Registration for Spring 2007 classes starts on November 10. IPE majors who will be enrolled in classes this spring need to meet with their advisors and choose classes carefully. Here are three quick bits of advice from the desk of the IPE Czar.
Make Careful Choices. One of the things that graduating seniors tell us each year is that they wish they had taken greater care in choosing classes, especially the IPE elective classes, so that they "add up" to something and help prepare them for the senior thesis. So please try to choose classes thoughtfully and not just fill requirements or make choices based on schedule preferences.
Pre-Requisites Matter. As you make these selections, please pay careful attention to course pre-requisites. More professors are now strictly enforcing course pre-requisites. You can avoid disappointment later by paying attention to pre-requisites now.
Additional Elective Options. The list of elective classes for IPE majors is quite comprehensive, especially when the ability to satisfy elective requirements through study abroad is considered. But sometimes students find off-list classes that make particularly good sense as electives in their particular cases. We do have a process for considering and approving such exceptional cases. If you’d like to propose that an off-list course count as an IPE elective you should meet with your IPE advisor and, after discussing the situation, write a brief email proposal to the IPE Czar (Veseth@ups.edu or IPE@ups.edu).
Three new classes are being offered in Spring 2007 that some of you might wish to take as IPE electives depending upon your expected senior thesis topic. I have listed the online course descriptions below. If you have a good reason to wish to take one of these classes as an IPE elective, please discuss this with your advisor and send me a proposal. These all look like good classes. Note: students who have studied or will study at the IES/Freiberg program should not also take PG 326 due to probable overlap of content.
Mike Veseth
IPE Czar
PG 326 Politics of the European Union
The European Union is currently confronting the challenges of enlargement, institutional reform, and a changed international environment after 9/11. This course will consider the impact of these factors, asking what the long-term impact will be on the EU and its role in the global community. Is the European Union a "superstate" in the making, a rival to the United States? Or are its political ambitions limited by the difficulties of integration and domestic politics in Europe? The course analyzes the arguments and evidence and considers the future of this ambitious and unique political body.
Prerequisites: PG 102 or 103. Prof. Hansen
MWF 1500-1550
PG 333 Human Rights and International Law
Human rights have become the dominant currency for moral argument and humanitarian action in foreign policy. Trade agreements, military interventions, and international criminal justice are now invariably pursued with reference, sincere or otherwise, to the idea of human rights. And yet there is little agreement on what human rights are and whether their advocates have the authority to change global political relations significantly. This course examines some of the major controversies surrounding human rights law in foreign policy and international politics. The course begins with conceptual questions relating to the content of human rights, their evolution, and their alleged universality. It addresses these topics in historical context, focusing in particular on eighteenth-century debates and the institutional developments in the mid-twentieth century that gave birth to the contemporary human rights system. The second part of the course considers the implementation and enforcement of human rights, with special attention to the limits posed by state sovereignty and the role of non-state actors in the practice of law-making. Finally, the course looks at major problems in international criminal justice and laws of war, including a discussion of recent events relating to the treatment of prisoners and the prohibition against torture. Students complete the course with a richer understanding of the complexity of human rights as an imperfect but inescapable vehicle for law and morality in international politics.
Prerequisite: PG 103.
Prof. Ross
TuTh 0930-1050
HIST 387 The History of Brazil
This course begins with Europe¿s first contact with Brazil in the 16th century and ends with President Lula da Silva¿s political push for a social agenda. All angles of the past are taken into consideration including the economic history of sugar, rubber, and coffee; the political history of an Empire, Republic, and today¿s evolving democracy; the social history of slavery, family, and patriarchy; and the cultural history of ¿God¿s Garden.¿ Since Brazil¿s past has long been intertwined with Spanish America, Europe, Africa, and North America, the country is placed into the historic framework of the Atlantic world. Images, photos, and iconography play a central role in most lectures. The course covers an enormous amount of ground in a short time, hence, experience with history and some background knowledge of Latin America is recommended.
Prof. Read
TuTh 1230-1350
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