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 703: International Security
  Introduces core concepts of international security, including deterrence, balance of power theory, alliance politics, arms races, asymmetric warfare, and non-traditional security concerns such as terrorism. Topics are considered from both a theoretical basis and in historical and contemporary context.
• CAS IR 713: Latin America Past and Present
  Prerequisites: Graduate student standing. Open to select undergraduate students who have demonstrated the ability to be successful in a graduate seminar. Undergraduates must hold junior or senior status and a GPA of 3.3 or above. - The interdisciplinary study of Latin America through history, from pre-colonial indigenous times to contemporary achievements and challenges, including culture and the arts, archaeology, society, politics, and international affairs.
• CAS IR 732: Public Diplomacy
  Graduate Prerequisites: graduate 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.
• CAS IR 735: Global Health Diplomacy
  Graduate Prerequisites: graduate standing. - Examines how diplomatic action has addressed global health challenges, the strengths and weaknesses of these efforts, including in the COVID pandemic, and how global health has emerged as a field for competition among states and other stakeholders.
• CAS IR 759: Understanding Global Money
  Explores the causes, mechanisms, and effects of the globalization of financial markets. Major topics include financial crises, the role of the dollar and other fiat and crypto currencies, cross-border capital flows, development and climate finance, financial regulation, and cooperation among central banks.
• CAS IR 778: Problems of Strategic Intelligence
  Explores major aspects of strategic intelligence; interrelationship of intelligence and other aspects of foreign policy; performance of U.S. intelligence community; and intelligence as a tool in the formulation of foreign policy.
• CAS IR 780: CIA's National Clandestine Service
  The National Clandestine Service spends 15% of the US Intelligence budget but receives 95% of public and private scrutiny. Examines the unique legal mandate and culture of the clandestine service: espionage, covert operations, counterintelligence, and special operations.
• CAS IR 786: Conflict and State-Building in Africa
  Meets with GRS PO 786. Examines conflict in contemporary Africa at both the international and domestic levels. Addresses the dynamics of insurgency and inter-state war, as well as the ways in which these conflicts have affected African state-building.
• CAS IR 788: International Relations of Asia-Pacific
  Focuses on the Asia-Pacific region. Analysis of issues that have defined international relations; the impact of the Cold War, of regional economic growth and dynamism, and the emergence of contention over regional identity and its relations to global politics.
• CAS IR 789: Globalization, Development, Governance
  Graduate Prerequisites: (GRSIR603) or consent of instructor. - Covers the history, theory, and contemporary policies of the Bretton Woods Institutions and their offshoots, as well as the newly established development banks, with special emphasis on sustainability policy perspectives.
• CAS IR 798: Global Development Capstone
  Graduate Prerequisites: At least 12 credits toward the MA in Global Development Policy or the MA in Global Development Economics. - (Meets with GRS EC 798 and GE798.) Capstone course for MA students in Global Development Policy and Global Development Economics. Students, working in groups, design and carry out an interdisciplinary policy analysis comparable to those performed for a government or nonprofit agency.
• CAS IR 799: Master's Paper
  Provides structure and support to Masters paper writers, through individual mentorship of a faculty member. Goals include formulating researchable questions, creating viable research and writing strategies, and critiquing intermediate efforts. Normally taken in final semester for 4 credits. May be taken in two consecutive semesters with permission.
• CAS IR 825: Seminar: Women and Social Change in the Developing World
  (Meets with GRS SO 820.) 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 901: Directed Study 1
  Advanced independent study in international relations under the supervision of a faculty member. Usually requires a formal research paper. Hours arranged. For Fall 2017 the topic for Section X4 is "Inside the G20: Managing Crisis, Uncertainty, and Economic Disorder." Addresses development of G-20 as a mechanism of global governance. Reviews history of G- 20 Summit since its establishment in 2008, focusing on accomplishments, internal dynamics, and changing missions. Considers the capacity of G-20 to address global challenges going forward. The topic for Section X5 is "Combatting Human Trafficking." Addresses history, current scope, and emerging issues surrounding human trafficking. Focuses on role of private sector, entrepreneurship, and innovation in fight against human trafficking; intersection with other forms of illicit trade; cyber-trafficking and the Internet; and linkages to environmental concerns.
• CAS IR 902: Directed Study 2
  Advanced independent study in international relations under the supervision of a faculty member. Usually requires a formal research paper. Hours arranged. Spring 2017 topic for Section X4: Investigates how public policy is made and implemented at global level, as well as global impacts on local policy. Surveys academic literature and case studies in environment, development, and public health (prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor). Spring 2017 topic for Section X5: International Project Management. (prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor) Focuses on international project management by studying public and private development and innovation programs throughout the world, including large- scale infrastructure, transportation, energy, agriculture, technology, and environmental programs and the critical strategies used to advance and improve societal interests.
• CAS LC 586: Chinese Literary Translation Workshop
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASCL311) or equivalent. - A workshop on translating literary works from Chinese to English designed for MFA students and advanced undergraduate students. Discusses strategies for rendering context-dependent and idiomatic expressions, translating different literary genres, and syntactical and stylistic choices for the translator. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
• CAS LF 613: French through Translation
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: for CAS LF 313 only: CASLF212 and placement test results, one other LF course at the 300-level, or consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: for GRS LF 613 only: advanced proficiency in French. - Students develop language skills and cultural awareness by exploring literary, technical, legal, and audiovisual texts. Students translate from different genres with special emphasis on prose, analyze essays on translation, and prepare a substantial translation from French into English, learning how to develop their own voice. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication , Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
• CAS LF 621: Reading French for Graduate Students
  Designed for graduate degree candidates preparing for language reading examinations. Develops skills in interpreting written French with minimal phonological or cultural references. Practice in translating passages relating to the sciences and humanities. No previous knowledge of French required. Students will not receive graduate credit for this course and there is no tuition charge.
• CAS LF 641: Topics in Urban Imaginaries in Literature and Film
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASLF350 OR CASLF351) or consent of instructor. - Students examine the filmic and literary representations of urban environments in France and the francophone world; the phenomenon of urbanization, the historical development, cultural and artistic context of its attractive power; fluxes of migration of the city; streets and monuments as characters. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Creativity/Innovation
  • The Individual in Community
• CAS LF 642: Geographies of the Imagination: Writing (beyond) the Island
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASLF350 OR CASLF351) or consent of instructor. - Approaches to real and imagined spaces in their literary representations. Emphasis on relation between cultural and political heritage and aesthetic forms. Discussion of themes such as exile, displacement, mobility, and empire in critical discourse. French, Francophone, and related traditions. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Historical Consciousness
  • Research and Information Literacy