[bioundgrd] Fwd: Great New Political Science Classes!

[Janice Chang]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Tobie Weiner <iguanatw at MIT.EDU<mailto:iguanatw at MIT.EDU>>
Date: January 31, 2014 12:52:12 PM EST
Subject: Great New Political Science Classes!


Hi Everyone,

We have two new classes that have special topics numbers (and you know that means that students can't see what the actual class title is on WebSIS so I'd appreciate your help advertising them if you have time today or early next week.  Although they are not HASS classes now they can both be petitioned to be used as HASS-S classes with very little effort.

Please feel free to send people to me for more information

Thank you,

Tobie

**************************************************************************************

17.S918

Race, Class, Violence, Faith, and Power: The South in American Politics, 1865 to the Present

Wednesday 11:00 - 1:00
E53-438
Prof. Devin Caughey

This class examines the political history and development of the American South between the Civil War and the present.  Students will be able to:
• Characterize the major political, economic, and social trends in the South over the past century and a half, and analyze the influence of the past on present conditions in the region
• Describe the changing relationship between the South and the US as a whole and the influence that each has had on the other
• Characterize the goals, resources, and strategies of different societal actors, and empathize with and explain their choices during important episodes in Southern history
• Analyze specific phenomena in Southern political history using frameworks drawn from multiple disciplines, including political science, history and economics

**********************************************************************************************************************************

17.S919

The International Relations of the Post-Soviet States

Tuesday 11:00 - 1:00
E53-485
Prof. Carol Saivetz

“The International Relations of the Post-Soviet States” will focus on the foreign policies of and the relations among Russia and the other post-Soviet states.  As the 2008 Russian-Georgian war or the gas wars between Ukraine and Russia both demonstrate, what happens in what the Russians call the “post-Soviet space,” can have a major impact on the wider world.

The course will explore issues such as the geopolitics of energy, the impact of authoritarianism across the region, the rise of Islamism, and Putin’s proposal to create a Eurasian Union.  We will also spend time discussing Central Asia:  there, Russian concern about what it sees as NATO encroachment has a major impact on how the US and NATO conduct the war in Afghanistan and how Russia and the Central Asian states prepare for the ultimate withdrawal of Western forces.

The final weeks of the semester will focus on contemporary realities.  We will discuss the far reaching post-Soviet implications of the Arab Spring and Syria.  And finally, we will explore whether or not a President Putin, weakened by declining revenues and political unrest, can implement an assertive foreign policy.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/bioundgrd/attachments/20140131/77552c70/attachment.htm