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 PO 598: Power, Identity, Equality
  Examines classic and contemporary theories of identity as well as their manifestation in political practice. We critically examine specific manifestations of identity including the role of race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, ability, and foreignness in democratic politics. Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Ethical Reasoning.
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  • Ethical Reasoning
• CAS PO 599: Data Science for Politics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: any 100-level course in political science and either enrollment in the PO Honors or BA/MA program, or consent of instructor. - Data science is changing how we understand and study politics, policy, and decision-making. This course introduces students to the fundamental tools of data science, including collecting, modeling, and visualizing data, and how to apply these tools to study political and policy questions. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Digital/Multimedia Expression.
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  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • Quantitative Reasoning I
• CAS PO 702: Professional Development for PhD Candidates in Political Science
  For political science PhD students in their second or third year of study and who are preparing for comprehensive exams or are working on a PhD prospectus. Addresses core issues in numerous fields and is taught by members of the GFPS.
• CAS PO 711: Approaches to the Study of American Politics
  Graduate Core Seminar. Introduces students to major theoretical, substantive, and methodological problems in the study of American politics by examining two sets of literature: scholarly debates and discussion of theory and research, and the concrete research of leading Americanists.
• CAS PO 751: Approaches to the Study of Comparative Politics
  Graduate Core Seminar. Provides an overview of major theoretical approaches and areas of research in comparative politics, including the comparative method, statebuilding, nationalism, democratization, revolution, culture and identity, electoral and party systems, systems of government, economic development, business politics, and the welfare state.
• CAS PO 771: Approaches to the Study of International Relations
  Graduate Core Seminar. Focuses on the ongoing conversations in the discipline of International Relations. The course addresses the various ways international relations scholars understand and study the world. It also addresses the types of questions international relations scholars ask and how they answer them.
• CAS PO 789: 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 PO 791: Approaches to the Study of Political Theory
  Graduate Core Seminar. An overview of some of the more significant texts for the study of political theory today, with attention to both substantive and methodological issues. Selections may vary from year to year.
• CAS PO 841: Quantitative Research Methods
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Social Science Math Boot Camp or consent of instructor. - An introduction to probability, descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, and ordinary least squares regression analysis as used in the social sciences. Emphasizes both theory and applications.
• CAS PO 842: Qualitative Approaches to the Study of Political Science
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Graduate student or consent of instructor. - Introduces the analytical tools and methods that underpin qualitative and multi-method research in the social sciences. Covers conceptualization and measurement, process tracing, comparative historical analysis, archival research, ethics, ethnography and participant observation, interviews, content and discourse analysis, and mixed methods.
• CAS PO 844: Methods for Causal Inference
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: GRS PO 841 or consent of instructor. - Research methods for causal inference in political science. Randomized experiments (lab, survey, and field), natural experiments (including regression discontinuity and instrumental variable designs), difference-in-differences and fixed effects models, multiple regression and matching, comparative case studies, process tracing, and multi-method designs.
• CAS PO 845: Special Topics in Methodology
  Topics vary; may be repeated for credit if the topics are different. Topic for Spring 2022: Survey Methods: Survey research. Methods in political science. Sampling techniques, questionnaire design, survey modes (in-person, phone, and online), interviewing, survey ethics, survey experiments, international surveys, analyzing survey data.
• CAS PO 846: Survey Research Methods
  Survey research methods in political science. Probability and convenience sampling, survey modes, questionnaire design, sensitive questions, survey experiments, pre-analysis plans, ethics, analyzing survey data. Global applications, including the Global South. Students design their own survey research plan.
• CAS PO 903: Research Workshop
  Graduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the Political Science PhD program. - This course is for Political Science PhD students of all years. It includes preparation for the second year paper, the dissertation prospectus, the dissertation, job talks, and grant and fellowship proposals.
• CAS PO 904: Research Workshop
  Graduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the Political Science PhD program. - This course is for Political Science PhD students of all years. It includes preparation for the second year paper, the dissertation prospectus, the dissertation, job talks, and grant and fellowship proposals.
• CAS PS 504: Trends in Contemporary Psychology
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: four principal courses in psychology, or consent of instructor. - Various contemporary trends in psychology presented. Content varies: consult department for emphasis and topics.
• CAS PS 512: The Political Psychology of Group-Based Politics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: PS junior standing and one previous course in political science or soc ial psychology; or consent of instructor. - The study of political psychology, integrating political science and social and cognitive psychology as it informs the dynamics of group-based politics, including especially race, gender, class, and political party affiliation.
• CAS PS 521: Animal Models in Behavioral Neuroscience
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: PS junior standing and either CAS PS 231 or CAS NE 101. Strongly recom mended: CAS NE 102 and either CAS PS 337 or PS 338. - Examines the modern behavioral approaches and wide range of species across the animal kingdom used to model human behavior and neural function. Lectures present background material, and students lead discussion of primary research articles. Also offered as CAS NE 521.
• CAS PS 528: Human Brain Mapping
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PS 336 or CAS PS 339/NE 202. - Localization in the brain of human mental functions and the study of their neural mechanisms. Topics include methods (fMRI, PET, TMS, ERP), memory, perception, recognition, attention, and executive processes. Also offered as CAS NE 528.
• CAS PS 530: Neural Models of Memory Function
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: a course in neuroscience or physiological psychology or consent of the instructor. - Computational models of neurobiological mechanisms for memory function and spatial navigation, with a particular emphasis on cellular and circuit models of the hippocampus and related cortical structures. Also offered as CAS NE 530.