This course is restricted to IRG majors. For IRG program information please contact Dr. Michael Anderson, Director.
The concluding, capstone seminar for the International Relations & Global Studies major is designed to give you an opportunity to draw on your program of studies to prepare a rigorous analysis of a specific aspect of contemporary world affairs. You have the choice of two formats. One is a tightly organized research paper; the other is structured as a policy paper directed at a senior decision-maker in a national government or international organization.
It is profitable to all to set a number of themes for the seminar. That enhances exchanges and allows for collaborative projects. Still, students will be given reasonable latitude in selecting topics that interest them and/or on which they have acquired specialized knowledge. We will examine closely the nature of the policy paper and its organization as the semester progresses. The seminar paper – in either format - should be viewed as representative of your abilities at this stage in your career and, as such, an effective way of presenting yourself and your abilities.
The following is a short list of possible themes: democracy promotion as an instrument of foreign policy; the strains among three standards to assess global economic interdependence: growth, equity and stability; the ethical dimensions of the use of force; the interplay of domestic politics and foreign policy process/substance.