International Relations 101 Spring 2006 Instructor Professor Patrick James 315 VKC 213-821-4114 [email protected] Office Hours: 11:30-12:30, Tuesday and Thursday, or by appointment Teaching Assistants Deniz Cakirer ([email protected]), Hong Pang ([email protected]), Azamat Zhanalin ([email protected]) Course Blackboard Site This site will contain basic information that is useful for the course. It will be up and running by the end of January. Questions or comments that are directed t o the web site will be answered promptly. Answers thus will be available to anyone who signs on to have a look at what is being discussed. Course Description The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the principles of international relations, a subject of general interest that also happens to be an academic discipline. International relations focuses on cooperation and conflict between and among nation-states and other entities. It affects many aspects of our everyday lives, often in ways that are not easy to understand. The course is intended to make international relations more intelligible through a review of basic principles, with significant attention also to the great issues of the day. This experience also should help to develop your critical reasoning and analytical skills. The main textbook for the course, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita’s (BdM) Principles of International Politics, conveys a point of view known as the strategic approach. The strategic approach is based on the idea that participants in international relations act out of self-interest, whether they are fighting wars, negotiating trade deals or doing a great many other things. The lectures in the class are intended to accomplish three goals. First,difficult points from BdM’s text will be singled out for further explanation. Second, constructive criticism of the strategic approach will be offered as needed. Third, and finally, the lectures will cover subjects that are not addressed sufficiently by BdM, as might be expected for any single text. The other textbook, John T. Rourke’s Taking Sides, is designed to link the more theoretical concerns in our course to debates in the real world. (I would invite you to check out the web sites listed before each of the six parts of the book prior to reading the debates in a given part; this is suggested rather than required.) Thus the textbooks by BdM and Rourke are intended to complement each other. We will use Taking Sides to complement the main text. The selections from the book are designed to stimulate debate in your discussion sections. The web site contain the overheads that are put up during lectures so you can print them out. The site also includes a file in which the main headings for each lecture appear, along with a list of keywords that may be unfamiliar t o you. The mid-term examination will take place on March 21 and have an essay format. The final examination, on May 9, also will have an essay format. Study guides will be provided so you can prepare effectively for each respective exam. All of the material from the lectures, assigned readings and discussion sections will be tested on the exams. The final exam will have a primary emphasis on material covered after the midterm. The class also will include a series of shorter quizzes. The quizzes will take place on February 9, March 2 and April 13. Each quiz will be 15 minutes in duration and have an essay format. The quizzes will focus on material from approximately a week or so leading up to when they are administered. A study guide for each quiz will appear on the web site one week before the quiz is held. Examples of quiz answers that have received perfect scores will be posted on the web site to help students in preparing for later quizzes. The term essay, limited to five double spaced pages, is due in class on April 27. Any late paper will receive a grade of zero. The format is straightforward. I expect you to argue both sides of an issue from the Rourke textbook, using the web sites listed (e.g., just before p. 1 for the issues included under ‘Globalization’, prior to p. 171 for ‘Economic Issues’, etc.) to obtain further information that will help your analysis. A paragraph to introduce the issue, plus about two pages on each side, followed by a paragraph conclusion, is what I expect. You should consult with your teaching assistant before going ahead with work on the essay. A one-page proposal for the essay is due in class on April 4 or there will be a 20% penalty. The proposal should include (a) your name; (b) the issue you will cover; (c) two or three points (in point form) on each side that you have identified from the reading; and (d) the web sites you will need if those listed in Rourke are not sufficient to continue exploring the issue (i.e., you should start checking the listed web sites and others, asneeded, at least a few days before the propos al is due). The basic idea is to use the information from the web sites to (a) elaborate on the basic points identified in your proposal and (b) add new points on each side. Your teaching assistant will be available to provide guidance as you produce your term essay. The style of citation expected for the essay is the same as Rourke, i.e., cite the web sites as he does. It is essential to provide a citation, in the text of your essay, on each occasion that you use either information or an idea from a web site. Class participation is very important. I expect everyone to read the assignments that appear for each date prior to class that day. This will allow you to better understand the in-class activities and take notes. According to educational research, students who take notes earn, on average, a half-letter grade better final grade than those who do not. Class participation will be graded by the teaching assistants on the basis of your performance in the weekly discussion sections. You will have been assigned at registration to one of the discussion sections of this class. Discu ssion in each week will focus on the material covered in the preceding week. We will provide themes for discussion of that material one week ahead of time on Blackboard. All assignments are subject to change as noted in class, although none is expected at this time. Be sure to back up all of your computer files. Do not turn in your only copy of any requirement. The grading scale is as follows: A (93-100); A- (90-92); B+ (87-89); B (83-86); B- (80-82); C+ (77-79); C (73-76);