POL S 403 A: Advanced Seminar in International Relations

Levy_POLS403_Spring2025.pdf

Course Overview:

Why do civil wars begin and end? Which people join rebellions? Why do states and non-state groups hurt civilians? What are the differences between rebel groups, terrorist organizations, and organized criminal groups? The seminar-based class aims introduce students to theories about and cases of sub-state political violence. It primarily draws on research in Political Science, though it also includes work from Economics, Criminology, and Philosophy. Grades will be based on class participation, a written critique of a course reading, a written application of an argument made in a course reading to a new empirical case not discussed in that reading, and a literature review.

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Understand the key arguments made in social science research publications
2. Articulate and critique the logic of theories of conflict, crime, and repression
3. Draw from empirical cases to evaluate theoretical arguments about conflict, crime, and repression
4. Use scholars’ theoretical arguments about political violence to inform their understanding of empirical cases
5. Marshal evidence and logic to present their arguments in both written and verbal form

Readings:

All readings are to be read before the day they are assigned. They are all available on Canvas. While many of the readings are quantitative in nature, a previous background in statistics is not required for the course. I expect you to consider the argument made, the kinds of data used, and the conclusions of each piece.

Assignments: