International Relations

• CAS IR 555: Guatemala: Revolution, Genocide, and Genocide Denial in Twentieth Century Latin America
  Examines themes of Latin American history and politics of the twentieth and twenty-first century through a case study in Guatemala, with focus on genocide through the study of the Guatemalan military dictatorship’s attack on Maya Indigenous peoples in the 1980s.
• 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.
• CAS IR 557: Guerrilla Warfare and Terrorism
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Why do terrorists do what they do' How can their threat by reduced' The course examines the history and evolution of political terrorism, assesses terrorists' motivations and "marketing," and explores risk factors ranging from the global to the personal level. 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, Ethical Reasoning.
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  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 558: Mapping Dangerous Online Speech
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Experiential course in which students of international relations and computer science collaborate to map online hate speech. Assesses causes of hate speech, dynamics of viral content, and approaches to prevent harm. Evaluates attempts to automate identification of hate speech and measure its prevalence. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • The Individual in Community
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 559: Leadership and Cultural Change in Large Organizations
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Analyzes the determinants of successful leadership and the importance of diversity in large organizations, with focus on how to transform dysfunctional cultures. Using military and corporate case studies, addresses how to identify root causes of problems and impediments to change. 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.
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  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS IR 560: Ethnic Conflict in Global Perspective
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Surveys 20th and 21st century ethno-nationalist movements around the world. Explores how ethnic conflict, including inter-state and civil wars, challenges international peace and security. Addresses both Western and non-Western theories of nations, nationalism, identity and ethnicity to explain group mobilization.
• CAS IR 561: Religion and International Relations
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar ( e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Explores the role of religion in contemporary international relations in the context of questions about the common core of modernity. Reviews scholarly and policy literature, and case studies, in order to elucidate religion's intellectual and operational diversity in international relations. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 563: Religion and Politics across Cultures
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - This course examines the changing role of religion and secularism in modern politics, citizenship, and public life. It explores the causes of the global resurgence in religiosity and its implications for democracy, tolerance, and gender equality. It compares the public role of religion in Western liberal democracies with that of other world regions, including the Muslim world, Christianity in the global south, "Confucian" East Asia, India, and Buddhist Southeast Asia. The course asks whether an equitable and inclusive citizenship is possible in an age of deep ethico-religious plurality. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Social Inquiry II
• CAS IR 564: Political Economy of Rising Powers
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Offers historical and comparative examination of industrialization and globalization in the contemporary world. Focusing on rising powers, the course examines different waves of industrialization, immigration, and globalization, as well as the business-state relations in different regions and nations. 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, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Social Inquiry II
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS IR 565: Development Financing
  Development financing unlocks economic and social development. Multilateral, regional and national development finance institutions, with dual mandates of development impact and commercial sustainability have emerged. How can DFIs remain relevant in addressing challenges in a fast-changing world?
• CAS IR 566: History of Deportation & Border Security in the Americas
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the U.S. has deported over 10 million Latin Americans. Drawing on history, anthropology, sociology, and films, this course explores how certain people--mostly Latin Americans--came to be considered deportable over time. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning.
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  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 568: U.S.-Latin American Relations
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Explores both sides of the U.S.-Latin American relationship, tracing its development over time and analyzing its current challenges. Each week focuses on a different theme--including imperialism, intervention, hemispheric security, trade, immigration, and drug trafficking--within a roughly chronological framework. Effective Spring 2021, 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 569: Race in Africa
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior, senior, or graduate standing. - How do we recognize when race has been on the scene' This course explores race in Africa through analyzing the multiple formations of racial and ethnic differentiation on the continent and the various methods people have developed to understand them.
• CAS IR 571: Global Money
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASIR399) or consent of instructor. - Introduces analytical framework for understanding the operation of key monetary and financial institutions in the global economy, with particular focus on settlement and liquidity. Examines interface between private and public sphere, and between money view and standard economics and finance.
• CAS IR 572: Ballot or Bullet: The Global Struggle for Justice
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar. - How do people attain justice for issues with deep historical roots, such as colonialism, segregation, indigenous land rights, reparations, gender/race-based violence, and religious persecution' Explores the role of violence both in policing global morality and in popular responses to imposed universalist ideas. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II.
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  • Social Inquiry II
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 573: Seminar in Public International Law
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent). - Overview of the rules, principles, and institutions of public international law. Surveys the basic doctrinal architecture of the field and examines rapidly developing subfields and controversies. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning.
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  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 574: Laws of War
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS IR 230 or IR 271/PO 171 or IR 349 or IR 350 or IR 374 or IR 375 or IR 385, or IR 573. Juniors and seniors in ROTC are welcome even if th ey have not completed one of these courses. - International law governs the use of force, the conduct of armed conflict, and the adjudication of war crimes. This course explores the strengths, limits, and blind spots of these three bodies of law through a broad range of topics.
• CAS IR 577: Foreign Policy of the People's Republic of China
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Meets with CAS PO 576. Explores China's perception of its role in the world, its evolution from a regional to a world power, and its security and economic relationships within the international system. Relationships with the superpowers, Third World, and world economy, focusing on technology and capital transfers.
• CAS IR 579: Japan in International Politics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Meets with CAS PO 552. International and domestic influences on Japan's international behavior in the past as a predictor of Japan's future role in international politics. Covers Japan's role in the Cold War, post-war Asia, and the management of the global economy. Examines viability of post-Cold War U.S.-Japan relationship.
• CAS IR 580: Latin America & International Law
  Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120) and junior standing. - This course examines Latin America¿s political integration since independence and critically evaluates arguments that this region developed its own distinct norms and approach to international relations and international law.