International Politics – The study of international politics involves social, political, economic, and military interactions among states and nonstate actors. This course is designed to equip students to develop theoretically and empirically informed perspectives on events, issues, interests, and interactions in the global arena.

Politics of International Military Force – This course explores the causes, applications, and effects of coercive force.  Far more than a single, simple decision to engage the military, there is a complex spectrum ranging from threats to cautious or covert missions to multinational boots on the ground. It begins with conceptual and normative issues in the use of force, then surveys the causes, consequences, and data sources of a number of types and magnitudes of military force.

US Foreign Policy – This course examines the theory and practice of formulating and implementing American foreign policy. It features units on the major wars, engagement and aid in the developing world, nuclear containment, alliances and rivalries, international institutions and organizations, terrorism, intervention and state-building, and waning hegemony in a globalized world. It uses the scientific method to systematically explain the origins and effects of US foreign policy practices in the past, present, and near future.  

Poli Sci Fi – Political science relies on rigorous methods to explain and predict behaviors and outcomes of social, economic, and coercive interactions. Yet political phenomena are complex, contextual, and dynamic, rendering prediction difficult. Science fiction (text, film, serials) offers a lens to examine these elements and their implications. This course emphasizes substantive political themes and methodological overlap—counterfactuals, alternative history, scenario analysis, and rational choice approaches—to envision possible futures.

Introduction to Political Analysis – This course introduces research design and quantitative data analysis, key components of scientific research on political phenomena. Research design involves posing proper research questions, theory construction, hypothesis formulation, and issues of causality. The course will also introduce the machinery by which social science research is typically conducted: statistics. The material covered supports making compelling, systematic arguments with empirical evidence and data.

Game Theory – Social scientists use a variety of methods to ascertain and explain behavior among individuals, groups, and institutions. This course focuses on the cooperative and noncooperative strategic interactions among self-interested actors. Specifically, it teaches rigorous consideration of how rational players with conflicting interests calculate and behave to obtain efficient outcomes. It then applies these principles to recognize, set up, solve (intuitively and formally), and make inferences from games with real world relevance.