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What is the impact of the resurgence of populism, nativism, and geopolitical competition on foreign relations and economic growth? Is China’s push to turn the renminbi into a global currency a threat or an opportunity? What are the implications of an unsustainable levels of public debt (U.S., Europe, Latin America, and Asia) on the future of international monetary and financial architecture? Given questions such as these, this course examines the interplay between globalizing pressures and national interests.

Working from a multilateral perspective, students use case studies to examine the nature of relations between nation-states in a period of increased economic and political integration. Topics include theories of international political economy in relation to foreign aid and sovereign debt, international trade and capital flows, security and non-state actors, rights-based approaches to development and humanitarian emergencies, energy sustainability, and the role of international organizations and financial institutions.

For counterpoint, students also examine the political, ideological, and social determinants of domestic political economies, including that of the United States. The political mechanisms of economic policy-making and the relationship between domestic policy and foreign policy are explored using theoretical, historical, and topical cases; examples include the political economy of income distribution and social welfare, national defense and hegemony, the national debt, and globalization.

Students examine these and other topics through lecture, research, academic and policy dialogue, group projects and presentations, and peer critiques. For students enrolled in the in-person program, the course typically includes a visit to the United Nations Headquarters.

Students should have “business casual” outfits for UN field trips and need identification (ID card, drivers license, or passport) for entry.

This is a course designed for students interested in law, government, and politics. It examines a wide range of contemporary issues subject to constitutional interpretation, introducing students to the constitution, the fundamental concepts of constitutional law, the role of the courts, and the legal limitations on governmental policy making.

Students discuss and analyze topics including separation of powers, federalism, freedom of speech, affirmative action, the death penalty, gun control, civil rights, and abortion. They are exposed to current constitutional challenges and are given the opportunity to explore the relationship between law and society, including through the experiences of guest speakers or field trips. 

Students develop skills that enable them to read and interpret Supreme Court decisions, which serve as the basis for class discussion. Debates and Moot Courts call on students to develop persuasive arguments in defense of their positions, thereby sharpening reasoning and analytical skills.

Students should have “business casual” outfits for potential field trips and may need identification (ID card, drivers license, or passport) for entry.

Due to the sensitive nature of possible content and material covered in this course, it is recommended that students should only register if they have the maturity, and willingness to engage thoughtfully with challenging topics.

Are human rights still relevant in promoting social justice and freedom in the 21st Century? Human rights law and advocacy have been central to international politics since the end of World War II. However, recent rises in authoritarianism and anti-liberal regimes have raised new questions on whether the human rights framework is still capable of addressing injustices in the modern world. This course introduces students to the law and practice of human rights as well as the challenges of enforcing rights in an international environment that has grown increasingly hostile to principles of human dignity and personal freedom.

Students review the philosophical foundations of human rights and then examine human rights from two perspectives. First, the legal perspective introduces them to basic principles and rules of international law and the main international organizations and mechanisms designed for promoting and enforcing human rights. Second, they adopt the role of social scientist. We debate evidence on the effectiveness of human rights law and discuss challenges of enforcing rights in an international system in which states are not accountable to a higher authority.

Students apply their new knowledge to the problems facing human rights today. Topics may include cultural relativist critiques of human rights as a Western, neo-colonialist institution, challenges from new technologies in state surveillance and autonomous weapons, and existential threats to human populations through climate change and environmental damage. The course includes asynchronous work, which students are expected to complete between class sessions.

Students should have “business casual” outfits for potential field trips and may need identification (ID card, drivers license, or passport) for entry.

Due to the sensitive nature of possible content and material covered in this course, it is recommended that students should only register if they have the maturity, and willingness to engage thoughtfully with challenging topics.

Each year cybercriminals steal hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of information from major companies and vital national security secrets from governments, while terrorist organizations leverage cyber-networks for distributing their media and recruiting. It is imperative to nurture the next generation of intelligence professionals to understand the cyber-threat landscape given its ubiquitous impact on our daily lives.

In this course participants are exposed to cyber-threat intelligence as a discipline and its function in providing decision-makers with the support they need to stay abreast of evolving security challenges. Case studies on advanced persistent threat (APT) groups and large cybercrime networks are examined so as to better understand their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs); their successes; and their shortcomings. Further, we look at technology’s evolution and how it is integrated into our lives along with the likely future threat landscape that accompanies these technologies.

Threat intelligence encompasses more than the government, considering all private companies are reliant on technology and have their own threat intelligence teams, so this course focuses on both the public and private sectors.

Course readings cover the topics of intelligence, analysis, advanced persistent threat groups, cybercriminals, terrorist organizations, and the different methods these actors use to conduct their attacks and operations. We discuss these topics in greater depth in class lectures and with guest speakers. Students produce short white papers and work on group presentations in which they represent threat intel teams focusing on particular entities.

Please note, this is not a computer science class and no technical expertise is required.

The course begins by introducing international relations theory and practice, evolves into the evolution of the international order and concludes by discussing great power competition and economic statecraft.

The first half of the course presents theoretical and practical frameworks for understanding international politics and the policy decisions that shape global outcomes. It considers major international trends, such as the rise and fall of great powers, cooperation and conflict between states, and the influence of non-state actors on security, economics, and politics. With an emphasis on contemporary world affairs, it also explores the institutions, interests, ideas, and personalities behind international events. Foundational knowledge will be conveyed by looking at key historical events and the evolution of theoretical concepts that frame our understanding of international relations and informs policy. Each class meeting will use illustrative historical/contemporary cases to link theory to real world policy formation and execution.

The second half of the course, which builds on the material covered in part I, examines challenges to the current global order in a world of growing political, economic and military competition. We will examine the rise of great power competition among the United States, China and Russia and use of economic statecraft as a principle tool to advance each country’s interest. This part of the course examines each of these actors from an economic viewpoint, proceeding from the premise that a national economic base provides the resources from which these nations provide for domestic living standards while at the same time resourcing their national security objectives. The course provides an overview of each nation in context to its regional and the world economy. The course will examine contemporary and projected trends for each nation and relate these to security and strategy.

This is designed as an economics course for those who are interested in international relations but who do not have a deep knowledge of macro-economics. The instructor will familiarize students with basic macroeconomic concepts and provide a framework for inquiry which the course will apply to each of the actors. The course will then draw conclusions for strategy and decision makers.

Due to the sensitive nature of possible content and material covered in this course, it is recommended that students should only register if they have the maturity, and willingness to engage thoughtfully with challenging topics.

This course explores the central political, economic, and social ideologies of the modern world, including capitalism, socialism, communism, liberalism, populism, and nationalism. We ask what principles define these ideologies, how these ideologies intersect with democracy, and how they produce and require different meanings and understandings of key concepts such as freedom, equality, justice, and citizenship.

Starting with an extended focus on capitalism and liberal democracy, students investigate the origins and key beliefs of each ideology and think about the pros and cons of various systems of governance and social control. Our goal is not to proclaim any one ideology as superior, but to more deeply understand different ways of thinking about politics and society that have shaped the past and present, and that offer us possibilities for the future. In the process, class participants become more reflective about and aware of their own convictions, and better able to articulate and defend such convictions in speech and writing with thoughtfulness, precision, insight, and persuasive force.

Course materials include excerpts from classic and contemporary political theory texts, as well as newspaper and magazine articles and film clips. Students draft and revise personal ideology statements and participate in debates in which they marshal ideas from the sources studied to justify and defend their positions.

The course also includes guest speakers representing various ideological positions. Students are encouraged to engage in serious dialogue with and pose difficult questions of these guests, probing what they believe and why.

The morning sessions are generally devoted to helping students achieve a firm grasp of the theoretical and factual arguments found in the readings, through a combination of presentations by the instructor and class discussion. The afternoon sessions allow students to put these theories and facts to work in written and oral form, working both individually and in small groups to develop arguments and debate controversial political questions.

By the end of the three weeks, students are equipped with not only a deeper understanding of the competing political and economic ideologies that shape the modern world, but also with the tools to make, understand, and critically evaluate claims of all kinds—tools which should serve them well both in their future studies and as future citizens and leaders.

Due to the sensitive nature of possible content and material covered in this course, it is recommended that students should only register if they have the maturity, and willingness to engage thoughtfully with challenging topics.

This course considers the relationship between wealth and democracy, in theory, in history, and in practice today. Topics investigated include the following: political and legal debates about campaign finance reform from the late 20th century to the present, including whether money is speech and whether campaigns should be publicly financed; the role of the wealthy in American politics as candidates and as donors/funders; and the nature and problem of political corruption.

Readings are drawn from philosophers and political theorists, contemporary studies of the impact of wealth on American democracy, and key Supreme Court decisions including Citizens United. Other sources include film excerpts and press accounts. Students also benefit from several guest speakers working on issues pertaining to campaign finance and related issues of money and politics on the local, state, and/or national level.

Morning sessions are generally devoted to helping students achieve a firm grasp of the theoretical and factual arguments found in the readings, through a combination of presentations by the instructor and class discussion. Afternoon sessions allow students to put these theories and facts to work in written and oral form, working both individually and in small groups.

In addition to completing and discussing reading assignments, students write position papers and participate in debates in which they marshal ideas from the sources studied to justify and defend their positions.

Our ultimate goal is not to establish the proper role of money in politics, but to more deeply understand different ways of thinking about wealth and democracy that have shaped the past and present, and that offer us possibilities for the future.

Due to the sensitive nature of possible content and material covered in this course, it is recommended that students should only register if they have the maturity, and willingness to engage thoughtfully with challenging topics.