economic well-being of women and men within their households and local communities. The course is most appropriate for "4 plus 1" students and for other upper-level undergraduate student who have complete introductory courses in cultural anthropology or the sociology of gender.
INTS 3245 Birth, Death & GL Youth Crisis (5 credits)
This course will examine past and future global population trends, with an eye on the theories, techniques and abuses of limiting population growth beginning with the early 20th Century Eugenics movement, the Birth Control movement of the same period, looking at its evolution in the Post-World War II period. In the Post-WW II period, we will look at the factors leading to the postwar population explosion, finishing off with current and future trends. Throughout the course, we will explore how population theories have been connected to economic development and GNP. Along the way, we will study the Eugenics movement in the USA and Nazi Germany, the post-war attempts at birth control as a result of new technologies and some of the more famous case studies: Post-World War II sterilization campaigns in Puerto Rico, the birth control movements in China and India, and recent cases of sterilization abuse (Native Americans in the 1970s, Peru under Fugimori). We will end by looking at the different predictions for population growth in the coming decades.
INTS 3251 Advanced Model UN (1 credits)
Preparation for participation in national and regional Model U.N. conferences.
INTS 3260 Culture of Sacrifice-War/Revln (5 credits)
Why have so many people in the twentieth century been willing to fight and die for causes as varied as the nation state and the idea of revolutionary progress? Is there something called a culture of sacrifice in our time that explains battlefield deaths? Is self-sacrifice fading at the end of the century along with the symbols that made mass killings a commonplace?
INTS 3270 Israel (5 credits)
Surrounded by Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and by the Mediterranean Coast, Israel is a country of little more than six million people, and the same size as the state of New Jersey. Despite its small size and population it is the center of the world's attention. In this class we will study and analyze the historical and sociological dimensions of understanding the state of Israel.
INTS 3280 Arabs/Israelis: War or Peace? (5 credits)
Two professors, two views of conflict and peace in the Middle East Dr. Shaul Gabbay, an Israeli-born American citizen and DU professor, and Dr. Amin Kazak, a Palestinian-born American citizen and UCD professor both will co-teach "Arabs & Israelis Peace and Conflict.” This is an upper-division course in international and regional affairs. As a case study, the Arab-Israeli conflict has been referred to as a protracted and intransigent ethno-religious conflict. In discussion about the Arab-Israeli conflict, there has continually been a sense that there is no immediate solution. This course seeks to dispel this fallacy, and explores the evolution of peace which has been in the making more than half century. Both professors will discuss and explain their own perspective and different views and will examine conflict and violence as well as promises of cooperation and peaceful change between Israelis and Palestinians. Effective means for diminishing the level of violence and potential for cooperative coexistence are explored.
INTS 3285 Contemporary Arab World (5 credits)
The purpose and scope of this course is to provide a new theoretical and pragmatic framework that contributes to a deeper understanding of Arabs and their place in the Twenty-First century. It is intended to present and portrait Arab society without overlooking its complexity and specificity. In doing so, the course examines the social, economic, political, and ideological structures of contemporary Arab world. The course overviews the social history of the region and of its cultural specificity: Islam. It examines also the structure and dynamics of contemporary Arab society including the questions of ethnicity, religious sects, social class and their interactions. The issues of gender and family are considered.
INTS 3290 Clash of Cultures (5 credits)
Examination of reemerging conflict between ethnic groups, civilizations and religions and its challenge to the state and global system. Issues include identity, wealth, democratization and globalization.
INTS 3300 Drug War (5 credits)
Drugs are in the news as usual. A few years ago, a Canadian Snowboarder lost his gold medal in the Winter Olympics and then won it back in a marijuana equivalent of Paradise Lost and then Regained. Our recently retired Drug Czar and his office, according to some commentators, bribed the media to run anti-drug messages in crime shows and sit-coms. Meanwhile there is great confusion and ambivalence on the drug issue. In this course, you will learn about drugs and drug policy from a wide variety of perspectives. You will see how understanding this complex problem can only be viewed from both international and domestic perspectives. Most importantly this course is not tainted by government, law enforcement, or drug users.
INTS 3310 Disaster and Global Response (5 credits)
While we have substantial literature on how countries and communities respond to internal natural and manmade disaster, we know much less about international response. Through concentration on a number of important catastrophes, the students will focus on the variables that explain how and why the international community responds with both vigor and, in some cases, little interest.
INTS 3323 Japan & the World Economy (5 credits)
This course will use the basic concepts and theories of international political economy to study the role of Japanese economy in the world in our time. The evolution of the Japanese and the world economy will be one focus of the course. The other focus will be the impact of the economic forces currently at work as well as possible future shocks on the well-being of the Japanese and the world economy.
INTS 3325 Contagious Diseases/Int'l Pol (5 credits)
Diseases do not respect international borders. When the Black Death arrived in Europe it came to Italy in a relatively leisurely fashion: by boat. Today, air travel and the sheer volume of people crossing international borders means that germs and viruses can find fertile new turf in hours. This course looks at the history of contagious diseases, the interstices between social science and medicine and medical assessment of contagious diseases both today and in the future. Team-taught by international relations and public health experts.
INTS 3330 Politics of The Middle East (5 credits)
The Middle East has long been an area marked by political violence and instability. However, it is also a region with a rich history and culture that is undergoing rapid social, economic, and political change. The goal of the course is to explore the major political issues of the Middle East beneath the headlines and to focus on the underlying forces and dynamics that create and shape those issues. These include the nature of the traditional society, the emergence of fundamental religious feelings and movements, and the tendencies towards democratization. Among questions addressed will be: Has U.S. policy towards the Middle East, especially its support of Israel, created the present terrorist situation? What are the implications of Islamic terrorism for the safety and security of the U.S.? What policies should we adopt to deal with the terrorist threat?
INTS 3340 China: Rise/Reform-Communism (5 credits)
This course in an introduction to the political and economic development of the People's Republic of China. We will examine the historical settings of the Chinese communist revolution, the institutional development of the communist state, major political-economic events in the PRC history (the Hundred Flow Campaign, Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution) and explain political dynamics of post-Mao economic reforms and democratic movement.
INTS 3360 Women Cross-Cult Perspective (4 credits)
This course is designed to confront questions about women that are at once compelling and confusing to students of gender and female status. It addresses such issues as why women have been subordinate to men in so many cultures, how one actually measures dominance and subordination, and whether there is some biological basis for gender inequality. Initially, broad theoretical questions on the status of women will be discussed; indeed they will form the basis for the more analytical subjects to follow. There is no doubt that we will be in the midst of an intellectual war zone. On almost all fronts we will come face to face with contradictory and debatable perspectives. It will be the goal of the class that all of us develop our critical faculties to see how one's scholar work raises certain questions that others do not. In short, we will jump right into the fray and hope we emerge satisfied with our efforts, yet hungry for more.
INTS 3375 World Food/World Hunger (5 credits)
Anthropology teaches that food is emotional, political, life-determining. It colors life for the half-billion rich people of the world. But the search for food, and the daily worry about what a family will eat has a terrible immediacy for almost 1.5 billion people in the world who are the hungry and the malnourished. This class examines the world food problem in as much depth as possible, given our 10 weeks together. Its basic questions are "Why are people hungry?" and "What can we do about hunger?" The class will be taught as a seminar. We will use both macro-level and micro-level analysis to try to understand the context in which hunger arises, chronic hunger and food poverty, types hunger, etc.
INTS 3385 Migrants & Refugees (5 credits)
This course begins with the pre-history and history of human migrations and moves to cover the era of European colonization and forced dispersal (and in some cases aggregation) of peoples in the Americas, S.E. Asia, and Africa. The "contemporary" (i.e., post-WWII) era then covers not only the movements of peoples from C. Africa, S.E. Asia, the Balkans, and elsewhere, but will highlight the achievements of immigrants and refugees in such areas as technology, the arts, and the field of human rights. Issues of ethnicity, nationalism, and political Diasporas will bring this the contemporary era to a close.
INTS 3390 Women and Development (4 credits)
This course examines theories of gender and development by situating them in the modern contexts. An attempt would be made to (a) define term GENDER as a tool of analysis and DEVELOPMENT as a scale, which is being used to measure changes in modern societies (b) integrate both terms (c) assess use-fullness of Gender and Development (GAD) approach in policy and planning of the states and human rights activism at local and global level. By the end of this course students would be able to understand and critique GAD approach in their own contexts.
INTS 3395 Guns, Hunger and Children (5 credits)
This course will deliberate on the complexities of international interventions on behalf of children. Two images of third world children are vividly present in the international mind: 1) the hungry toddler with a distended stomach, and 2) the shirtless preteen with a machine-gun strapped across their chest. The distressing circumstances behind these images have moved a wide range of international organizations to action. While these efforts have had both successes and failures, they have not dramatically stemmed the tide of either problem. As a class, we will consider the strengths and weaknesses of international responses to the issues of child malnutrition and child soldiers around the world. Where programs have failed, we will investigate alternative solutions.
INTS 3410 Law & Society in a Global Age (5 credits)
An examination of why and how international law is based on treaties, customs, general principles and interpretation of international and national courts.
INTS 3450 Prosecutn, Penance & Pinochet (5 credits)
This course examines national and international judicial responses to the commission of serious violations of international human rights. Specifically, we will consider the concept of universal jurisdiction, the International Criminal Court, and several trials of individuals for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide, including Hannah Arendt’s gripping and controversial account of Adolf Eichmann’s 1961 trial, the 1998 judicial saga over the arrest of General Augusto Pinochet, and the Irving v. Lipstadt trial centering on Holocaust denial, among others. Overall, we ruminate on how these legal developments effectuate an emergent and (surprisingly?) effective cosmopolitan law.
INTS 3480 Great Powers - Int'l Relations (5 credits)
A comparative evaluation of the foreign and defense policies of various nation states; the emphasis is on conditions in the international system, national priorities and objectives, policy making, implementing processes and foreign policy outputs.
INTS 3570 Political Econ of Development (5 credits)
INTS 3580 Amer FP: Emerging Challenges (5 credits)
Items on the current American foreign policy agenda are characterized by unprecedented diversity. Gone are the days of simple strategies for dealing with singular challenges like westward expansion or the threat of communism. While historical experience should certainly be our guide, assorted challenges like the rise of China, humanitarian intervention, environmental security, trade policy, the war on terror and nuclear proliferation demand a novel approach to foreign policy making in the twenty-first century. In this course, we will first examine the theoretical tradition of the field and then identify – using the events of September 11th, 2001 as a watershed – the primary characteristics of modern American foreign policy doctrines. How is grand strategy today similar to that of 1814 or 1914? How is it different? Most importantly, we will critically evaluate current strategies in light of the obstacles that face the United States today and those that are likely to emerge in the near future. Can we improve on the ideas currently favored by key leaders in Washington?
INTS 3600 Int'l Monetary Relations (5 credits)
We investigate the operation and evolution of today's international monetary system; it will investigate both the politics and economics of international monetary negotiations, and will examine several key public policy debates that concern governments and investors around the world. The course will be an introduction to these timely and important issues, and will be organized around lecture, class debates, and discussion.
INTS 3621 Comp Democ in Western Europe (5 credits)
This course is a comparative study of democratic governments in Western Europe and how these polities are structured and function, particularly with regard to the regulation of conflict. Democracy is the institutionalization of conflict, but democratic regimes vary with regard to the ways that they structure the arenas within which conflict is expressed. Presidential vs. parliamentary systems, as well as fragmented multi-party systems vs. majoritarian two-party systems, for example, are extremely important distinctions that have important consequences for the nature of politics within a society. So, too, are the nature of political parties and the dynamics of party systems and the shape and structure of the public opinion and major political attitudes. The study of Western Democratic polities, however, requires some retrospective historical analysis of the nature of the conflicts emerging since the creation of the Modern States. Many of the present conflicts in Contemporary Democratic Regimes are still legacies from the long lasting and conflictual emergence of the contemporary States. We also spend some time in analyzing retrospectively.
INTS 3630 Global Environment (5 credits)
The linkages between social change, economic change and alterations to ecosystems have been apparent, if not overtly acknowledged, throughout history. It was not until 1987, however, with the publication of Our Common Future, that such linkages were couched in terms of development and explicitly placed on the international development agenda. The idea appears simple - environmental change, patterns of social change and economic development, social and political factors operate together and impact local, national, regional and global ecosystems. But impacts of the change in any one sector are seldom confined within national boundaries. How then does one address environmental issues across different regulatory, political, institutional and geographic scales? This course examines the connectivity between diverse elements of our planet's ecosystem, explores how a change in one element can have immediate and long-term impacts across local and global territory, and looks at strategies to create greater harmony across environmental, social, political and economic interests.
INTS 3640 Dirty Politics (5 credits)
This course explores the relationship between scandal, corruption, high profile domestic events, and international politics. From the Dreyfus Case in France with its profound impact on Franco-British relations in Africa to President Clinton's actions in Kosovo with the Lewinsky affair in the backdrop. The course features a number of films which will be analyzed and evaluated against the historical literature.
INTS 3680 Gringos & Gauchos (5 credits)
The objective of this course is to provide students at the undergraduate level with a general overview of the basics of conducting business in Latin America. This will include contextual background in various elements that influence the conduct of business, both internationally and from the unique perspective of the Latin American commerce. This goal will be achieved by developing a working understanding of the historical, cultural, commerical, economic, legal and regulatory ground rules of doing business in Latin America from the perspective of American business and investment interests.
INTS 3690 Peacemaking & Peacebuilding (5 credits)
After a brief review of conflict concepts, this course will provide an overview of the nature and roles of third parties in conflict intervention. Theoretical perspectives and case analyses will be used to understand the situations in which third parties operate. Coverage of other third-party roles such as conciliator, arbitrator, facilitator, monitor, and trainer will be included. Current issues in mediation and peace-building will be discussed.
INTS 3692 Reconciliation in Intl Affairs (5 credits)
Restorative justice moves beyond the limitations of retributive justice to offer a refreshingly different framework for thinking about wrongdoing. Restorative justice acknowledges the injuries sustained by victims as well as the damaged relationships that result from any wrongdoing and focuses on healing for all those involved. This course will introduce students to the principles that underlie restorative justice and focus on truth commissions as the primary restorative justice practice used in the context of post-conflict societies. Students will examine a range of issues which interweave with consideration of restorative justice and reconciliation in international affairs, including: forgiveness, healing and trauma, reparations. Using South Africa as the primary case study, this course will invite students to consider questions concerning alternatives to and the design of truth commissions, and to critique the effectiveness of truth commissions in promoting reconciliation. The class will be highly experiential in nature. In that the restorative justice practice of talking circles promotes dialogue, allows participants to see each other in a new light and builds relationships, it offers a taste of the process of reconciliation. The practice of talking circles will be used as a core modality for class discussion.
INTS 3695 Nonviolence (5 credits)
The Bush administration has made aggression and so-called pre-emptive war central to the international conduct of the U.S. government. But such conduct - through the invitation to a new competition in nuclear arms, through the use of depleted uranium which has poisoned Iraq and American GIs in both Gulf Wars - will threaten over time life on this planet. Non-violence as a way of resolving conflict internationally and over issues of justice at home is not a part of this prevailing political agenda. This course will consider whether it might be. We will consider why policy discussions in academia and even political science and sociology make it difficult to explore nonviolence as a political alternative. We will also explore the dialogue between fair minded proponents of nonviolent and violent resistance to grave injustices. We will read works by Jonathan Shell, Barbara Deming, Gandhi, King, Frantz Fanon, Locke, Gene Sharp, Max Weber, Hannah Arendt, Ackermann and Duvall, and others.
INTS 3701 Topics in Int'l Studies (1 to 5 credits)
INTS 3702 Topics in Int'l Studies (1 to 5 credits)
INTS 3703 Topics in Int'l Studies (1 to 5 credits)
INTS 3705 Topics in Int'l Studies (1 to 5 credits)
INTS 3708 Topics in Int'l Studies (1 to 5 credits)
INTS 3720 Cult, Econ & Pol Latin America (5 credits)
This course offers a study of historical and contemporary issues in Latin American political and social development. This will include a consideration of the impact of European arrival on indigenous peoples, the struggle for independence, social movements and the emergence of the modern state. We follow this with an investigation of contemporary issues including poverty, authoritarianism, human rights movements and democratic development, recent challenges to the international monetary system, and the evolving nature of U.S.-Latin American relations.
INTS 3725 Politics & Soc-Contemp Mexico (5 credits)
Mexico's here and now is the here and now of an endless crisis. Urban and rural lives in Mexico are the loyal mirror of a generalized situation throughout the country: Economic injustice with social disintegration. The lost illusions of the Mexican middle class, the gradual disappearance of local economies, the segregation and discrimination of indigenous groups, the anguish at the tables of peasants or urban workers, the rampant corruption of leaders and institutions, the need for massive migration to the North, all together offer us an extended portrait of everything that is anonymous and has been lost: cities, individuals, hopes. The eleventh largest economy in the world cannot have fifty million of its citizens living under conditions of extreme poverty. But Mexico is changing. Indeed, the country has been changing and moving through evolution and revolution, elections and mass movements. It is changing because its citizens are changing and quickly becoming the protagonists of Mexican history, outflanking the state, the army, political parties, even the Catholic Church and its undeniable influence on the circles of power. This course will analyze contemporary Mexico and his effort to establish a more diverse and inclusive democratic regime. An endless cultural manifestation, civil participation and grass-root movements have provided Mexico with the necessary social and political empowerment to start building a genuine democracy and to overcome ancient social and political vices. By focusing on the way civil society organizes, coordinates and interacts, this course will emphasize the importance of enforcing human and civil rights, will explore the liberal notion of citizenship, and will promote the idea of peaceful conflict resolution through the establishment of an authentic democratic dialogue.
INTS 3731 Comparative Health Care Policy (5 credits)
Regardless of who we are, where we live, and what we believe, we are all born, we all age, and at various points in time, we all get sick thus making health a universal concern and a universal human right. While our concern about health may be universal, the experience of sickness and health is not. The reality of limited human and fiscal resources for health care provision creates a diverse landscape of choice and outcomes. Globally, nations are confronting a health care crisis as policy makers consider trade-offs between differing paradigms of public responsibility and resource allocation. A central concern for public policy is thus, "At what cost, health?" It is with this in mind that we explore dominant models of health care financing and delivery. We first look at the ethical, philosophical, and economic questions which underpin public healthcare policy. We then explore the specific models of health care financing and delivery currently used in the United States. Next, we compare the principles and mechanisms of health care in the U.S. to those in the United Kingdom. We conclude by examining pluralistic health care (and change) in the context of resource poor nations.
INTS 3735 Carib Basin: Cult & Politics (5 credits)
Covers political development in the Caribbean Basin region, specifically that of Mexico, Central America, and the island nations of the Caribbean, in light of the region's proximity to the United States. Includes an examination of internal factors of development such as geography, economics, demographics and the legacies of colonization on one hand, and the impact of U.S. economic and security concerns in the region on the other. It also considers strategies of U.S. foreign policy over the last century including diplomacy, direct intervention, developmental and military aid, economic embargo, and intelligence gathering. Comparative analysis takes in issues of ongoing political conflict, stability, growth and human rights in various countries in the region.
INTS 3750 World Security: China-Russia (5 credits)
Extending across the great Eurasian landmass, Russian and China are destined to be major players in world politics. Politically and economically both countries are going through great changes. What does this mean for the peace and stability of the world?
INTS 3755 Political Islam (5 credits)
The removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime in Iraq is changing the entire political landscape of the Middle East. The homeland of Islam has long been a region of kings and despots, a land more recently scarred by Western colonization, a region perchance divided from the West by cultural fault lines. Iraq’s future will have significant impact on surrounding states. The U.S. goal of establishing a democratic government in Baghdad is a risky business, but if successful, will likely pressure neighbors toward democratic reforms of their own. Stakes are so high that failure could result in the breakup of Iraq and renewed conflict, which may well draw Turkish, Syrian, and Iranian neighbors into battle. U.S. policy is thus one of high risks, high stakes, focused on regional transformation. We will start with an analysis of the national security decision making processes of the current U.S. administration, the logic of going after Saddam as the next step in the “War on Terror” and the context of a “preventive war” policy. We will also briefly examine Operation Iraqi Freedom as a case study of the American military as an instrument of foreign policy. Thereafter, we will scrutinize the history of U.S. involvement in the Middle East and its impact on Arab sentiments toward the West, and why it is seemingly problematical to establish democracy in the realm of Islam. The course will culminate with a critical analysis of Huntington’s belief in a Clash of Civilizations between Islam and the West. In sum, the course blends U.S. national security policy and military policy with Middle East politics, using these topical areas of study to examine the impact of Saddam’s removal from power and an increased U.S. role in the Gulf region.
INTS 3760 Democracy in the 21st Century (5 credits)
Today, more than 88 of the 191 countries in the world are nominally democracies, and another 53 are deemed by researchers to be 'partial' democracies. Simply, more countries are now putatively democratic than ever before. The course explores democratization--the means and methods by which countries in recent years have moved from a non-democratic to democratic regime type. What theories, concepts, and methods should be used to understand democracy and democratization in today's complex, multiethnic societies? Should the United States and its allies promote democracy around the world?
INTS 3762 Contemporary Russia (5 credits)
This course will offer understanding of the politics, economics and society in transition in contemporary Russia. A review of the Soviet past is incorporated, but it will concentrate mainly on understanding the dynamics of the post-Soviet era.
INTS 3765 Post-Soviet Crime & Corruption (5 credits)
Despite growing media attention to crime and corruption in former Soviet Union, scholars studying the former Soviet Union have not taken much notice. Corruption and crime is usually considered to be the expression or the outcome of something that went wrong in the countries--transitions towards democracy and a market economy. In this course, corruption and crime will take center stage. We analyze the corrupt structures of post-Soviet states, their origins and immediate consequences. Furthermore, we demonstrate how corruption has led to a conspiracy between state officials and criminal groups in many former Soviet republics. In the end, it will become clear that crime and corruption is not just the unfortunate outcome of failed political and economic transitions in the former Soviet Union. In fact, corruption and the increase of related criminal activities are directly responsible for many shortcomings of post-Soviet transitions.
INTS 3770 Culture and Politics of Africa (5 credits)
Introduction to politics in Africa with a focus on contemporary issues and their historical antecedents. Topics include 1990s "democracy" movements, political culture, popular culture, ethnicity and development.
INTS 3810 Nobel Peace Prize (5 credits)
The Nobel Peace Prize: From Henry Kissinger to Mother Theresa explores issues of 20th and 21st century international peace through the prism of the world's most prestigious prize. Each year since 1901, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to an individual or organization that has contributed to making the world more secure. The course will critically evaluate the Committee's decisions over the years, including the more controversial awards (such as the one to Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho for ending the Vietnam War) to those that are almost universal in their acceptance (such as the medal awarded to Mother Theresa for her humanitarianism). Students will learn about issues of war and peace through a close look at various laureates, illustrating the human agency (leadership), institutional, humanitarian, disarmament, and negotiation aspects of peacemaking. This new course developed in cooperation with the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo.
INTS 3820 United Nations (5 credits)
This course provides an introduction to the United Nations and related agencies and programs. It examines the background and institutional arrangements of the UN System but gives special attention to the activities of the UN designed to advance peace and security. Case studies of UN responses to recent crises in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Western Hemisphere will be included.
INTS 3850 Third World Debt Relief (5 credits)
This course will analyze Third World debt relief including the role of major powers, the World Bank and IMF in creating debt and the relationship between debt relief and poverty alleviation. The effects of debt relief upon globalization issues will also be covered.
INTS 3875 Ethical Issues in War (5 credits)
A very rich historical and philosophical tradition serves as foundation for the ethics and law of war. When is it right to resort to war and what constraints apply to the use of force? How about deterrence or war-fighting doctrines that include nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction? We'll examine real cases in wars from ancient times to the present war against terrorism. Video and simulation will bring us to the battlefield, making the ethical or moral understanding of warfare real.
INTS 3900 Global Humanitarianism (5 credits)
This course builds upon two undergraduate classes previously taught by Dr. Peter Van Arsdale, where topics ranged from refugee resettlement to disaster relief. Its purpose is four-fold: (1) To provide an overview of the diverse array of events (both human-caused and natural) that trigger humanitarian responses; (2) to detail the methods used by first- and second-responders, as well as other humanitarians, as they deal with disasters; (3) to detail the methods used by human service professionals as they assist migrants and refugees; (4) to present the theories and premises essential to social science’s analyses of global humanitarianism. Therefore, extremely well-known “bellwether events” such as the 2001 attacks on New York, the 2004 S.E. Asian tsunami, and 2005’s Hurricane Katrina will be covered in depth. Less well-known events, such as New York’s “triangle fire,” the Bhopal gas explosion, and the Longmont, CO, airliner bombing also will be considered. Events associated with warfare, especially the forcible displacement of refugees, will be essential. Class lectures and readings will be grounded in understandings of human rights, community development, and social service. Humanitarian intervention (that is, civil – military cooperation in relief) will be considered in places as diverse as East Timor and Romania. Another key to the course will be the discussion of “practitioner profiles,” i.e., the careers of humanitarians working in various settings world-wide, and the discussion of “institutional profiles,” i.e., the operations of organizations such as the Red Cross and FEMA. Overseas case studies (accompanied by slides) will be drawn from Van Arsdale’s work in Bosnia, Sudan, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Indonesia, and the U.S.
INTS 3952 Human Rights-Global World (5 credits)
This course will examine the nature, utility and effectiveness of international efforts to define, promote and protect human rights. Particular attention will be given to activities of the United Nations and related programs and agencies. The roles of governments, regional intergovernmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations will also be explored.
INTS 3955 Beyond Bloody Sunday (5 credits)
The course focuses on three countries that have been torn by ethnic conflict in recent years: Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. Through comparative analysis of the three cases studies, the course will systematically explore the various phases and dimensions of 'peace process.'
INTS 3977 Gender & Int'l Human Rights (5 credits)
This course will explore the evolution of women’s rights as human rights, the struggle of women’s movements to place gender-specific concerns on the international human rights agenda, and the role of the UN in advancing the political, economic, social, and cultural status of women. Case studies of economic rights, violence against women, and health will be covered. The course will emphasize a comparative perspective, importantly acknowledging feminism as a contested concept and recognizing the complexities and conflicts among global women. Yet this course will additionally underscore the proven capacity of activists across geographical context, religion, and culture to collaborate towards beneficial social change for women. While women are of necessity central to the concerns of this course, we will approach the study of human rights from a gender perspective, recognizing that gender relations are central to understanding the nature, occurrence, and prevention of rights violations.
INTS 3980 Internships in Int'l Studies (0 to 5 credits)
Opportunities to gain practical work experience with public, private and nongovernmental organizations/agencies; project developed and evaluated by a mentor.
INTS 3981 Democracy & City Practicum (2 credits)
This course prepares students for effective international service learning in any culture by exposing them to concepts of and approaches to active cultural understanding and civic engagement and the pairing of these concepts and approaches to service projects with assessable learning outcomes.
INTS 3990 Int'l Studies Honors Thesis (1 to 5 credits)
The INTS thesis project will be an original contribution to the understanding of issues relevant to international studies and to at least one of the concentration areas in INTS. The thesis is not meant to be a report or survey of literature of an area of interest. The thesis must feature original research; that is, it must critically investigate a theoretically informed hypothesis, using sources to support an evaluation of the research question. The INTS thesis must show clearly the following elements: excellent critical thinking and writing quality, coherent presentation, and adherence to the general guidelines set forth by the faculty advisor.
INTS 3991 Independent Study (1 to 10 credits)
In-depth study of a particular issue under the guidance of a professor. Prerequisite: prior agreement with department and permission from registrar.
INTS 3992 Directed Study (1 to 10 credits)

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