SIS-110 Beyond Sovereignty 3:1 (3)
Course Level: Undergraduate
The role of the sovereign state in a world of complex interdependence and the tension between nationalism and the necessity of cooperative global problem solving. Is the state becoming obsolete? Is global policy possible in such areas as environmental protection, resource management, and containment of the destructiveness of modern weapons? Usually offered every term.
SIS-308 Introduction to Peace and Conflict Resolution (3)
Course Level: Undergraduate
Conflict and violence, as well as cooperation and peaceful change, within and among individuals, cultures, and systems. Effective means for diminishing the level of violence, for increasing the potential for non-exploitative cooperative coexistence, and for collaborative conflict resolution are explored. Usually offered every
SIS-337 International Development (3)
Course Level: Undergraduate
This survey course covers the history of the field of international development from colonialism to current issues. It addresses major theories of development; changing approaches to foreign aid; measures of development; reasons for poverty; structural adjustment and debt; the rise of East Asia; and a variety of current issues in international development. The focus is on understanding and analyzing contending viewpoints. Usually offered every term.
SIS-338 Environment and Development (3)
Course Level: Undergraduate
This course is an overview of the multidisciplinary field of environment and development. It explores development-related root causes of Third World natural-resource degradation including poverty, inequality, population growth, faulty prices, agricultural modernization, national development model, and economic globalization. The course also explores innovative policy responses attempting to link environment and development. Usually offered every fall.
SIS-364 Contemporary Islam and International Relations (3)
Course Level: Undergraduate
Examines the nineteenth century Islamic reform movements in the Middle East and North Africa and the twentieth century neofundamentalist militant movements. The conflict between these movements and the forms of secular nationalism that developed during the same period, as well as the impact of Islamic movements on societies oriented toward Westernization and nationalism. Usually offered every spring.
SIS-388 International Environmental Politics (3)
Course Level: Undergraduate
Focuses on the political dimensions of transboundary ecological problems. Examines contemporary political responses to global environmental challenges and facilitates creative formulations of theory-based analyses of these challenges. Experiential approaches are also encouraged and emphasized. Usually offered every spring. Prerequisite: SIS-105 or SIS-110 or GOVT-130.
SIS-450 International Law and Organizations Seminar I (4)
Course Level: Undergraduate
The first of a two-part seminar, this course focuses on the expanding role of law in governing relations among nations while an interdependent world turns to multinational organizations in the making of global policy. Students examine the impact of the relationship between international law and organizations on security and terrorism, international trade and economic development, the environment, human rights, and humanitarian assistance. Students spend 13 weeks in Washington, D.C. meeting with international law practitioners and visiting organizations that shape policy, a week in New York City for a first-hand examination of the United Nations, and then travel to Europe for a series of seminars focusing on NATO and the European Union Prerequisite: concurrent registration in SIS-451 and permission of Washington Semester Program.
SIS-504 Multinational Corporations (3)
Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate
The structure and functions of multinational corporations in the global system and their developmental effect on other actors. Usually offered every term.
SIS-533 Population, Migration, and Development (3)
Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate
This course provides the necessary analytical skills to understand contemporary population dynamics, especially in the developing world. It examines fundamental components of current trends in population dynamics; theoretical bases of the population debate; fertility issues; the relationship among population, development, and human migration flows; and population policy and sustainable development in developing and developed countries. Usually offered every fall.
SIS-540 Conflict and Development (3)
Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate
An examination of the way in which development processes, strategies, and polices increase or decrease local, national, and international conflicts, as well as the ways in which conflicts at all levels condition development choices. Usually offered every fall.
SIS-542 Human and Global Security in the New World Order (3)
Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate
This course examines developments in and ways of thinking about security since the end of the bi-polar world order. The course considers ways of thinking about security other than through the national security framework; works towards an understanding of non-military threats to human life, communities, societies, and cultures; examines the intersection of globalism and new forms of security provision; examines the impact of organized crime; assesses the scope and consequences of light weapons proliferation, especially for developing countries; and analyzes forms of involvement in wars. Usually offered every term.
SIS-587 Globalization: Power, Production and Culture (3)
Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate
Global transformation slices across former divisions of labor, fundamentally penetrates domestic society, and geographically reorganizes economic activities. This course addresses the underlying causes of globalization and whether it is intensifying and deepening historical tendencies, or is world society entering a new era in the relationship among the state, economy, and culture? Usually offered every fall.
SIS-610 Theory of Conflict, Violence and War (3)
Course Level: Graduate
Survey of the theoretical and empirical literature on the causes and conditions of conflict, particularly conflict which is expressed violently at all levels. Includes analyzing violence at the individual level, defining violence (physical, economic, social, cultural, systematic) and why societies support violence. Usually offered every spring.
SIS-611 International Negotiation (3)
Course Level: Graduate
Survey of the theoretical literature on the communicative dimensions of negotiating international conflicts and an examination of conflict settings such as hostage/terrorist situations, diplomatic crises, and protracted social conflicts. Also examines a communication-based approach that focuses on "face" needs, interest/demands, and relationships among the contending parties. The role of emotion is highlighted and specific communication skills central to effective negotiation and mediation of intense conflicts are practiced. Usually offered every term.
Course Level: Graduate
An overview of the multidisciplinary field of environment and development. This course focuses on debates concerning various human-made or development-related root causes of natural-resource degradation in the Third World. Special attention is paid to the relationship between the rural poor and the environment. The course also looks critically at recent innovative policy responses attempting to link environment and development. Students learn "root-cause analysis" to assess both the debates and the policy responses. Usually offered every spring.
SIS-681 Intelligence and Foreign Policy (3)
Course Level: Graduate
The role of the CIA and other intelligence organizations in formulating and implementing U.S. foreign policy. Includes human and technical intelligence gathering; processing and analysis; dissemination of information to policy makers; covert action and counterintelligence; the relationship between intelligence organizations, the President, and Congress; and ethics and the conduct of intelligence activities. Usually offered every term.
