POL 296 - Special Topics in Global Politics

FDR: SS2
Credits: 3 in fall and winter, 4 in spring

Prerequisites vary by topic. Meets the global politics field requirement in the politics major. A seminar in political science for students at the introductory or intermediate level. Topic, hour, and instructor are announced prior to registration. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

Fall 2019, POL 296A-01: Topic in Global Politics: International Political Economy (3). Prerequisite: Sophomore standing. An introduction to the study of international political economy, including a critical examination of globalization as a dominant trend in the 21st century. First, we explore major theoretical approaches to analyzing international political economy, such as realism, liberalism, and critical theory. To apply the theory, we use The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy as a case study that represents specialization and division of labor in production, distribution, and consumption of goods on a global scale. Then, we discuss key issues of globalization and international political economy, such as international economic organizations, trade relations, regionalism, multinational corporations, international development, global financial instabilities and economic crisis, U.S. economic hegemony, and the U.S.-China trade war. (SS2) Lee

Spring 2020, POL 296-03: Topic in Global Politics: Avoiding Armagedon:The Politics and Science of Nonproliferation (3). Prerequisite: POL 105 or instructor consent. This course, team-taught by a political scientist and a chemist, introduces students to complex technical and political issues connected to the proliferation of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and the possibilities that such weapons could be used by rogue nations or terrorist groups. Students are expected to design a realistic terrorist attack involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD), engage in the debate over whether nuclear proliferation might make the world safer, and propose a specific policy proposal for enhancing global security in the age of WMD proliferation. (SS2) Strong, Settle.