PRINTABLE SYLLABUS & COURSE SCHEDULE

[Class] Political Science 321: American Foreign Policy

[Quarter] Summer 2017

[Mode] Group Start Online Class (6/19/2007 - 8/18/2017)

[SLN] 13133

[W Credit Option] See ?Writing In This Class? Canvas page / contact instructor within the first week of the quarter

[Canvas Link] https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1147089/

[Instructor] Robin Datta [Video Introduction]

[Best Contact] rdatta@uw.edu

[Office Hours] Online - TBD  via Google hangout. In-person meetings at the Seattle campus may also be scheduled.

Two Teaching Assistants (TBD) will also be working in the class. 

[Special notes]

• This is a group start online class in which participants are expected to keep to course schedule
• A supplemental fee of $120 is charged in addition to tuition
• This course is coded as a distance learning course and DOES NOT qualify for residence credit, consult with an advisor in your academic major before registering

Special note for Political Science Majors: This class counts for Field C or D requirements and is a required course for the Security Option.

[Texts and Materials]

Kaufman, Joyce P. A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy, 4th Edition. Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. Print. ISBN: 9781442270459. This text is also available in ebook format.

 Additional readings are assigned via the Course Schedule and may require off-campus authentication with your UW NetID

[Overview]

This class critically analyzes the historical development of U.S. foreign policy. Proceeding chronologically it traces the enduring values, interests, institutions, and processes of American foreign policy in order to throw into relief modern elements of continuity, of change, and of chronic contradiction, and ends by considering contemporary challenges to American hard and soft power as they shape the twenty-first century international environment. See the Course Introduction for an expanded description of course policies.

Topics include:

• What is Foreign Policy and what alternative ways of thinking about the US in the World exist
• The American ?Way? of Foreign Policy: Cultural Antecedents and Changing Political Realities
• The American Rise from Unilateralism to Globalism
• WWI and WWII and American Hegemony
• The Cold War and US Power
• Post-Cold War Fragmentation 
• A Post-Hegemony Foreign Policy? Twenty-First Century Foreign Policy under Obama and Trump 

[Recommended Preparation]

Students should possess a basic understanding of International Relations theory and concepts (Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism, Globalization, Levels of Analysis, Hegemony, state and non-state actors) and a general awareness of the historical development of the International System during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Regular reading of foreign policy news is highly recommended ?Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy are two useful policy-debate journals (more can be found at aldaily.com).

[Student Learning Goals]

When you have finished this course, you will be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the historical development of US Foreign Policy;
• demonstrate an understanding of the role that culture and ideology played, and continues to play, in the conceptualization and conduct of US Foreign Policy;
• demonstrate a better understanding of the impact of political pluralism and stakeholder politics on the development and conduct of US Foreign Policy; and
• use the lessons of history to critically consider contemporary challenges in foreign policy.

[General Method of Instruction]

Recorded lectures, critical response papers (2), and discussion board participation

LIVE COURSE SCHEDULE 

The schedule below is automatically generated for this course and contains a list of assignments and due dates in the table. The calendar located in the upper right-hand corner of this page highlights the due dates of all the assignments. Hovering over that date will highlight the corresponding assignment in the Schedule table.