Fall Classes

IR 390/PO 355 International Political Economy

This course introduces students to the study of international political economy (IPE). It
addresses the reciprocal, interactive relationship between politics and economics in the
international system. Increasingly integrated global markets present growing challenges and
opportunities for political actors around the world. We will explore the effects of political factors
on international economic relations as well as the impact of economic factors on domestic and
international politics across a variety of issue areas in IPE.

The course first introduces the general historical and theoretical frameworks that guide
the study of IPE. It then applies these frameworks to the relations between the principal state and
non-state actors in a variety of issues in IPE, including international trade, foreign investment
flows, international monetary relations, economic development, currency crises, and global
environmental affairs. The course concludes with a consideration of the challenges that
globalization presents to the political management of national and international markets.

 

IR 702 Research Methods for International Relations Practitioners

This course provides students with the basic tools for designing and researching rigorous research and policy papers in international relations M.A. programs. Its principal aim is to help the student become a discerning consumer and effective producer of international relations research. The field of international relations spans a broad range of disciplines, each of which embraces multiple research principles, methods and styles of written presentation. At the same time, important commonalities exist in the ways in which scholars and practitioners marshal evidence to make a strong and coherent argument. This course will provide students with a broad overview of and hands-on experience with the main approaches to IR research, with the goal of improving their ability to make a logical argument based on solid evidence.

The course is organized into four interconnected modules. The first considers general principles of theory, concepts and design. These considerations will provide the foundation for everything that follows in the course. The second addresses a number of quantitative research methods and statistical techniques. The emphasis here, as elsewhere, rests firmly on practical considerations and hands-on approaches to theses methods, rather than on mathematical proofs and statistics theory. The third module details a number of concrete research techniques, with an emphasis on qualitative tools and comparisons to their quantitative counterparts. The concluding module ties together loose ends and looks forward to the process of writing the M.A. research or policy paper with a discussion of the practical aspects of preparing research reports.