PSCI 420(S) (Section 03) Senior Seminar in International Relations: Globalization and Terror
This seminar will critically examine whether or not the recent war on terrorism has fundamentally altered trends of globalization that have been unfolding for the last thirty years or so. Class work will proceed in two parts. First, we will read about globalization. We will not read everything there is to read about globalization; nor will we attempt to survey all theoretical perspectives on globalization. Rather, we will plumb a particular line of thought, drawn mostly from neo-Marxists writers, to familiarize ourselves with some of the major issues. The second part of the course will center on individual student research projects. Each student will choose some facet of the recent war on terrorism (e.g., whether it is a "war" or not; how "terrorism" is defined; how it has affected the movement of goods and people around the world; whether it has had important cultural effects; etc.) and, throughout the entire semester will comb journalistic and academic sources for information. Format: seminar. Requirements: All students will write a 5-page paper on one of the books we read together. Each student will make a presentation to the class on the topic of his or her research and, finally, each will write a 20-page research paper engaging the question of how that particular aspect of the war on terrorism has influenced larger processes of globalization. Prerequisites: senior standing; political science major; two classes in international relations. Permission of the instructor is required for this course. Enrollment limit 16; expected 16. Hour: 8:30-9:45 MWF