PSCI 2500
INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
AND ASSIGNMENTS
Schedule of Classes and Assignments
NOTE: IGP refers to the text by Steven Lamy, Introduction to Global Politics.
Week #1
Monday, January 6: : Introduction to the course.
Quiz: Ch 1 quiz activated at 12:00 pm (elearning).
Wednesday, January 8: Foundations of the study of international relations.
Reading: IGP 2-26.
Saturday, January 11:
Quiz: Ch 2 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Week #2
Monday, January 13: History of international relations I ("Those who do not know the past are doomed to repeat it.").
Reading: IGP 28-39.
Wednesday, January 15: History of international relations II.
Reading: IGP 39-51.
Thursday, January 16:
Quiz: Ch 1 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Satellite view of North Korean missile launch facility, November 27, 2015.
Week #3
Monday, January 20: MLK Day.
No class.
Wednesday, January 22: History of international relations III.
Reading: "North Korea's nuclear programme: How advanced is it?"
Watch: Hyeonseo Lee, "My escape from North Korea." (12:15)
Current events Wednesday: North Korea.
Saturday, January 25:
Quiz: Ch 3 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Graffiti on Israeli wall separating Palestinean
and Israeli communities.
Week #4
Sunday, January 26:
Quiz: Ch 2 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, January 27: History of international relations IV.
Reading: IGP 51-67.
Wednesday, January 29: How does the international system work? Realism and liberalism.
Reading: IGP 70-97; and "The origins of Russia’s new conflict with the West."
Current events Wednesday: Russia: A New Cold War?.
Saturday, February 1:
Quiz: Ch 4 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Week #5
Sunday, February 2:
Quiz: Ch 3 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, February 3: How does the international system work? Other theories.
Reading: IGP 97-111.
Wednesday, February 5: Catch-up.
Reading: "The Occupation at Fifty." <e-reserve>
Current events Wednesday: Israel and Palestine.
Protests against the government of Jacob Zuma, September 27, 2017.
Week #6
Sunday, February 9:
Quiz: Ch 4 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, February 10: Exam I.
Reading: None.
Wednesday, February 12: Foreign policy I.
Reading: IGP 114-131.
Saturday, February 15:
Quiz: Ch 5 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Shanghai's central business district.
Week #7
Monday, February 17: Foreign policy II.
Reading: IGP 132-153.
Wednesday, February 19: Global governance I.
Reading: IGP 156-181; and "Can the US and China Coexist in Asia?" <e-reserve>
Current events Wednesday: China and the trade war.
Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh, 2018.
Week #8
Monday, February 24: Global governance II.
Reading: IGP 181-185.
Wednesday, February 26: Global governance III.
Reading: IGP 186-203; and "Why Migration Matters." <e-reserve>
Watch: "The real facts of the refugee crisis, and what we can do."
Current events Wednesday: Migration.
Quiz: Ch 6 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Friday, February 28:
Quiz: Ch 5 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Week #9
Monday, March 9: War.
Reading: IGP 206-225.
Wednesday, March 11: Nuclear proliferation (cont'd).
Reading: IGP 225-232; "Fewer Vietnamese Feeling the Effects of War;" and "Is Vietnam on the Verge of Change?" <e-reserve>
Current events Wednesday: Vietnam: from war to an emerging tiger.
Young Vietnamese professional buying street food from a traditional vendor in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), September 2016.
Week #10
Sunday, March 15:
Quiz: Ch 6 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, March 16: Terrorism.
Reading: IGP.232-249.
Wednesday, March 18: Catch-up.
Reading: none.
Saturday, March 21:
Quiz: Ch 7 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Week #11
Monday, March 23: Exam II.
Wednesday, March 25: Human rights and human security.
Reading: IGP 252-286; and "The Responsibility to Protect: Dilemmas of a New Norm." <e-reserve>.
Current events Wednesday: South Africa and the Struggle for Racial Equality.
Saturday, March 28:
Quiz: Ch 9 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
General Motors plant in Mexico.
Week #12
Sunday, March 29:
Quiz: Ch 7 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, March 30: Poverty, development and hunger I.
Reading: IGP 322-343; and CNBC, "Richest 26 people now own same wealth as poorest half of the world, Oxfam claims."
Wednesday, April 1: Poverty, development and hunger II.
Reading: IGP 343-351; and "Reconsidering the Iranian Revolution, Forty Years Later." <e-reserve>
Current events Wednesday: Iran.
Saturday, April 4:
Quiz: Ch 8 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
British citizens rally to support leaving the EU, June 2016.
Week #13
Sunday, April 5:
Quiz: Ch 9 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, April 6: Global trade.
Reading: IGP 288-305.
Wednesday, April 8: Global finance. Globalization.
Reading: IGP 305-319; "Why populism is back in full force."
Current events Wednesday: The rise of populism.
Saturday, April 11:
Quiz: Ch 10 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
The last five years have been the five warmest years on record.
Week #14
Sunday, April 12:
Quiz: Ch 8 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, April 13: Global environmental issues.
Reading: IGP 354-376; and "The Right Way to Build Resilience to Climate Change," <e-reserve>; and "Vietnam’s Urgent Task: Adapting to Climate Change." <e-reserve> NOTE: read the latter as an example of the challenges faced by one country -- one we have studied -- by climate change.
Wednesday, April 15: Climate change and global policy.
Reading: IGP 376-383;
Sunday, April 19:
Quiz: Ch 10 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Week #15
Thursday, April 23:
Final exam: 12:30-2:30.