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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.

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  • CAS IR 585: Problems and Issues in Post-Mao China
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Meets with CAS PO 549. An in-depth examination of politics in post-Mao China, this course focuses on several critical issues, uses various conceptual frameworks to try to understand why the reform process broke down, and examines prospects for the future.
  • CAS IR 586: Financing Development in Africa
    This course provides background information regarding Africa’s infrastructure development challenges, key sectors, trends, key actors and institutions financing development. Key frameworks covered in the course include the project development life cycle, project financing and public private partnership (PPP) structures. Effective Fall 2026 this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry 2, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS IR 587: Global Energy History
    Prerequisite: one Social Inquiry I course. - This course traces global energy history from the Industrial Revolution to our era of climate change. We examine where energy resources come from, how they are acquired and moved, and why societies transition from one source of energy to another. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Research and Information Literacy, Social Inquiry 2.
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS IR 588: Africa Development: Policy and Practice
    Provides deep understanding of the theories, challenges, opportunities and strategies for promoting development in Africa through structural change that students will encounter in their careers as international relation professions as well as in the broader policy world. Effective Spring 2026, this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Social Inquiry 1, Teamwork and Collaboration .
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS IR 589: North Atlantic/European Security Issues
    Meets with CAS PO 582. Examination of the post Cold War security environment in the North Atlantic and greater European context. Exploration of threats to security, mechanisms in place and emerging (NATO, CSCE, CFE, WEU), and challenges posed by changes since fall 1989. Effective Spring 2026, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 590: Political Economy of Latin America
    (Meets with CAS PO 562.) Historical and contemporary issues in Latin American political economy. Uses case studies and cross-regional comparisons to assess competing explanations. Analyzes the current political and economic situation facing Latin America in its quest for economic growth and development.
  • CAS IR 591: Political Economy of Gender Inequality
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing; or consent of instructor. - Gender inequality is an enduring social phenomenon, despite variation over time and place. This course analyzes the political, economic, and social dimensions of gender inequality. It follows a comparative approach, focusing particularly on empirical analysis while also addressing fundamental normative issues of fairness. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS IR 592: Economic Development and International Institutions
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Examines the role of international institutions in economic development. Analyzes how development- related international institutions makes rules and affect national policy choices. Applies those lessons to concrete policy challenges, including possibilities for institutional reform.
  • CAS IR 593: Technology and Economic Inclusion in the Developing World
    How can firms and governments use new technologies to provide clean energy, drinking water, and other services to rural and frontier communities in the developing world? The course investigates how rural communities, particularly those without access to formal and other services, manage their money, provide energy and other services they need, and general live their lives. We will then examine how firms and governance can design products, governance mechanisms, and policies which can most effectively tap into such communities. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS IR 594: Global Environmental Negotiation and Policy
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Provides an overview of key actors, issues, and treaties in global environmental governance, paying particular attention to historical and contemporary differences in perspectives and interests of industrialized and developing countries. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS IR 595: Internship in Global Studies
    Graduate 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 a maximum total of 4 units, of which only 2 can be counted toward the major.
  • CAS IR 596: Globalization and Contemporary Capitalism in Advanced Industrialized Nations
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Considers the impact of globalization on advanced industrialized nations. Explores global and regional governance of finance, trade, and multinationals. Examines changes in national economic practices in Europe, Asia, and the US, and their effects on jobs, inequality, welfare, and democracy.
  • CAS IR 597: Development and Environment in Latin America
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: Junior standing and above or consent of instructor. - Examines the social, political, and environmental dimensions of economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean, tracing historical patterns and their connection to contemporary challenges facing the region.
  • CAS JS 100: World Cultures of the Jews
    Introduces students to the study of Judaism in its many forms, by exploring Jewish communities across the globe today, their different historical origins and cultural contexts, and strategies of preserving cohesion and transnational solidarity. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • The Individual in Community
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS JS 110: Judaism
    Systematic and historical introduction to doctrines, customs, literature, and movements of Judaism; biblical religion and literature; rabbinic life and thought; medieval mysticism and philosophy; modern movement and developments. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS JS 120: The Bible
    Introduction to the great canonical anthologies of Jews and Christians. Students will learn to read for historical context and genre conventions; study classical and modern strategies of interpretation; and create a collaborative commentary or piece of "fan-fiction." Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS JS 121: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
    Islam, Christianity, and Judaism in historical and cultural context, origins to the present. Examines diversity of practices, belief systems, and social structures within these religions. Also addresses debates within and between communities as well as contemporary controversies and concerns. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS JS 130: Masterpieces of Modern Hebrew Literature (in English translation)
    Narrative prose by major writers from the revival of Hebrew culture in nineteenth-century Eastern Europe to present-day Israel, including works of Peretz, Agnon, Yehoshua, Oz, Shalev, Keret, Kashua, and Castel-Bloom. Special focus on the struggle to forge modern identity in the domains of family, nation, religion and in the broader Middle East. Required for the minor in Hebrew. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS JS 131: Great Jewish Writers
    Undergraduate prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (CASWR 100 or 120). - A panorama of great stories by Jewish authors, including Ecclesiastes, Sholem Aleichem, Peretz, Kafka, Agnon, Wiesel, Yezierska, Serdatzky, and Paley. Topics include narrative techniques and figurative language, shtetl life in E. Europe, modernization, love, humor,the Nazi genocide, post-war trauma.
  • CAS JS 136: Jewish Literature
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CAS WR 100 or WR 120). - How do changing notions of ethnicity and race, religion, and gender, as well as geographical place define Jewish family and community' Topics include immigration, diaspora, and national culture; patriotism, antisemitism, and multiculturalism; Jewish identities and gender; conversion, assimilation, and acculturation. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy

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