INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS*

概要

This is a lecture course designed to introduce the student to the study of international relations. It emphasizes the broad historical and theoretical foundations of contemporary international relations. As such, this course contrasts with and complements Professor Burrett’s course on globalization (POL215), which puts more emphasis on new developments and current issues in world affairs. This course should also provide a good springboard for taking other international relations-related courses. While the course is primarily designed for beginning students of international relations, it may also benefit those students who have already taken courses with current affairs focus, but who wants to broaden their perspective by exploring the historical and theoretical foundations of contemporary international relations. Although this course has no prerequisite, basic knowledge of world history provides a good preparation for this class. Students who have not studied modern world history are encouraged to review world history by reading the high school world history textbook listed below under "Readings 1," which is available from amazon.co.jp and other bookstores for just under 3000 yen. A more detailed syllabus will be distributed during the first class session (also posted on Moodle), so students should make sure to refer to that detailed syllabus.

目標

Students successfully completing this course will 1) understand the basic principles underlying the system of sovereign states; 2) understand how this system has evolved over the centuries; 3) be familiar with the basic perspectives for understanding international relations; 4) be familiar with some of the most significant contemporary issues in IR; and 5) be able to apply theoretical perspectives to concrete international issues.

授業外の学習

Apart from attending classes, students are given various assignments, including reading assignments, video assignments, exercises, etc. According to the standard set by the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT), students are expected to spend a total of about 190 minutes in preparing for each class and in reviewing what you have learned. Use common sense in deciding how much time to devote to class preparation as opposed to reviewing after class. That should be sufficient for my purposes here. But MEXT, whose purpose includes "developing creative human resources with a rich sense of humanity," now requires professors to indicate in their syllabi how many of those 190 minutes they expect students to devote to various specific tasks in preparing for and reviewing the classes. So I consider it my solemn duty to declare the following, pursuant to Section 2, Article 21 of the Standards for Establishment of Universities, as revised according to Art. 1 of the MEXT Ministerial Ordinance No. 34, issued on September 30, the 4th year of the Reiwa era (2022): A large portion of that 190 minutes (120-150 minutes) should be spent in preparation for the class, including doing the reading assignments, watching video lectures. Students are also occasionally required to submit reaction papers, which should not take more than 30 minutes to finish. The rest of the time should be spent reviewing the class.

所要時間: 190 minutes