Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• CAS IR 400: Topics in International Relations
  Examines various aspects of international relations. May be repeated for credit if topics are different. Topic for Spring 2024. Section A1: Technology & Global Governance. Critiques traditional state-centric approach to global governance in which international organizations such as the United Nations and World Trade Organizations develop rules which nation-states follow. Examines alternative approach, 'experimental governance,' which involves using new technologies to link up local initiatives working to solve global problems.
• CAS IR 401: Pardee School Honors Thesis 1
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: senior standing; permission required. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - IR 401 is the first semester of the two-semester Honors Program for students in any of the Pardee School's majors (Asian Studies, European Studies, International Relations, Latin American Studies, and Middle East & North Africa Studies). Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Critical Thinking, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 402: Pardee School Honors Thesis 2
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: senior standing; permission required. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - IR 402 is the second semester of the two-semester Honors Program for students in any of the Pardee School's majors (Asian Studies, European Studies, International Relations, Latin American Studies, and Middle East & North Africa Studies). Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing-Intensive Course.
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  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 410: Latin America Today
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASEN 120 or WR 100 or WR 120). - Analyzes the distinguishing features of modern Latin America. Students read classical writings on Latin American cultural, political, social and economic challenges. The class examines key political and social trends in countries like Mexico, Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba. How far is Latin America changing collectively? Is it no longer 'The 'Forgotten Continent'? How does its performance compare with other regions? Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Historical Consciousness
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 411: Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Latin America
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing. - Meets with CAS PO 566. Examines a range of historical and contemporary conflicts and wars in Latin America, both internal and regional, examining their causes and consequences, and the most important factors that explain how they were resolved or why they persist.
• CAS IR 425: Seminar: Women and Social Change in the Developing World
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - (Meets with CAS SO 420.) Studies women in nonindustrial countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, stressing empirical research, theory, and methodology. Comparisons between regions and with industrial countries. Focus on sex segregation, female labor force participation, migration, fertility, family roles, and women and political power.
• CAS IR 426: NGO Management and Leadership
  Examines roles and methods of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in social change and international development. Reviews theory and practice of NGOs in development, NGO strategies, and internal management. Students will engage directly with international development NGOs. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Social Inquiry 2, The Individual in Community.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • The Individual in Community
  • Social Inquiry II
• CAS IR 428: International Negotiations
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Examines principles particularly relevant to negotiations among governments, the legal underpinnings of international agreements, negotiating dynamics, the unique characteristics of multilateral negotiations, and the challenges of mediation. Active participation in practical simulations is integral to the course.
• CAS IR 432: Public Diplomacy
  Prerequisites: junior or senior standing. - Public diplomacy is the principal way in which states engage with overseas publics. The course examines the principles, functions, and practices of public diplomacy, as well as how they are affected by technological and political change. Effective Spring 2026, this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital Media Expression, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry 1.
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  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS IR 452: Topics in European Politics and Culture
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing and consent of instructor. - Meets with CAS PO 539. Explores European politics through the lens of culture, focusing on critical moments and memory across time in Spain, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Eastern Europe, Balkans, UK, and more, using materials from literature, film, the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
• CAS IR 453: Forced Migration and Human Trafficking: Virtual Policy Incubator
  Causes and impact of forced migration and human trafficking. Role of conflict and state formation; emergence of international human rights and domestic asylum laws; role of international organizations, private sector and security forces in both combating and enabling human trafficking.
• CAS IR 461: American Grand Strategy
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120); junior standing o r consent of instructor. - Traces the United States' engagement in world affairs by evaluating U.S. grand strategy - its theory of how to 'create' security for itself in an often-threatening world. Using history and theory, identifies changes in U.S. strategy and evaluates policies today. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course.
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  • Social Inquiry II
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 468: War and Revolution
  Explores crises of legitimacy that led to six world altering revolutions and wars that changed the international system: the Protestant Reformation and wars of religion, and wars of revolution in France, Russia, Nazi Germany, China, and Iran.
• CAS IR 480: Political Economy of Human Development
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Examines human development in low- and middle-income countries from applied economics perspective. Topics include: (1) economic growth, inequality, and poverty; (2) health, nutrition, and education; (3) agriculture, environment, and resource management; and (4) social and political factors in economic development. Also offered as GRS IR 680 A1. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Quantitative Reasoning II
  • Social Inquiry II
• CAS IR 491: Directed Study
  Directed study in international relations.
• CAS IR 495: Internship in International Relations and Regional Studies
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: successful completion of the application and acceptance into an internship. This course complements an internship opportunity outside of Boston University and provides a framework for understanding the relationship between academic studies, pre-professional development, and work experiences. Course is repeatable for credit for a maximum total of 4 units, of which only 2 can be counted toward the major.
• CAS IR 500: Topics in International Relations
  Examines aspects of international relations. May be repeated for credit if topics are different. Topics for Fall 2026. Section A1: China and Global Development Policy. This course examines China's economic engagement in the Global South and its role in global economic governance, exploring historical evolution, political economy, and institutions like the IMF, G20, and development banks through multidisciplinary case studies in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
• CAS IR 501: Conflict and Cooperation in Asia
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Meets with CAS PO 554. Investigates patterns of conflict and cooperation in South and East Asia surrounding issues ranging from water resources and health to borders and war. Analyzes how such issues contribute to instability in the region, as well as methods of cooperation.
• CAS IR 502: Latin American Political Parties
  Meets with CAS PO 561. Parties and party systems of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. Historical origins and labor incorporation. Populist, working-class, and hegemonic parties. Market reform and party system transformation or collapse. Ethnic parties, clientelism, rise of a new Left. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Social Inquiry II
• CAS IR 503: The U.S. in the Middle East
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: senior standing. - Meets with CASPO 503. Examines the historical development and present status of the United States' association with the Middle East: American commercial, economic, political, military, and humanitarian interests in the area and their interaction.