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Offered: Th 9:30 am-12:15 pm
*This class is restricted to PSC students only*
Course Description
This seminar introduces students to the principles of research design in mainstream political science. We will begin with some questions in the philosophy of science as they apply to the social sciences. We will review the purpose of theories, as well as different approaches to generating and evaluating them. We will investigate concept formation and operationalization. We will discuss how different research designs (including the construction of counterfactuals, comparative case studies, large-N regression analysis, and experiments) may be used to help researchers make valid causal inferences.
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Offered: T 9:30 am-12:15 pm
*This class is partially restricted for PSC Graduate students*
Course Description
In this course, we will engage with key questions in the study of political conflict and violence, including the sources and dynamics of social movements and protest, ethnic conflict and violence, and civil war. The course readings draw primarily from comparative politics but will also include readings from international relations, economics, sociology, and anthropology. The main goal of the course is to introduce you to the main questions driving comparative politics research on political conflict and violence, the most important contributions made to answering these questions to date, and the gaps that remain in our understanding of these questions. In doing so, it aims to give you not only a survey of the relevant literature but also the tools you will need to engage with and evaluate new research, including your own.
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Offered: T 3:30 pm-6:15 pm
Meets with PAI 719 m001
Course Description
The goal of this class is to familiarize students with the main concepts of post conflict reconstruction, the various dimensions and goals of post-conflict work, the types of actors that conduct it, the trade-offs and dilemmas they face, and the lessons learned from its application across various settings. The course will devote considerable attention to the applied side of post-conflict reconstruction; that is, the techniques and tools used by international intermediaries (states, IOs and NGOs) as well as local stakeholders to transition societies from violence to sustainable peace. It will also address many of the key issues that frame the debate in post-conflict reconstruction work: the tension between externally and internally generated recovery efforts; the possibilities and weaknesses of formal peace and reconciliation commissions; the challenges of civilian-military cooperation in post-conflict zones; the trade-offs between stability and liberty; and the quest for viable exit strategies for international actors.
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