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 11: Introduction to the course.
Quiz: Ch 1 quiz activated at 12:00 pm (elearning).
Wednesday, January 13: Foundations of the study of international relations.
Reading: IGP ch 1: 2-28.
Saturday, January 16:
Quiz: Ch 2 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Week #2
Monday, January 18: MLK Day.
No class.
Wednesday, January 20: History of international relations I ("Those who do not know the past are doomed to repeat it.").
Reading: IGP ch 2: 30-41.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Thursday, January 21:
Quiz: Ch 1 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Sunday, January 24:
Course policies quiz deadline.
Satellite view of North Korean missile launch facility, November 27, 2015.
Week #3
Monday, January 25: History of international relations II.
Reading: IGP ch 2: 41-53.
After-class quiz deadline: Thursday night 11:59 pm.
Wednesday, January 27: History of international relations III.
Reading: none.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Current IR challenges: North Korea (video lecture on elearning, week #3 module). Also, read "North Korea's nuclear programme: how advanced is it?" and watch Hyeonseo Lee, "My escape from North Korea." (12:15)
North Korea quiz deadlne: Sunday night, January 31 at 11:59 pm.
Saturday, January 30:
Quiz: Ch 3 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Graffiti on Israeli wall separating Palestinean
and Israeli communities.
Week #4
Sunday, January 31:
Quiz: Ch 2 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, February 1: History of international relations IV.
Reading: IGP ch 3: 53-71.
After-class quiz deadline: Thursday night 11:59 pm.
Wednesday, February 3: How does the international system work? Realism and liberalism.
Reading: IGP ch 3: 74-102.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Week #5
Sunday, February 7:
Quiz: Ch 3 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, February 8: How does the international system work? Other theories.
Reading: IGP ch 3: 102-116.
After-class quiz deadline: Thursday night 11:59 pm.
Wednesday, February 10: Catch-up.
Reading: none.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Current IR challenges: Israel and Palestine (video lecture on elearning). Also, read "The occupation at fifty: a permanent state of ambiguity." <see elearning for week 5>
Israel and Palestine quiz deadlne: Sunday night, February 14 at 11:59 pm.
Saturday, February 13:
Quiz: Ch 4 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Protests against the government of Jacob Zuma, September 27, 2017.
Week #6
Monday, February 15: Exam I.
Study guide (to be activated approximately one week ahead).
Reading: None.
Wednesday, February 17: Foreign policy I.
Reading: IGP ch 4: 118-130.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Current IR challenges: Russia: A New Cold War? (video lecture on elearning). Also read, "The origins of Russia’s new conflict with the West."
Russia quiz deadlne: Sunday night, February 21 at 11:59 pm.
Saturday, February 20:
Quiz: Ch 5 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Sunday, February 21:
Quiz: Ch 4 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Shanghai's central business district.
Week #7
Monday, February 22: Foreign policy II.
Reading: IGP ch 4: 131-159.
After-class quiz deadline: Thursday night 11:59 pm.
Wednesday, February 24: Global governance I.
Reading: IGP ch 5: 162-178.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Current IR challenges: China as a global power (video lecture on elearning). Also, read "Can the US and China coexist in Asia?" <see elearning for week 7>
China quiz deadlne: Sunday night, February 28 at 11:59 pm.
Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh, 2018.
Week #8
Monday, March 1: Global governance II.
Reading: IGP ch 5: 179-193.
After-class quiz deadline: Thursday night 11:59 pm.
Wednesday, March 3: Global governance III.
Reading: IGP ch 5: 193-210.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Current IR challenges: Migration (video lecture on elearning). Also, read
"Why migration matters," <see elearning for week 8> and watch: "The real facts of the refugee crisis, and what we can do."
Migration quiz deadlne: Sunday night, March 7 at 11:59 pm.
Saturday, March 6:
Quiz: Ch 6 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Week #9
Sunday, March 7:
Quiz: Ch 5 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, March 8: War.
Reading: IGP ch 6: 212-233.
After-class quiz deadline: Thursday night 11:59 pm.
Wednesday, March 10: Nuclear proliferation.
Reading: IGP ch 6: 233-240.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Current IR challenges: Vietnam: from war to an emerging tiger (video lecture on elearning). Also, read "Fewer Vietnamese feeling the effects of war;" and "Is Vietnam on the verge of change?" <see elearning for week 9>
Vietnam quiz deadlne: Sunday night, March 14 at 11:59 pm.
Young Vietnamese professional buying street food from a traditional vendor in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), September 2016.
Week #10
Sunday, March 14:
Quiz: Ch 6 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, March 15: Terrorism.
Reading: IGP ch 6, 240-258; United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. <see elearning for week 10>
After-class quiz deadline: Thursday night 11:59 pm.
Wednesday, March 17: Catch-up.
Reading: None.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Saturday, March 20:
Quiz: Ch 7 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Week #11
Monday, March 22: Exam II.
Study guide (to be activated approximately one week ahead).
Wednesday, March 24: Human rights and human security I.
Reading: IGP ch 7: 260-283; and "The Responsibility to Protect: dilemmas of a new norm." <see elearning for week 11>.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Current IR challenges: South Africa and the struggle for racial equality (video lecture on elearning).
South Africa quiz deadlne: Sunday night, March 28 at 11:50 pm.
General Motors plant in Mexico.
Week #12
Spring break.
Week #13
Saturday, April 3:
Quiz: Ch 9 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
Monday, April 5: Human rights and human security II.
Reading: IGP ch 7: 283-296; and CNBC, "Richest 26 people now own same wealth as poorest half of the world, Oxfam claims."
Video: "Human Security."
After-class quiz deadline: Thursday night 11:59 pm.
Wednesday, April 7: Poverty, development and hunger.
Reading: IGP ch 9: 334-361.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Thursday, April 8:
Quiz: Ch 7 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Saturday, April 10:
Quiz: Ch 8 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
British citizens rally to support leaving the EU, June 2016.
Week #14
Sunday, April 11:
Quiz: Ch 9 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, April 12: Global trade.
Reading: IGP ch 8: 298-321.
After-class quiz deadline: Thursday night 11:59 pm.
Wednesday, April 14: Global finance. Globalization.
Reading: IGP ch 8: 321-331.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Current IR challenges: Iran (video lecture on elearning). Also, "Reconsidering the Iranian Revolution, forty years later." <see elearning for week 14>
Iran quiz deadlne: Sunday night, April 18 at 11:59 pm.
Saturday, April 17:
Quiz: Ch 10 quiz activated at 8:00 am (elearning).
The last five years have been the five warmest years on record.
Week #15
Sunday, April 18:
Quiz: Ch 8 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Monday, April 19: Global environmental issues.
Reading: IGP ch 10: 364-388; and "TherRight way to build resilience to climate change," and "Vietnam’s urgent task: adapting to climate change." <see elearning for week 15> NOTE: read the latter as an example of the challenges faced by one country -- one we have studied -- by climate change.
After-class quiz deadline: Thursday night 11:59 pm.
Wednesday, April 21: Climate change and global policy.
Reading: IGP ch 10: 388-394.
After-class quiz deadline: Saturday night 11:59 pm.
Sunday, April 25:
Quiz: Ch 10 quiz deadline at 11:59 pm (elearning).
Week #16
Final exam week: date to be announced.
Study guide (to be activated approximately one week ahead).