ASPO 22F00 - Thinking IR globally

This course aims at introducing you to the main concepts, approaches and debates in International Relations (IR). Its core goal is to present and help you understand in greater depth the most pressing contemporary global challenges that are often simplified or neglected by the public debate. In other words, the objective of this course is 1) to present the complexity of the world and how different IR approaches attempt to make sense of it; 2) to present and critically assess the different structures and processes constituting global governance; 3) to explore the main issues and global challenges the world is facing today and how they are apprehended by different IR approaches. Although this is not a theory of IR course, we will use different theoretical lenses to look at specific global issues to explore and critically assess the strengths and limitations of different perspectives to understand the world.

The pedagogical approach of this course combines 12 lectures (24 hours) with a seminar course in smaller groups lead by seminar instructors (24 hours, please refer to the syllabus by your seminar instructor for further information).

This course will be assessed by:

• A final exam (33%) composed of 3 essay questions covering the whole semester. A list of questions to prepare will be provided in advance out of which four questions will be picked at random the day of the exam. You will have to answer 3 of those.
• Continuous evaluation taking place during the seminars (67%), composed of:
• A mid-term exam (50%) of the same format as the final exam.
• An individual oral assignment 20%
• A collective project (30%) elaborated throughout the semester and presented orally at the end of it.

See the seminar syllabus for further details.