Courses

• Prof. Brian Gareau
• INTL 4941.01
• Mondays 3:00 - 5:25pm (Stokes 111S) 
   

In this seminar, students will explore the intersection of environmental sustainability and social justice through the lens of speculative science fiction. Drawing on contemporary literature and critical international studies perspectives, students will engage with narratives that envision diverse futures shaped by the ongoing climate crisis. By analyzing texts such as Kim Stanley Robinson's "Ministry of the Future" and NK Jemisin's "Broken Earth" trilogy, students will critically examine how authors portray the complexities of environmental challenges and the possibilities for equitable solutions on a global scale.

• Prof. Elizabeth Prodromou 
• INTL3615
  
• Wednesdays 3:00 - 5:25 p.m. (Stokes Hall 361)
  

The passage of the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998 and the 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States present the conventional timeline in explaining the significance of religion in U.S. foreign policy. This course critiques this conventional wisdom, by exploring the deep religious roots of ideas of American exceptionalism and forms of imperialism, by identifying the foreign policy structures and tools for engagement with faith-based communities abroad, and by considering how religion reveals tensions between US security priorities versus human rights commitments. The course uses academic and policy readings, supplemented by guest lectures from expert practitioners.

• Prof. Joseph Getzoff
• INTL4941.01
• Thursdays 3:00 - 5:20pm
   

Development, since World War II, reigns as the mandate for addressing inequality in the Global South. Development’s promise has been to equalize the uneven relations between the former colonized and colonizers. And yet, many post-colonial states face continued poverty, exploitation, and environmental degradation, what some call neo-colonial relations. Students will engage with interdisciplinary scholarship that spans many engagements with development, including Third Worldist critiques, postcolonial theory, environmental issues, the politics of expertise, social justice, biopolitics, and case studies of developmental efforts in the present. Our goal, as a class, will be to reimagine development for the challenges facing not only the Global South, but for the North as well.

• Aaron Medlin

The course will explore the constituent aspects of money and sovereign debt in shaping the international financial system and its profound impact on global economic dynamics. This senior seminar will delve into historical and contemporary financial crises, examining how debt influences and is influenced by these critical events across different regions and periods. Students will investigate the foundational concepts of money and debt, particularly their connection to the economic strategies of countries and powerful institutions. Through comprehensive analysis and discussion, the course aims to illuminate the intricate interplay between financial practices and international power structures, providing students with a nuanced understanding of economic life and commercial exchange on a global scale.