University of Minnesota, Twin Cities POL 8401 Fall 2011 THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (A.K.A. THE CORE) Professor Ronald R. Krebs Class: Tuesday, 3:35 pm – 5:30 pm, 1233 Social Sciences Building Location: 1383 Social Sciences [email protected] Office Hours: Wednesday, 9 am – 11 am, tel.: 612-624-4356 and by appointment COURSE DESCRIPTION As its title suggests, this course is an introduction to contemporary theories, debates, and major scholarly traditions in international relations (IR). As the "core" course offered in this field, the intention is to provide a general, but not elementary, overview. It is intended primarily for graduate students in the Department of Political Science, though others are welcome to attend, with the instructor’s permission. While it is impossible to cover the enormous IR literature comprehensively in a one-semester survey, the class will introduce students to many of the central theories, authors, and debates. COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING The class format will place a premium on discussion. It is expected that everyone will come prepared to discuss the assigned materials in an informed and critical manner. 1. Readings and Participation. a. Read everything every week. This is not a course for the faint of heart! The literature in IR is huge, and it grows daily. I’ve tried to separate the wheat from the chaff, but even so, the reading load in this class is heavy. Students are expected to come to seminar prepared to discuss the required readings for that week. A large portion of your grade is based on class participation: if you fail to do the readings or fail to speak up in class, you will do poorly. Moreover, students are strongly encouraged to start with “internal” critiques of the readings for each week (i.e., analyses that take the readings seriously and operate within their approach to theory) before moving on to “external” critiques. b. Submit every week at least four discussion questions based on the reading. These questions should be distributed by email by 10 am, Tuesday morning. c. Lead class discussion three times (perhaps more or less often depending on size of class). • Discussion leaders will kick off class with 5-7 minutes of prepared commentary addressing one or more of the questions he or she has proposed. • Seminar members will be asked at the beginning of the term to commit to leading discussion on given weeks. d. Class participation will account for 20% of your grade. 2. Three Short Essays (≤ 5 pp;, double-spaced; 12-point font; min. 1 inch margins). The essays should critically examine a hypothesis, theory, question, concept, or controversy contained in the readings a single week. The essay may address only a subset of the readings, but it should not simply summarize the assigned texts. A copy of the essay must be e-mailed to me as an attachment (.doc, .docx, or .pdf) by 8:30 am on the Tuesday of the relevant class meeting. The three essays will be graded and will, combined, account for 40% of your total grade. NB: Length & style requirements will be strictly enforced.Krebs • POL 8401, Theories of International Relations (fall 2011) • 2 3. Take-home final. This final is meant to simulate Part I (the theory question) of the IR prelims. Most basic rules of the preliminary exam will be followed: students will write on one out of two questions (which will not be made available in advance); the exam is open book and open notes; final essays may not exceed 5000 words. Rather than a week, students will have four days to write their answer (no need to prolong the agony!). Previous prelims, on file with the department, may prove useful in giving students a sense of the kinds of questions that I will ask. The final will be distributed via email on the Thursday of the penultimate week of classes, by 12 pm, and will be due back via email on the following Tuesday (of the last week of classes), by 12 pm. The take-home final will account for 40% of your total grade. 4. Optional: Final Paper. (15-20 double spaced pages) This option is available only to graduate students who are not in the Political Science Department. These students are welcome to write the take-home final instead, if they so choose. The paper may take any number of forms, but it must engage creatively with several schools of thought in international relations. One option would be to “test” two or three major theories by examining one or more empirical cases. Students who wish to pursue this option must submit a 1 p. paper proposal to the instructor by the end of the eighth class meeting; students are encouraged to meet with the instructor before that date to discuss preliminary ideas. Only papers based on approved proposals will be accepted. The final paper will account for 40% of your total grade. Note: Short essays submitted late (after 8:30 am on Tuesday) will be penalized one-third of a letter grade per hour. Questions distributed late (after 10 am on Tuesday) will be accepted, but their tardiness will factor into the class participation grade. Incompletes will not be given for this course unless there is a documented emergency. GRADING Class Participation (incl. 3 presentations and memos) 20% Short Essays (3) 40% In-class Final (or Optional Final Paper) 40% READINGS No books have been ordered for purchase at the University bookstore. The following books are recommended for purchase (because we are reading enough from them), but purchase is not required. All the books below have been placed on reserve at Wilson Library. Other readings may be found in the “POLS 8401 readings” folder on the department’s Shared drive. • Michael Brown, ed., Debating the Democratic Peace (MIT Press, 1996). • Hedley Bull, The Anarchical Society, 2nd ed. (Columbia UP, 1995 [1977]). • David Campbell, Writing Security: United States Foreign Policy and the Politics of Identity, Revised Edition (University of Minnesota Press, 1998). • E.H. Carr, The Twenty Years’ Crisis, 1919-1939 (Harper & Row, 1964 [1939]). • Michael W. Doyle, Ways of War and Peace: Realism, Liberalism, and Socialism (Norton, 1997). • Charles Lipson, Reliable Partners: How Democracies Have Made a Separate Peace (Princeton UP, 2003). • John J. Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (Norton, 2001). • Christian Reus-Smit and Duncan Snidal, eds., The Oxford Handbook of International Relations (Oxford UP,