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.

Spring 2014 topic:

POL 296: Fighting Faiths: Law, Science and Religion in Modern Society (4). Prerequisite: First-year, sophomore, or junior class standing. An investigation of the interaction of law, science, and religion. Each embodies a unique belief system that has undergone and continues to undergo “scientific” or conceptual revolutions due either to shortcomings or inconsistencies in their respective intellectual paradigms or conflict between or among them. In the course we focus on particular instances of conflict between science and religion where the courts were called in to mediate. We discuss the nature of and difference between scientific and religious knowledge and the impact on both of the manner by which the courts manage conflicts between them. (SS2) Rush. Spring 2014

Fall 2013 topics:

POL 296-01: Strategic Studies (3). No prerequisites. Open to majors and non-majors of all classes. Recommended for students interested in diplomacy, military science, national security policy, policy forecasting and consulting, or political science / public policy graduate study. We explain national and international political outcomes from a state or alliance’s decision rules under variable risk or uncertainty. Special attention to decision rules emphasizing national interest (utility), risk-assessment, and logistics (target location in space and time). Cases (using films) span all levels of strategic (policy-level) and tactical (theater-of-operations level) escalation from total war to mutual détente. Student assignments include simulated US Homeland Security Department task force reports (see www.dhs.gov/index.shtm). On-line syllabus and other information: mccaughrinc@wlu.edu. (SS2) McCaughrin.

POL 296-02: Negotiation Analysis (3). No prerequisites. Open to majors and non-majors of all classes. Meets the global politics field requirement or elective credit in the politics major. Recommended for students interested in diplomacy, estate management, labor-manager relations, alternative dispute resolution, civil law, or political science / public policy graduate study. We explain national and international political outcomes from selected negotiation rules constrained by mutually agreeable fairness norms. Special attention to sealed-bid auctions, point allocation rules under varied entitlements, and weighted-vote rules. Cases (via feature films) span variably complex disputes from one indivisible good with two claimants to multiple goods and fragmented claimants. Student assignments include application and evaluation of such rules to cases and data from the Harvard Negotiation Project (see www.pon.harvard.edu). On-line syllabus and other details: mccaughrinc@wlu.edu. (SS2) McCaughrin.