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Political Science

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  • CAS PO 578: The United States as a Great Power
    The course material is organized along a debate format. Although the course is primarily concerned with twentieth-century U.S. foreign policy, attention is also given to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century issues. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS PO 579: Political Biography and Statecraft
    Political biographies and memoir literature used to evaluate twentieth-century international relations and statecraft. Topics vary but may include biographical literature related to World War II, the Cold War, and Third World political leaders. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS PO 580: Readings in International Relations in Political Science
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Topics vary. May be taken multiple times for credit providing the topic is different.
  • CAS PO 582: North Atlantic/European Security Issues
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Examination of the post Cold War security environment in the North Atlantic and greater European context. Exploration of threats to security, mechanisms in place and emerging (NATO, CSCE, CFE, WEU), and challenges posed by changes since fall 1989.
  • CAS PO 587: Ethics and International Relations
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Examines important ethical approaches to normative controversies of contemporary world politics. Such questions as: Is my nation always right? Can war be justified? Is terrorism always wrong? What is the place of human rights in foreign policy?
  • CAS PO 589: Religion and International Relations
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Explores the role of religion in contemporary international relations in the context of questions about the common core of modernity. Reviews scholarly and policy literature, and case studies, in order to elucidate religion's intellectual and operational diversity in international relations. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing- Intensive Course, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS PO 590: Readings in Political Theory
    Topics vary. May be repeated for credit as topics change.
  • CAS PO 592: Enlightenment and Its Critics
    Explores how eighteenth-century criticisms of the Enlightenment have been taken up by twentieth-century thinkers such as Heidegger, Horkheimer, Adorno, Gadamer, and Foucault; discusses recent defenses of Enlightenment ideals of reason, critique, and autonomy by Habermas and others.
  • CAS PO 594: Advanced Feminist Theory
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - This seminar explores advanced readings in feminist and queer theory on a focused topic or topics: for example, the politics of love and sex, reproductive politics, feminist theory and climate change, or the politics of gender and violence. This course does not carry Hub credit.
  • CAS PO 596: Colonization/Decolonization
    Prerequisite: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - This seminar introduces you to the political, theoretical, and historical study of colonization and decolonization. Topics include various kinds of colonialism, such as settler colonialism, internal colonialism, and domestic colonialism, as well as debates over the contemporary call to decolonize. Effective Spring 2024: Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS PO 599: Data Science for Politics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: any 100-level course in political science and either enrollment in the PO Honors or BA/MA program, or consent of instructor. - Data science is changing how we understand and study politics, policy, and decision-making. This course introduces students to the fundamental tools of data science, including collecting, modeling, and visualizing data, and how to apply these tools to study political and policy questions. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Digital/Multimedia Expression.
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Quantitative Reasoning I

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