This course serves as an introduction to the College of Liberal Arts’ new interdisciplinary major, International Relations and Global Studies.  Students will engage with many broad questions relating to the contemporary world, including:  How has the modern international system come into being?  What are the major opportunities and challenges related to the world-wide movement of capital, goods and ideas we have come to define as globalization?  To what extent does the United States dominate the geopolitical, economic and cultural landscape today?  Finally, are we entering a “post-American world,” and if so, what global repercussions might this entail?  This course will attempt to transcend the disciplinary boundaries of social sciences—whether political science, economics, or anthropology—and instead ask students to take a more holistic view of global issues, rooted in historical inquiry.
Class time will be divided evenly between lecture material and discussion.  Students will be evaluated based upon their performance in weekly online discussions, periodic in-class short-answer responses and multiple-choice quizzes, a mid-term paper and a final essay.

Course Objectives:
By the end of the semester, students will have the ability to:
1)    describe a broad array of global issues confronting international actors
2)    evaluate the role of the United States in the contemporary era of “globalization”
3)    identify and analyze in some detail the scholarly debate surrounding a particular global challenge or crisis

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.

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.

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.

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.