Teaching

Morehouse College

PSC 253 Scope and Methods of Political Science

This course aims to help students understand political science research and produce your own research. Throughout the course, we will discuss four questions: (1) what is the concept of “political science,” rather than “politics”? (2) what kind of research do political scientists do? (3) how do political scientists conduct their scientific studies and communicate the knowledge to one another? (4) which methodology is the best fit to the research? Throughout this course, we will critically examine these questions. We do not focus on a specific field such as American Politics, Comparative Politics, or International Relations. Instead, we are interested in understanding the methods that political scientists in all fields use to build knowledge. As such, this course enables you to better understand the literature you read in substantive courses and helps you to conduct your own scientific research on the topics you are interested in.

PSC 253L Scope and Methods of Political Science Data Lab

This data lab course aims to train students to conduct basic statistical analysis via R. After learning basic statistics in the Scope and Methods of Political Science content class, students will have the hands-on experience to learn how the statistics would be applied to political science in each lab session. Ultimately, students will pursue their own data analysis and present their data work.

PSC 285 Introduction to International Relations

This course aims to help students understand the concepts, theories, and debates in international relations. The field of international relations focuses on how international actors such as states, international organizations, multinational corporations, and nonstate actors have interacted with each other in the international system. Why do we need to study international relations? In 2023, we are still suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and observing an unexpected but very conventional interstate war in Ukraine. Moreover, the tension has been built between the United States and China over the Taiwan Strait. All these international events have affected our current daily life since we are connected to this international system. Therefore, it is important to understand how the world works. To do so, this course is designed to understand different theoretical approaches and apply them to current international events.

PSC 385 Theories of International Relations

This course aims to help students understand the main theoretical approaches in the field of international relations (IR). Students will learn the various IR theoretical perspectives and how to apply them to historical and current international politics. With regard to the course design, students will read and critically analyze the literature written by major IR scholars. The literature covers various theoretical perspectives, namely realism, liberalism, constructivism, and critical theories. Moreover, they demonstrate various methodologies such as archival work, textual analysis, and historical case studies. Ultimately, we will ultimately discuss the complexity of international politics that the various IR perspectives attempt to explain. It is not possible to explain international politics on the basis of any single theory. Therefore, it is important to understand, compare, and analyze each IR theoretical approach and its implications for international politics.

PSC 468 Seminar on International Security after the Cold War

This course aims to help students understand the dynamics of international security and conduct their own scientific research. Throughout the course, we will discuss four questions: (1) what is the concept of the scientific study of international security? (2) how to conduct scientific study? (3) which causal factor contributes to the initiation, escalation, and termination of international conflict? (4) which methodology is the best fit to study international security? We will critically examine the various causes and correlates of international conflict from different level of analysis as well as the outcomes and consequences of war. We will also evaluate the different methodologies (from statistical analysis to in-depth case studies) and will have an opportunity to analyze statistical data used in current literature.

PSC 489 Problems of International Relations: China and the World

This course aims to help students understand how China has interacted with the world. The rise of China has been a global phenomenon since China’s reform and opening-up policy in 1978. China has exerted a great amount of political and economic influence to the world, which may affect our daily life. China’s prosperity has provided significant economic opportunities to other countries. On the other hand, China has maintained a one-party system led by the Chinese Communist Party and achieved rapid economic development by implementing a different developmental strategy unlike other developed countries. It may provide an alternative path to other underdeveloped authoritarian countries, which may pose a threat to the United States. Under such circumstances, it is uncertain whether China provides an opportunity or poses a threat to the current international system. Due to the Chinese political system, international policymakers often misunderstand China’s behavior. Therefore, it is important to understand China’s foreign policy behavior and its underlying intention. To do so, this course first attempts to analyze how China’s domestic politics link to its foreign policy. As a great power (like the United States), China’s international behavior comes from its domestic politics. Afterwards, we will focus on China’s cooperation and competition with the world by each theme (e.g., security, economy, and governance).

PSC 490 Conflict and Conflict Resolution

This advanced undergraduate seminar examines the onset, expansion, and consequences of conflict in the international system, with primary emphasis on interstate war and crisis but sustained attention to intrastate conflict where dynamics overlap. We begin with core theories of conflict – territorial disputes, maritime claims, enduring rivalry, alliances, and the democratic peace – before extending to unconventional yet increasingly consequential themes such as energy politics and climate change. The course is organized thematically rather than chronologically. We use historical cases to build theoretical leverage and then test those ideas against contemporary developments. While our scope is global, several weeks focus on East Asia, especially U.S.–China strategic competition, to evaluate how great-power rivalry, regional institutions, and evolving military technologies shape conflict behavior today. Methodologically, the course encourages an interdisciplinary methodology. Students will encounter and practice approaches that include theory-driven qualitative analysis, quantitative and computational methods, formal modeling, and mixed-method designs. Emphasis is placed on research transparency, causal identification, and the careful matching of questions, evidence, and methods.