Class News
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Final course grades have been posted. See Course Documents below. Note that due to a record-keeping problem, I rounded grades for the international law assignment up to the nearest ten percent. |
| Course Documents |
Syllabus for POLS 415
(undergraduates) -- includes all worksheets and assignments Syllabus for POLS 586 (graduate students) -- includes all worksheets and assignments Final Grades -- Listed by the last 4 digits of your UIN (the number that begins with a bunch of zeroes) |
Class Notes |
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Dates |
Topic |
Assigned Readings |
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Aug 24 |
Introduction: Levels of Analysis and the Menu for Choice |
None |
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Aug 26 |
What Kind of Country? |
Herring: Chapters 1-3 |
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Aug 31 |
Manifest Destiny and Sovereign Equality |
Herring: Chapters 4-5 |
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Sept 2 |
Visions of Empire |
Herring: Chapters 6-9 |
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Sept 7 |
NO CLASS: LABOR DAY |
NO CLASS: LABOR DAY |
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Sept 9 |
The Public and the World Wars |
Herring: Chapters 10-12 |
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Sept 14 |
The Onset of the Cold War |
Herring: Chapters 13-15 |
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Sept 16 |
Limits to American Power |
Herring: Chapters 16-18 |
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Sept 21 |
A New World Order? |
Herring: Chapters 19-20 |
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Sept 23 |
Ignorance and Intelligence |
1. Read Johnson: Chapter 1 and The Rumsfeld Intelligence Agency (Online) 2. Click here for an online lesson (about 1.5-2.5 hours, around the same amount of time as class) 3. Hand in the worksheet you filled out in # 2 on Monday, along with the Wednesday and Monday worksheets from the syllabus. Assignment DUE (POLS 586 Only) -- You can email this one to prove you have it done, or just slide it under my door/give to my secretary, |
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Sept 28 |
The Executive and Military Force |
Johnson: Chapters 2, 3 |
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Sept 30 |
International Law and U.S. Policy |
Three Schools of Thought on International Law Johnson: Chapters 4, 5 Assignment DUE (POLS 415 and 586) |
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Oct 5 |
The Morality of Foreign Policy and Politics of Foreign Aid |
Johnson: Chapter 6 National Interest, Rationality, and Morality (Proxy) Foreign Policy, Rationality, and Morality (Proxy) Evaluating the Realist Alternative (Handout) |
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Oct 7 |
Leadership -- or Empire? |
Johnson: Chapter 7 and Conclusion The Unconscious Colossus (Proxy) Assignment DUE (POLS 415 and 586) |
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Oct 12 |
NO CLASS: COLUMBUS DAY |
NO CLASS: COLUMBUS DAY |
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Oct 14 |
Final Exam |
Final Exam |