Information found in this online edition of the 2008-09 catalog is unofficial and for informational purposes only. By authority of the dean of the College, some factual corrections to the printed version may appear here. The official document of record is the printed edition of the 2008-09 Catalog. For more information, please contact the Office of the Registrar.
International Affairs
Chair: Andrew Cortell
The Department of International Affairs offers an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to help students understand the political, military, economic, historical, and cultural relations among states, nations, and transnational groups. Courses seek to provide students with the capacity to evaluate the significance and implications of these diverse relations and dynamics by synthesizing methodologies, theories, and ideas developed in a variety of disciplines. These include political science, economics, history, literature, psychology, sociology, and anthropology.
The department emphasizes both contemporary international relations and international history in its approach to foreign policy, security, international law and organizations, economic relations, and development issues. Courses in the major balance a heavy emphasis on theoretical, critical, and analytical thinking with serious empirical research. These courses are designed to encourage students to evaluate and question prevailing assumptions and existing theories in the field of international relations. In the spirit of a liberal arts education, the international affairs department helps students to make informed judgments that go beyond superficial reactions to current events. In particular, courses help students to develop a sound understanding of state and transnational phenomena and how and why systemic change occurs.
Students majoring in international affairs form the core of a strong International Affairs Association. This association coordinates students' participation in the annual International Affairs Symposium, the oldest continuing symposium of its kind in the United States.
The International Affairs Association also supports and encourages student participation in Model United Nations activities, and brings speakers on international subjects to campus, allowing students to talk informally with visiting policy-makers and scholars.
An annual student-run journal, the Meridian, offers an opportunity for students to publish their research and reflections on international topics.
Many majors participate in overseas programs and in the off-campus program in Washington, D.C. Students majoring in international affairs have had practica or internships with the World Affairs Council, the Port of Portland, Mercy Corps International, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the World Trade Center, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, organizations of the United Nations, and various voluntary agencies.
The Major Program
Introduction to International Affairs (International Affairs 100), which provides an overview of the central concepts used in understanding international relations, should be taken early in the student's academic career since it is a prerequisite for most of the courses in the department. Majors take a set of departmental core courses and work with their advisors to construct programs appropriate to their interests and career goals. The major culminates in the International Affairs Seminar (430) in which students write a senior thesis.
The international affairs curriculum is organized into the following core courses and concentrations. See appropriate department listings for course descriptions.
Core Courses
International Affairs
100 Introduction to International Affairs
211 International Organizations
212 United States Foreign Policy
310 Theories of International Affairs
430 International Affairs Seminar
Economics
100 Principles of Economics
Political Science
102 Comparative Political Systems
103 U.S. Government: National Politics
Research Methods
Communication 260, Empirical Research Methods
Economics 103, Statistics
Mathematics 105, Perspectives in Statistics
Political Science 201, Research Methods in Political Science
Psychology 200, Statistics I
Sociology/Anthropology 201, Quantitative Research Methods
Comparative and Regional Perspectives
International Affairs
230 African Politics
231 Latin American Politics
234 Japan in International Affairs
236 International Relations of Northeast Asia
237 Development: Problems and Prospects
290 Middle East Politics
International Systems and Processes
International Affairs
257 Global Resource Dilemmas
296 Human Rights in International Politics
311 Regional Organizations and Integration
312 Studies of Diplomacy
329 International and Internal Conflict
330 National Security
332 Geopolitics
333 International Law
342 Perception and International Relations
History
328 The British Empire
Political Science
254 Comparative Nationalism
315 Transitions to Democracy
320 European Agrarian Development in Comparative Perspective
Sociology and Anthropology
350 Global Inequality
Economic Perspectives
International Affairs
318 Multinational Corporations
340 International Political Economy
341 Advanced Industrial Economies
Economics
232 Economic Development
280 Political Economy of Japan
291 Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory
295 Political Economy of South Korea
314 International Economics
Major Requirements
A minimum of 44 semester credits (11 courses), distributed as follows:
- Seven departmental core courses: International Affairs 100, 211, 212, 310, and 430. Economics 100. Political Science 102 or 103.
- One course from each of the departmental concentrations: research methods, comparative and regional perspectives, international systems and processes, and economic perspectives.
Honors
The honors program is based on the thesis. All international affairs majors who have a GPA of 3.500 or higher, both in the major and overall, are eligible. A thesis judged by all members of the department faculty to be of superior quality, originality, and insight merits the award of honors on graduation.
Resources For Nonmajors
An understanding of international affairs is important to each student's growth as an individual and as a citizen of an increasingly interdependent world. A number of courses in the department are accessible to nonmajors without prerequisites. Introduction to International Affairs (International Affairs 100) gives the best general introduction to the field as a whole.
Faculty
Andrew Cortell, associate professor. International political economy, international relations theory, advanced industrialized countries.
Michelle Diggles, visiting instructor.
Bob Mandel, professor. Conflict and security, global resource issues, transnational studies, psychological aspects of international affairs, research methods, international relations theory.
Cyrus Partovi, senior lecturer in social sciences. Middle East politics, U.S. foreign policy, diplomacy, the United Nations.
Heather M. Smith, assistant professor. International organization, international law, human rights.
IA 100 Introduction To International Affairs
Cortell, Mandel, Partovi, Smith
Content: An introduction to a conceptual, analytical, and historical understanding of international relations. Emphasis on the international system and the opportunities and constraints it places on state and nonstate behavior. Cooperation and conflict, sovereignty, the rich-poor gap, determinants of national power, interdependence, the process of globalization, international institutions, and the role of transnational phenomena. Designed for students who have no previous background in the study of international relations.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 211 International Organizations
Partovi, Smith, Staff
Content: The changing relationship between the United Nations and other selected international organizations and their environments. Purposes for which national governments try to use international organizations and consequences of their efforts. Politics of the U.N. and other international organizations, conflict management, economic and social issues facing the organizations.
Prerequisite: International Affairs 100.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 212 United States Foreign Policy
Partovi
Content: An overview of contemporary U.S. foreign policy from a historical and theoretical perspective. International, domestic, bureaucratic, and individual determinants of policy-making. New challenges and prospects for U.S. foreign policy in the post–Cold War era.
Prerequisite: International Affairs 100.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 229 African Politics And Literature
Staff
Content: Comparative analysis of politics as reflected in literature (novels, short stories, plays, poetry) from sub-Saharan Africa. Themes vary from year to year and may include traditional political systems, colonialism and its legacies, nationalist movements, changing roles of women, problems of southern Africa, postcolonial independent Africa. Authors vary from year to year and may include early Swahili poets, Chinua Achebe, Sembene Ousmane, Wole Soyinka, Ayi Kwei Armah, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Buchi Emecheta, Zakes Mda, Andre Brink, Nadine Gordimer, J.M. Coetzee, Alex La Guma, Bessie Head, Nuruddin Farah, others.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
IA 230 African Politics
Staff
Content: Comparative analysis of sub-Saharan African politics. Traditional political systems, colonialism and its legacies, nationalist movements, changing political role of women, problems of southern Africa, patterns of government and of political activity in postcolonial independent African states. Uses principally social science materials with occasional materials of a more literary nature.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
IA 231 Latin American Politics
Diggles
Content: Comparative analysis of politics in South and Central America. Specific emphases vary, but usually include role of the peasantry, Catholic Church and Catholicism, changing political role of women, international linkages, causes and effects of social revolutions, military rule, transitions to democracy. Theories attempting to explain patterns of Latin American politics.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
IA 234 Japan In International Affairs
Staff
Content: Examination of Japan's international history from prewar to present, searching for historic, ideological, geophysical, systemic, and strategic explanations for Japanese foreign policy behavior. Changing formulations of national purpose, responses to international change, perceptions and realities. Controversies related to contemporary foreign affairs include Japan's prewar empire in Asia; wars with Russia, China, and the United States; and the postwar reconstitution of Japanese national power.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 236 International Relations Of Northeast Asia
Staff
Content: Political, economic, military, and cultural features of the international relations of China, Japan, Korea, and Pacific Russia. Comparative topics include regional and international linkages through time, war, domestic politics, foreign policy, trade, national defense, the influence of imagery and perception, the accomplishments and costs of modernization. The emergence of Northeast Asia as a dynamic center of world affairs.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 237 Development: Problems And Prospects
Diggles
Content: Comparative analysis of Third World politics. Politics of peasant movements, political role of women, Third World ideologies, cultural and international influences on underdevelopment, patterns of external indebtedness and their political consequences.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Every third year, 4 semester credits.
IA 244 International Affairs Practicum
Staff (Model United Nations), Mandel (International Affairs Symposium)
Content: This course has two separate sections from which students must choose. (1) Model United Nations: Facilitation of student participation in national and regional Model United Nations conferences. Research to prepare for participation. Credit granted for preparation, participation, and postsession analysis. (2) International Affairs Symposium: Guided readings on the topic of the College's annual International Affairs Symposium. Focus on key issues of controversy within contemporary international relation. Recent topics have included global terrorism, arms transfers, migration, disease, and humanitarian intervention. Discussion of the substantive issues involved, preparation of written materials, and training and guidance to shape sessions and the ways to create an effective symposium.
Prerequisites: None for Model United Nations. International Affairs 100 and permission of instructor for International Affairs Symposium.
Taught: Annually, 1 semester credit for United Nations, 2 semester credits for International Affairs Symposium. The Model United Nations section may be taken up to four times. The International Affairs Symposium section of this course must be taken in a fall-spring sequence; it may not be started in the spring, and students enrolling in the fall must take it in the spring. The International Affairs Symposium section may be taken up to four times.
IA 257 Global Resource Dilemmas
Mandel
Content: Broad theoretical issues underlying international environmental problems, specifically relating to the global scarcity of nonhuman resources. The "limits to growth" and "lifeboat ethics" controversies; human impact on global resources and resulting environmental conflicts; national, transnational, international solutions to resource problems.
Prerequisite: International Affairs 100.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 290 Middle East Politics
Partovi
Content: Analysis and explanation of the historical forces that shaped the complexities of this region, placing the area in its proper setting and perspective.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 296 Human Rights In International Relations
Smith
Content: Examination of the tension surrounding sovereignty, or non-intervention, in the face of increasingly severe human rights abuses. Overview of the philosophical underpinnings of human rights as well as prominent debates in the human rights literature. Critical examination of the doctrine of sovereignty in international relations theory and practice. Analysis of the international community's ways of preventing human rights violations, including political and judicial enforcement of human rights norms.
Prerequisite: International Affairs 100.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 299 Independent Study
Staff
Content: Opportunities for well-prepared students to design and pursue a substantive course of independent learning. Details determined by the student and the supervising instructor.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
Taught: Annually, 1-4 semester credits.
IA 310 Theories Of International Affairs
Cortell, Staff
Content: Examines contending theories of international relations, specifically those that explain the evolution and content of world politics by reference to transnational, international, state-specific, and/or individual factors. Emphasis on the conceptual, analytical, and methodological aspects of and debates in international relations theory.
Prerequisites: International Affairs 100. Junior standing. Two 200-level international affairs courses.
Taught: Each semester, 4 semester credits.
IA 311 Regional Organizations And Integration
Staff
Content: Theories of international integration. Problems and prospects of regional economic and political integration in Europe and other regions of the world.
Prerequisites: International Affairs 100 and 211.
Taught: Every fourth year, 4 semester credits.
IA 312 Studies Of Diplomacy
Partovi
Content: Functions of diplomacy; organization for the conduct of foreign affairs; diplomatic practice; techniques of reporting, analysis, negotiation; embassy and consular organization, function, administration.
Prerequisite: International Affairs 100 or junior standing.
Taught: Every third year, 4 semester credits.
IA 318 Multinational Corporations
Mandel
Content: Causes of growth of the multinational corporation, its impact on host states and home states, international responses to its emergence.
Prerequisites: International Affairs 100. Economics 100.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 329 International And Internal Conflict
Mandel
Content: Theories on the outbreak of interpersonal aggression, theories on group aggression within states, traditional and nontraditional theories about international conflict, theories on crises, ways of controlling conflict. Analysis and integration of theories about causes of conflict at interpersonal, group, and international levels.
Prerequisite: International Affairs 100.
Taught: Every third year, 4 semester credits.
IA 330 National Security
Mandel
Content: Reconceptualizing national security in the post–Cold War world, with emphasis on military, economic, political, cultural, resource-environmental dimensions of security.
Prerequisite: International Affairs 100.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 332 Geopolitics
Staff
Content: Survey of theoretical works on geography and geopolitics that have influenced the foreign policies of states at critical moments in the history of international relations and world order. Focus on renewed scholarly concern for the role of space in analyzing the international relations of economic globalization, human migration, environmental degradation, resource allocation, political fragmentation since the Cold War. The dynamic nature of spatial change, and the profound and lasting effects of physical and socioeconomic geography on equality and stability in the international system.
Prerequisite: International Affairs 100 or consent of instructor.
Taught: Every third year, 4 semester credits.
IA 333 International Law
Smith, Staff
Content: The political setting of international law, its changing content, its influence on the foreign policies of states, the special problems of regulating war, and developing and implementing human rights. Focus on insights from social science theories and perspectives, not on technical understanding of international law.
Prerequisites: International Affairs 100 and 211.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
IA 340 International Political Economy
Cortell
Content: Exploration of the relationship between politics and economics in international relations. History of the modern international political economy, and theories to explain how political factors affect the content and evolution of international economic systems. Trade, monetary, development, production relations.
Prerequisites: International Affairs 100. Economics 100.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 341 Advanced Industrial Economies
Cortell
Content: Exploration of the elements and conditions that affect whether and how countries promote their industries and economies. Emphasis on the role of globalization and how political forces influence the national economic strategies adopted in the countries studied.
Prerequisites: International Affairs 100. Economics 100. International Affairs 340 recommended (but not required).
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
IA 342 Perception And International Relations
Mandel
Content: Processes and patterns of intergroup and international perception, views of enemies, perception in foreign policy-making and deterrence, ways of reducing perceptual distortions. Students analyze and theorize about the role of misperception--distortions in one state's perception of other states--in international relations.
Prerequisite: International Affairs 100.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 430 International Affairs Seminar
Cortell, Staff
Content: Advanced research in international affairs. Production of a carefully researched and reasoned thesis, distribution to instructor and other class members for assessment. Oral presentation of thesis; written and verbal comments from instructor and other students. The thesis written in this course requires students to construct, research, write, and present rigorous analysis of some dimension of international relations that the current literature identifies as compelling.
Prerequisites: International Affairs 310. One course from the Research Methods list.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
IA 444 Practicum
Staff
Content: Field learning experience combining theoretical concepts and skills learned in the classroom with practical work in on-campus and off-campus organizations such as the World Trade Center, World Affairs Council, or U.S. Department of Commerce in Portland. Students must be well prepared prior to enrollment, consult the faculty supervisor about the program in advance, and write a report on the practicum experience.
Prerequisites: Junior standing. Consent of instructor.
Taught: Annually, 2-4 semester credits.
IA 499 Independent Study
Staff
Content: Same as International Affairs 299 but requiring more advanced work.
Prerequisites: Junior standing. Consent of instructor.
Taught: Annually, 1-4 semester credits.