Meets the following requirements: HS   

This is an introductory level course that will expose students to basic concepts and controversies in international politics and serve as background for more advanced work in the area of international studies.  Through historical readings and current events discussions we will answer questions fundamental to understanding global politics today, such as:  What are the different roles that nation-states and non-governmental organizations play in international politics?  How important are various international institutions (the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund ) in shaping the global political landscape?   What exactly is civil society? Inequity defines many political relationships between actors in the global system:  between developed and developing countries; between the rich and poor within those countries; between autonomous political groups and the nation-states in which they reside.  To more deeply understand these relationships, we will examine some of the processes that have led to inequities in the current world political economy, touching on such topics as:  colonialism and national liberation movements of the 20th century, the debt crisis, and the formalization of the international trading system.  We will consider the topics from a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives, including political ecology, international political economy, and economic geography. Evaluation will be based on participation in class discussions, several short and long papers written over the course of the term, and a final project and its presentation to the class.

Level: Introductory.  Lab fee: $20.  *HS*