PSC408 Politics of Immigration in Europe (Fall, Spring)

PSC408 Politics of Immigration in Europe (Fall, Spring)

Analyze immigration policy in the European Union and its individual member states with attention to its residual socioeconomic and political implications. Special focus on gender, ethnic, and religious identities as they relate to immigration policy. In a globalized world, immigration transforms the fabric of our societies and poses new challenges to democratic politics. All over Europe, the migratory phenomenon has triggered new forms of identity conflict, which are shaping the political life of every country. In 2015, at least one million people sought refuge on European shores. The refugee crisis throws new light on European politics, revamping the urgency of a series of deep-set problems: conceptions and practices of citizenship, identity, multiculturalism, and secularization. Xenophobia is now a major component of public discourses in many European countries. These issues not only dominate domestic political debates in many countries but also seem to jeopardize the very future of the European Union, as clearly indicated by the recent history of Brexit. For this reason, the course will focus on Europe: however, it will adopt a comparative perspective, taking into consideration the U.S. situation as well as other relevant examples.

Counts as an IDEA course requirement for Syracuse students. 

This course has an associated course fee. See the Course Fees webpage for more information.

PSC380.23 Borders in Latin America: Globalization and Spatial Restructuring

Taught in Spanish. The course will examine the different border situations that characterize the landscapes of contemporary Latin American societies. We will study both the emergence of internal borders as a consequence of the socio-spatial fragmentation that takes place, as well as the processes of re-functionalization of international border regimes and the emergence of cross-border regions. In this sense, the course goes beyond the geopolitical view of borders as lines of separation and emphasizes them as complex social spaces from which a methodology of sociological and political analysis of value is derived. Students successfully completing the class will:

  • Evaluate the influence of globalization on changing socio-spatial organization and on the configuration of new borders as critical data for contemporary sociology and political science.
  • Become familiar with specifics of border situations in contemporary societies and their uses as a methodological resource for the analysis of social situations.
  • Understand the complexities of contemporary international borders and the formation of cross-border spaces and transnational urban complexes as distinctive spaces of international relations.
  • Analyze, compare, and evaluate international experiences in establishing and managing borders with respect to the European Union, NAFTA, and Latin America in particular, based on a series of relevant variables such as the socio-historical fabric, environment, security, trade, migration, institutionalism, etc.
  • Understand Chile’s border situations and evaluate the opportunities and risks they present.

(ICP0339)

This course is taught at the Pontificia Universidad Católica and may not be offered every semester.

PSC380.22 Political Struggle and Indigenous Resistance in Latin America

Taught in Spanish. This course explores and compares the ways in which contemporary indigenous peoples in Latin American organize politically. We’ll examine the effects of this political activity on the democratic systems of the states of Latin America, which had been accustomed to a marginalized role for “Indians” among the electorate. The goals of the course include:

  • To compare the political development of contemporary in Latin American indigenous movements who use ethnicity and ethnic identity as an organizing principle.
  • To study the relationships of these movements with the respective states and their central policies.
  • To study literature on indigenous movements in Latin America.
  • To develop a critical understanding of the political perspectives of indigenous peoples.

(ICP0133)

This course is taught at the Pontificia Universidad Católica and may not be offered every semester. It may also be registered as ANT 380.22.

PSC436 Healthcare in Europe: A Comparative Approach (Fall, Spring)

A fierce academic, social, political, and economic debate is raging about how healthcare systems should be organized. Policy experts want to learn from international best practices and apply ideas at home that have worked effectively elsewhere. This course will give you a firsthand understanding of how healthcare systems function throughout the world. We will study systems in the European countries, comparing and contrasting them with the US model. examining each from economic, financial, and national and local public policy perspectives.

We will link our findings with theories and empirical evidence to assess the quality of the healthcare systems from the point of view of efficiency and equity. Economic principles will be used to demonstrate why healthcare reforms may reach or fall short of the governments’ stated goals. We’ll analyze in depth the concept of universality, short- and long-term challenges, successful and unsuccessful health policies, and why many systems are unsustainable—and then develop possible solutions.

This course may also be registered as ECN 336. Please note prerequisite below. 

Prereq: ECN 101 or ECN 203, or equivalent background in microeconomics

PSC300.2 U.S.–China Relations: Tangled Titans (Spring)

The U.S.–China relationship is often described as the most important and the most complex relationship of our times.  Despite past and present tensions, the two countries have to engage each other economically, politically, and strategically. In addition, virtually all global issues of today require some degree of cooperation between the two. This course is designed for those who want to understand this complex relationship from both U.S. and Chinese perspectives. By examining key points in this relationship, the areas of major interests, players and forces, we gain a more nuanced understanding of the factors that influence both sides in their policy-making and political choices.

This course may also be registered as IRP 400.2.  With instructor approval, available in fall semesters as an Independent Study.

PSC380.21 History of International Relations Since 1815

Taught in Spanish. This course analyzes the evolution of relationships of power in the international system during the last two centuries. It starts in 1815, when the Vienna Congress closes the period of revolutionary convulsion and re-orders Europe after the Napoleonic Wars, and ends with the second Iraq war. The primary goals are for the student to:

  • To know the history of international relations in the last two centuries, to understand the process that took to the current configuration of the international system.
  • To analyze the evolution of the relationships among countries and regions, in order to acquire knowledge about the forms of current structuration of the international system and the trajectory of the nations and actors that form it.
  • To understand the elements of power that explain the ascent and decline of world powers, as well as the crisis periods that take to a re-composition of the balances of power and the disputes for the hegemony in the international system.
  • To understand the historical and political points of view those allow complex explanations for the relationships of power among countries and regions of the planet.

(PUC #ICP0303)

May also be registered as HST 380.21.

This course is taught in Spanish at Pontificia Universidad Católica and may not be offered every semester.

Registration restriction: SU students may not receive credit for both this course and PSC 124.

PSC580.1 World Politics in the Post-Cold War Era

The aim of this course is to provide students with a better understanding of the major trends and issues that have taken place in contemporary world politics since the end of the Cold War. The topics that will be covered during the semester include the changing structure of the international system from unipolarity to multipolarity, the decline of American influence in the world following the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rise of China as a major regional and global actor, the growing prominence of several regional powers (India, Brazil, Turkey), the resurgence of Russia under Putin, the impact of the Eurozone crisis on Europe’s role, the changing regional geopolitics of the Middle East in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and the threat posed to world security by international terrorism. (GLA 5001)

PSC458 Contemporary Issues in Turkey (Fall, Spring)

SU Center course required for undergraduate students. Turkey is a country with a rich history and a host of seeming contradictions. We explore the tensions and opportunities in this complex political and social landscape by examining key issues in contemporary Turkey and in its regional and global relations. After a brief review of its Ottoman past, we turn to the founding of the Turkish republic in 1923 and Turkey’s ongoing political dynamics: Turkish democratization, the role of the military and challenges to democratic consolidation, including persistent tensions between social/political Islam and secularism. We also discuss Turkish nationalism and the Kurdish question, as well as other issues related to gender, ethnic/religious minorities and human rights. In the last part of the course, we turn to foreign policy and transnational relations (and specifically the refugee crisis), examining Turkey’s historical and contemporary role and importance in the region, including its long-standing relationships with the United States and the European Union, its role in NATO, and its increasingly fraught relations with Russia and its Middle Eastern neighbors (Syria, Israel, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia). In grappling with these issues and their complexities, we aim to move beyond common stereotypes about Turkey and towards a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of this crucial country. Cross-listed with IRP/SOC 458/MES 400.1/PAI 658, with additional work required for graduate students.

PSC380.9 Europeanization of Public Policies in EU Candidate Countries

Enlargement is one of the most important policy areas of the EU, albeit a controversial one. Closely related to the issue of enlargement is the question of the role of the EU in democratic consolidation. This course aims to understand the impact of the EU on domestic processes within the context of democratization. Enlargement will be analyzed in waves, starting with the Southern expansion in the 1980s, and concluding with a look at the EU itself in terms of the impact of these expansions on the future and identity of the organization (EUS 3416).