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.

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  • CAS IR 520: The State and Public Purpose in Asia
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: juniors & seniors in Internat'l Relations, Pol. Science, and Asian Stu dies who have completed the 1st-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR100 or 1 20) & Writing, Research & Inquiry (WR150, 151, 152). - Meets with CAS PO 550. Comparative exploration of the economic and political institutions of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, drawing on political and economic theory. Addresses how relationships among state, business, and labor have affected industrial development and contemporary economic activity. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 521: Congress and National Security
    Examines the role and influence of Congress on the intelligence agencies of the US, Congress's oversight of intelligence collection, counterintelligence, covert action and surveillance in relation to the executive powers. Explores the influence of espionage on national security policy.
  • CAS IR 523: Cybersecurity and U.S. National Security
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: open to juniors and seniors in International Relations and Political S cience who have completed the First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or 120) and Writing, Research & Inquiry (WR 150, 151, 152). - It is highly recommended that students have previously taken a 200 or 300-level IR course. Students who have not met these requirements need instructor approval to take this course. Addresses the challenge of cybersecurity in times of war and peace, with particular focus on U.S. national security. Explores cyber weapon systems and doctrine, the problem of attribution, and "gray zone" issues including information operations and election interference. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing-Intensive Course, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 525: 21st Century Deterrence: Nuclear, Space, Cyber
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Examines the challenges of deterrence in an era of multipolarity, proliferation, and technological change, with a particular focus on nuclear weapons, the militarization of space and cyber warfare. Analyzes strategic planning and posture reviews and their consequences for deterring adversaries. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Ethical Reasoning, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS IR 526: National and Homeland Security Law
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: limited to juniors, seniors, and graduate students. First-Year Writing Seminar (CAS WR 120 or equivalent) and CAS IR 271. - This course examines national and homeland security law as the balance between the state's requirement for security juxtaposed against civil liberties. We study the Constitution, judicial cases, and other primary sources focusing on specific topic areas. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Historical Consciousness.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 527: Political Economy of China
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent). - Provides a historical and comparative study of China's rise domestically and internationally and introduces China's national power, local governments, globalization, finance, and strategic concerns. Students learn to evaluate scholarly and policy pieces, compile evidence, and write research reports. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 531: Intercultural Communication
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Examines communicative problems that arise in contact between people from different cultural backgrounds in everyday life, social service encounters, and business transactions. Uses interdisciplinary approaches to study how verbal and nonverbal presentation, ethnic, gender, and cultural differences affect communication. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, The Individual in Community.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • The Individual in Community
  • CAS IR 532: Trade Law and Development
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASIR292) - Graduate Prerequisites: (GRSIR704) - Examines the modern world trade regime and implications for global development. Draws connections between policies aimed at development and the trade and investment rules laid out in modern trade treaties. Topics include services, intellectual property, investment, environment, and human rights.
  • CAS IR 533: Contentious Politics and the Arab Uprisings in the Middle East
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Analyzes divergent outcomes of the Arab uprisings by framing them along historic continuum of domestic, regional, and international political developments. Examines how linkages between regional and international states and actors have affected historical and contemporary statebuilding and transitional outcomes. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 534: Government and Politics of Contemporary Africa
    Meets with CAS PO 571. Analysis of independent black Africa; factors of continuity and change in modern Africa, problems of political order, ambiguities of independence. Case studies of individual countries selected for additional emphasis on specific issues and problems of developing countries.
  • CAS IR 535: Diplomacy and Statecraft
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Examines the mechanisms and process of diplomacy in historical context, to assess approaches to the implementation of foreign policy, analyze the success and failure of these approaches in different circumstances, and consider wider issues in the application of statecraft.
  • CAS IR 537: The British Political System
    Meets with CAS PO 537. Links developments in U.K. politics to broader themes in comparative politics, ranging from identity politics to the evolution of bureaucracies, parties, and voting behavior. Examines the general failure to export the Westminster model in the aftermath of colonialism.
  • CAS IR 542: The Reemergence of Russia
    Russia has reclaimed its status of a superpower. Analyzes the careers of Putin, Yeltsin, Gorbachev and various oligarchs, and challenges such as public health, degraded environment, and organized crime. Examines US-Russian intelligence competition, including claims regarding Moscow's interference in U.S. domestic affairs.
  • CAS IR 543: The Changing Face of Eastern Europe
    Analyzes domestic and foreign policies of Poland, (East) Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Baltic republics, Ukraine, and the Balkans from 1950s to the present. Examines positive and negative outcomes of reforms undertaken in Eastern Europe after fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
  • CAS IR 544: Solving Humanitarian Crises
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar ( e.g., CAS WR 100 or WR 120). - Humanitarian crises inflict vast suffering on people, upend economies, and threaten regional stability. This course investigates how diplomacy involving diverse stakeholders and tools can support solutions, even when conflicts evade comprehensive resolution, focusing on the Syrian and Rohingya refugee crises. 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, Ethical Reasoning.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 545: The Arctic and Global Politics
    Climate change is transforming the Arctic, creating new sea-lanes, new opportunities for resource exploitation, and new questions of sovereignty and security. The course addresses geo-political implications for Arctic and trans-Arctic stakeholders, including both states and indigenous peoples.
  • CAS IR 550: European Integration
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Explores present, past, and potential future of the European Union. Investigates who is in charge and who matters in policymaking and politics. Examines a wide range of EU policies, including economics, security, and trade, and their impact on EU member-states.
  • CAS IR 551: Social Europe: Identity, Citizenship, and the Welfare State
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Meets with CAS PO 536. The past, present and future of "social Europe." Impact of European economic and political integration on national identities, cultures, politics, and citizenship; EU policies such as gender, human rights, migration and discrimination, plus the welfare state.
  • CAS IR 553: Digital Diplomacy
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: at least junior standing. - Investigates the growth of digital diplomacy. Examines the ways in which diplomacy and statecraft are being transformed by the use of digital technologies, focusing on how foreign ministries and diplomatic missions engage with foreign countries and populations.
  • CAS IR 556: Current Intelligence Issues
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Examines U.S. intelligence needs, with an emphasis on preparing for international developments in advance. Addresses issues of transnational terrorism and proliferation in additional to traditional concerns such as rogue states, counterintelligence, organized crime, regional rivals, and rising powers.